Railroad Technology and Applications

tahanson43206 · 2023-07-05 12:34:53

The NewMars community includes some of the most forward looking people alive on Earth.

However, not ** every ** alternate future shows up here before it happens elsewhere.

There is just too much going on, with 8 plus billion people thinking about how to live better themselves, or how to improve things for others.

The first post in this new topic reports on university research into use of railroads as potential energy storage devices, in order to avoid having to pay for transmission lines.

The argument appears to be that since the railroad network in the US is well developed, it has the capability to deliver power to where it is needed in times of need.

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tahanson43206 · 2023-07-05 12:35:28

Opening report: https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/rese … 00512.html

FreightWaves
Researchers explore using battery systems in locomotives to support US power grid
Joanna Marsh
Wed, July 5, 2023 at 7:00 AM EDT
Researchers in California have explored whether battery-electric locomotives can have a role in energy storage for the U.S. power grid. (Photo:
Researchers in California are exploring the possibility of using the battery systems in battery-electric locomotives to store power for the U.S. power grid, according to a paper published in the academic journal Nature Energy.
Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory said they explored using batteries as a way to store energy to help address the challenges associated with maintaining reliability amid extreme weather events and intermittent power generation.
The battery systems could serve “as a nationwide backup transmission grid” through which saved power could be shared among regions, meet demand peaks and relieve transmission congestion, according to the researchers.
“Compared to new transmission lines and stationary battery capacity, deploying [rail-based mobile energy storage (RMES)] for such events could save the power sector upwards of US$300 per kW-year [for new transmission lines] and US$85 per kW-year [for stationary battery capacity,” researchers said in the article abstract. “While no known technical barriers exclude RMES from grid participation, addressing interconnection challenges and revising regulatory frameworks is necessary for deployment at scale.”
The U.S. rail infrastructure could serve as a backup system in part because of its size: The network spans 137,000 miles and consists of rights of way and property in some of the most population-dense and transmission-congested regions, the researchers said. Meanwhile, a single train has a capacity of 1 gigawatt-hour of battery storage, which is equivalent to the carrying capacity of 1,000 semi-trucks, they said.
To explore the possibility further, more study needs to be conducted on real-world freight scheduling constraints as well as ensuring that rail battery storage could be a feasible option as a hedge against transmission constraints, they said.
Discussion about using a battery-electric locomotive’s battery systems for energy storage comes as the North American freight rail industry is looking to increase its deployment of locomotives powered by alternative energy as a means to reduce the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Others have also questioned the potential or viability of electrifying the freight rail network for at least some of rail infrastructure, such as at ports.
Subscribe to FreightWaves’ e-newsletters and get the latest insights on freight right in your inbox
Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Joanna Marsh.
Related links:
Union Pacific spending over $100M on 20 battery-electric locomotives
Wabtec, G&W and Carnegie Mellon partner to advance battery-electric locomotives
Freight rail electrification can exist in North America — the question is where
Is electrifying the freight rail network cost prohibitive?
Commentary: No, railroad freight electrification is not dead
The post Researchers explore using battery systems in locomotives to support US power grid appeared first on FreightWaves.

After re-reading the above, I can easily imagine posts by our members, showing cons as well as pros for this idea.

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Calliban · 2023-07-05 14:13:01

This is in effect a method of mechanical power transmission and storage. A rail vehicle mounted of a circular track is analogous to a flywheel. Other similar mechanical power transmission technologies are rope and chain drives.

Last edited by Calliban (2023-07-05 14:15:05)

tahanson43206 · 2023-07-05 17:50:48

For Calliban re #3

Thanks for helping to give this new topic a "rolling" start!

Your first impression is understandable. In fact, the archives of the forum include discussions of the very idea you have proposed.

This is NOT a gravity storage system. Instead, the idea (as I understand it) is to mount batteries on trains, and drive those to places where power is needed. This is an alternative to building power transmission lines.

The logic (again, as I understand it) is to take advantage of the extensive railroad network in the United States.

I would expect the battery cars to be charged in regions where wind and solar power are abundant, and then shipped at 60 miles per hour to wherever they are needed. So 3000 miles accross from California to New York would require 50 hours, and most locations that need emergency power would be closer.

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tahanson43206 · 2024-04-03 10:11:54

I changed the topic to give it more scope than it had originally.

In other topics recently (in 2024) members have been discussing railroads and dealing with expansion of the rails due to heat.

The video at the link below presents an overview of the subject, and shows that modern welded railroads are constructed on hot days, or the rails are heated or stretched before welding, so that the midpoint or "neural" expansion point is at the middle of the expected range of temperatures the rails may experience. When temperatures fall below the neutral point, the rails stretch, and above they compress. Ties and the underlying ballast are designed to help the rails to deal with the positive and negative stresses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqmOSMAtadc

In a recent post, GW Johnson suggested tongue-in-groove joints, and it appears that some railroads have implemented a "sliding V" version of that idea.

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tahanson43206 · 2024-05-28 12:06:50

Here is an application of railroad technology that definitely might find a place on Mars...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/railroad-wor … 02532.html

Business Insider
A railroad worker figured out how to send thousands of gallons of drinking water by rail from Mississippi to the Navajo Nation to alleviate the water crisis
Kelsey Vlamis
Tue, May 28, 2024 at 6:27 AM EDT·6 min read
455

Andrew Halter delivers water 1,200 miles by rail to the Navajo Nation from Mississippi.
Navajo Nation residents struggle with water scarcity, with 30% lacking reliable drinking water.
Halter hopes water-by-rail can be a solution for other Western communities and in natural disasters.
Andrew Halter had been in the railroad business for 25 years, mostly in middle management roles. It was his dream job and all he ever wanted to do.
But when the world shut down in 2020, and he got laid off, he needed to figure something else out.
"It came to me one day like a clap of thunder," Hatler, who is based in Pennsylvania, told Business Insider.
Halter and his brother had long talked about the possibility of using rail to help alleviate the water crisis in the Navajo Nation. His brother, Chris Halter, runs the St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School, located on the southeastern edge of the reservation, which spans more than 27,000 square miles across parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
Nearly a third of Navajo Nation residents do not have access to reliable, clean drinking water, according to the tribe. The estimated population was over 165,000 in 2020, according to census data.
The mission was already delivering water via trucks to 250 families, a small portion of the Navajo who are water-scarce. The families receive about 40 gallons of water a day, far less than the 300 gallons the average American family uses. The mission has relied on a local well to get the water, but if something happened to it, all those families would be without any water virtually overnight.
"To be honest, it was always the thing that would wake me up in the middle of the night," Chris Halter told BI. "If that well shuts down for some reason, what would I do next?"
Now, Halter's company, Jacob's Well, in partnership with the mission, delivers thousands of gallons of water each month from Mississippi to the Navajo Nation via the BNSF Railway. The water-by-rail served as a lifeline in 2022 when the well had to undergo repairs that lasted months.
The operation has grown quickly, and Halter is focused on expanding, both to provide more water to the Navajo Nation but also potentially to other places in the West, where dried up rivers and reservoirs are leaving communities increasingly desperate for solutions.
Tank car
Jacob's Well tank cars can carry 21,000 gallons of water.Andrew Halter
Some thought the water-by-rail idea was crazy
When Halter first started calling railroads about transporting drinkable water, some thought the idea was crazy.
He finally got in touch with Eunice Sun at BNSF, who currently serves as the business development manager of emerging markets.
"We haven't moved potable water prior to this opportunity, really, because the economics don't necessarily pencil out in order to pay for that water and pay for the transport," Sun told BI. But when Halter came to her, she said he did a great job communicating his vision and business plan.
Halter said right now they can transport water, depending on fuel prices and other fluctuating costs, for around 38 cents a gallon. Currently, those costs are covered almost entirely by private donations to the mission. However, as the operation scales up and he transports more tank cars of water, those costs could come down.
Getting a public utility to sell him hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per month was another story. "A lot of times, they think you're crazy," Halter said. Still, they were able to work out a deal with the water department of Helena, Mississippi, where Jacob's Well collects its water before it travels 1,200 miles by rail to the southwest.
Once it arrives, the Navajo families can pick up water from the mission or have it delivered to their homes, just as the well water is.
Originally, Halter said he couldn't even find information about how the water would travel, and it took a lot of testing before and after transport to ensure the supply stayed safe to drink.
"We've kind of had to wing it and make up our own rules as we go along and figure some things out the hard way, which we did," he said.
It took around eight months from when Halter first contacted BNSF for the first shipment to go out, and the operation has only grown since. Halter said they currently average around two tank cars a month, which each hold 21,000 gallons of water, but the operation is capable of delivering 200,000 gallons a month if needed.
They sent half a million gallons of water total in 2023. He's hoping to reach 2 million this year.
Water truck
St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School provides more than 250 Navajo Nation families with water.Andrew Halter
Emergency water supply and the water crisis
It's unclear at this point how scalable or economically feasible water-by-rail will be in other places, but those involved are hopeful.
Chris Halter said he's currently conducting a study that he hopes will show the project has had a sound return on investment so that he can show tribal, local, and state governments that his is a feasible option.
Sun said expanding Jacob's Well wouldn't come without growing pains, but that BNSF is happy to help support the project's growth. "It tugs at your heartstrings," she said, adding that it's not often she gets to work on a project that has such a direct positive impact on a local community.
Halter sees water-by-rail as something that could fill a serious need in all sorts of situations, from communities whose wells run dry to natural disasters. He's already been in touch with the state of New Mexico and FEMA. He's hopeful that rail will be among the solutions that help alleviate the broader water crisis.
After getting a severe case of COVID-19, Halter lost the use of his right hand and was not able to go back to work on the railroad, so he now runs Jacob's Well full time.
"It's become a driving mission to give these people water," he said. "I want to be able to provide people with water at the lowest cost possible, and I want it to make enough money to support itself, but I don't need to get wealthy on it."
For now the operation is run on donations, but they're hoping they can get grant money or other public funds to help support it in the future.
"Water is a human right," Halter said. "And they should be able to have it."
Have a news tip or a story to share? Contact this reporter at kvlamis@businessinsider.com.
Read the original article on Business Insider
View comments (455)

The current price after all the expenses are paid appears to be 38 cents per gallon.

The operation is dependent upon donations.

To be self sustaining, the recipients would need to be able to generate income.

In the Internet age, that might be more possible than in former times.

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tahanson43206 · 2024-06-13 06:41:32

The YouTube marketing algorithm tossed a video about railroad engineering my way, and since GW Johnson has written (and posted) on the subject, I decided to take a look at it...

It turns out there is a ** whole ** lot more to design of railroad equipment than I had realized, even after reading GW's overview.

The gent who put this video together uses models to illustrate the challenges of railroad operation, along with animation to help with details.

I expect that everything that has been learned on Earth will be applicable to Mars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nteyw40i9So

One detail (of many) that was new to me is that rails and wheels have to be replaced periodically.

Another is that the steel used to make rails varies depending upon the application.

Furthermore the ** amount ** of steel in rails varies depending upon the expected loads.

The presenter makes the point that design, manufacture and maintenance of railroads is a dynamic field that is very much alive and well after many decades of experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nteyw40i9So

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#1 2023-07-05 12:34:53

Railroad Technology and Applications

#2 2023-07-05 12:35:28

Re: Railroad Technology and Applications

#3 2023-07-05 14:13:01

Re: Railroad Technology and Applications

#4 2023-07-05 17:50:48

Re: Railroad Technology and Applications

#5 2024-04-03 10:11:54

Re: Railroad Technology and Applications

#6 2024-05-28 12:06:50

Re: Railroad Technology and Applications

#7 2024-06-13 06:41:32

Re: Railroad Technology and Applications

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