New options for economical operation of hydrogen trains by using LOHC technology?

One way to reduce emissions from existing diesel vehicles is to gradually replace them with hydrogen-powered vehicles. This would avoid local greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions while driving. Within the framework of Part A of this research project, it was investigated whether an H${}_2$ supply for a hydrogen-powered railway network, using the example of the Bayerische Oberlandbahn (BOB), is technically feasible, economically competitive and ecologically sensible. For this purpose, costs and emissions of different supply paths have been calculated and compared in a Python model developed for this purpose. The aim of Part B of the project was to develop a well-founded technical concept for the hydrogen supply of a fuel cell powered train by on-board hydrogen production from a liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) system. In this case, the LOHC system dibenzyltoluene / perhydro-dibenzyltoluene was selected. The boundary conditions of the current Alstom product Coradia iLint (178 kg of hydrogen on board that can be converted into electricity) were taken as a basis. In particular, the necessary volumes for tanks and releasers on board the train were to be determined and various technical realisation concepts compared and development potentials explored.