Spacious driver's cab, intelligent driver's console, bright observation window... Recently, seven series of new energy locomotives wearing "green clothes" were officially unveiled in Beijing. These locomotives were first released globally by China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC). Compared with traditional fuel locomotives, it has excellent environmental performance and effectively solves the problems of high fuel consumption, high emissions, loud noise, and poor comfort of existing old diesel locomotives. In December 2023, the National Railway Administration issued the "Management Measures for the Elimination and Renewal of Old Railway Diesel Locomotives (Draft for Comments)", proposing that from 2035, old railway diesel locomotives should be fully withdrawn from the railway transportation market. The successful development of a series of new energy locomotives is of great significance for further promoting the upgrading and iteration of old equipment in the transportation field, and advancing the green and low-carbon transformation of high-energy consumption and high emission locomotives. Emission reduction and carbon reduction are "awesome" With the global environmental problems becoming increasingly prominent, the concept of green development has gradually become one of the mainstream trends of social development today. The original old diesel locomotives have heavy pollution, high energy consumption, and loud noise, which can no longer meet the needs of green and low-carbon development of railways. In recent years, the locomotive industry has been searching for clean solutions and has successively produced various new energy locomotives such as hydrogen fuel cell locomotives and hybrid locomotives. The series of new energy locomotives released by CRRC this time are born in this context. These locomotives are equipped with three power configurations: internal combustion engine+power battery, power battery, and hydrogen fuel cell, covering a range of power from 1000 kW to 2000 kW, which can fully meet the needs of railway transportation scenarios for domestic and foreign enterprises in steel metallurgy, mining, electricity, coal, ports, etc. Compared to traditional diesel locomotives, these series of new energy locomotives have unique advantages in reducing carbon emissions. Internal combustion engine+power battery locomotive has three power modes: power battery, diesel engine, and diesel electric hybrid. In the working environment where industrial and mining enterprises require frequent start stop, these three modes can be intelligently switched to reduce emissions pollution caused by insufficient fuel combustion. Zhao Gang, Deputy General Manager and Chief Engineer of CRRC Dalian Company, said that power battery and hydrogen fuel cell locomotives can achieve zero emissions of pollutants. From specific indicators, compared with traditional internal combustion locomotives, internal combustion engine+power battery locomotives can achieve a reduction of 45% in nitrogen oxides, 73% in hydrocarbons, and 83% in carbon monoxide emissions. Based on a 45% reduction in pollutant emissions, one locomotive can reduce harmful substances emissions by 4 tons per year, reducing carbon emissions by 374 tons, equivalent to planting 34000 trees. Meanwhile, due to its different power configurations, the series of new energy locomotives can also reduce the working time of diesel engines and achieve noise reduction by switching power sources. Zhao Gang introduced that under the condition of power battery traction, locomotive noise time can be reduced by more than 80%. The noise inside the driver's cabin can be reduced to below 70 decibels, and the radiated noise outside the car can be as low as 58 decibels, equivalent to the decibel level of music in a coffee shop. The operation is very intelligent. Currently, China's old diesel locomotives have a relatively low level of intelligence due to their early development. In this context, a series of new energy locomotives have undergone multiple digital transformations to enhance their level of intelligence. The series of new energy locomotives are equipped with high-definition video equipment and laser radar, which can collect environmental visual data from 360 degrees and monitor the status of application scenarios in real time. The functions of automatic perception, intelligent decision-making, and intelligent operation comprehensively ensure the safe and stable operation of locomotives Li Xining, Deputy General Manager and Chief Engineer of CRRC Ziyang Company, said. The human-machine interaction system has also greatly improved the convenience of locomotive operation. Through the human-computer interaction interface, the driver can observe the real-time running status of the train. With simple voice commands, drivers can easily control devices such as air conditioning, sunshades, wipers, etc., making the driving process more efficient and comfortable. In terms of fault monitoring for serialized new energy locomotives, the team has also developed a Fault Prediction and Health Management (PHM) technology system. The system can manage the entire lifecycle of new energy locomotives, "said Li Xining. For the faults that have already occurred, the system can promptly provide feedback on the fault points and provide guidance on maintenance operations. At the same time, the system can also predict the condition of locomotives based on collected data, judge the trend of changes, and provide maintenance recommendations. In addition, to maximize the safety of drivers and passengers, the R&D team has implemented digital safety protection measures for power batteries and hydrogen fuel systems. The monitoring data of locomotive power source will be transmitted in real time to the onboard microcomputer control system. Once there is an abnormal situation in the power source data, the system will issue a warning and take corresponding measures, "said Li Xining. Energy conservation and consumption reduction are very cost-effective. In addition to carbon reduction, the economy is the most concerned by users. Old diesel locomotives often experience start stop and coasting during use. By adopting hybrid optimal control technology, the internal combustion engine+power battery locomotive can ensure that the internal combustion engine always operates at the optimal economic speed, "said Zhong Huaiqing, Deputy General Manager and Chief Engineer of CRRC Qishuyan Company. For example, when filled with the same volume of fuel and towing 3000 tons of cargo on a straight road, the range of an internal combustion engine+power battery locomotive exceeds 1100 kilometers, which is 1.7 times that of a regular internal combustion engine locomotive, with a fuel saving rate of over 45%. In addition, the series of new energy locomotives also adopt new technologies such as efficient traction converter system, permanent magnet motor, hybrid power capability management, and brake energy recovery to improve transmission efficiency and reduce energy consumption, effectively solving the energy waste caused by idle running of traditional locomotives and improving energy efficiency. Zhong Huaiqing told reporters that when these new energy locomotives are equipped with permanent magnet traction motors, the motor efficiency can reach 97%, which can be improved by 5% compared to the optional asynchronous motor. Under normal operating conditions, a single locomotive can save 18000 kWh of electricity per year. In terms of daily operating costs, serialized new energy locomotives are also more affordable. Taking old diesel locomotives in industries such as steel and metallurgy as an example, their annual diesel consumption is about 155 tons, and the fuel cost is about 1.4 million yuan. If calculated based on completing the same amount of work, the power consumption of a power battery locomotive is approximately 530000 kWh. Compared to the average price of 1 yuan per kilowatt hour for industrial electricity, the corresponding cost is over 530000 yuan. This will save the company over 870000 yuan in annual expenses, with a daily cost savings of about 2300 yuan, "said Zhong Huaiqing. Not only that, simplified design can also reduce the maintenance costs of these locomotives Zhong Huaiqing introduced that "Jiantong" can effectively reduce the number of spare parts, for example, if all locomotives use the same type of air conditioning, only one type of spare part is needed. This design will achieve a simplification rate of over 80% for key components, enabling interchangeable and universal parts between multiple vehicle models, facilitating localized maintenance for users, and effectively reducing locomotive maintenance costs. At present, there are about 9700 old diesel locomotives in China, and it is urgent to update and upgrade them to promote intelligent transformation and upgrading. Zhong Huaiqing said that the series of new energy locomotives will bring about a demand for large-scale and diversified new energy products, driving the vigorous development of related industries such as batteries, electrical equipment, and motors. (New Society)