Not really. It’s a green goat question: Can some of you railroadians explain the idea of a green goat in layman’s terms please? I know, I know, I could google it, and follow 486 websites. I’m just hoping someone out there in forum land would explain.
Thanks
Well,
take an MK1500D…remove the prime mover, chop the long hood down even more, fill in the space the prime and the alternator were in with a huge rack of big battries, squeeze in a small diesel powered generator set to charge the battries and the run the air compressor…and you have a “Green” goat.
Goat is a term for yard switchers, the Green part applies to the Eco Friendly part, the emissions from the gen set are small.
The GG10B is 1000hp, weight 280000 lbs…think of a really heavy SW9 or SW12.
Not designed for road work, but sound like a good idea for a small yard or industry that dosnt need to run their locomotive 24/7.
It wouldnt live long in a yard like mine, but in industry applications might be a good investment.
http://www.railindustry.com/coverage/2002/2002g02a.html
http://www.railpower.com/products_hl.html
Two of railpowers sites, lots of info and some good builders photos…
Ed
Anybody know what the duration of the batteries is?
-thanks ed-
Aren’t they using Die-Hards?[}:)]
Personally, I like the idea of a “Gray Goat”, using a small coal fired steam generator to recharge the batteries. Then you are getting the best of both worlds - dependable electric traction and the lowest cost fuel out there.
But the efficiency would probably be lower.
OK, a big,old, battery powered switch locomotive that has it’s own batterey charger. Now a physics question: Wouldn’t it require the same amount of diesel fuel to do the same amount of work as a standard diesel switcher?
Thanks
No because the charge rate is over a long period of time and the use is short. The batteries store the small amount of juice produced over a long time at a very low rate.
A regular switcher spends a lot of time idling, where fuel is wasted. The Green Goat puts all of the fuel burned to use.
So the small diesel engine on the Green Goat doesn’t run or idle constantly? only when it needs to charge the battery,and shuts down the rest of the time?
When the Green Goat is being used, it uses electricity from the batteries faster than the small diesel can recharge the batteries. When the locomotive is sitting, the small diesel can catch up. The small diesel can happily putter along at the speed it likes.[:)]
The batteries are monitored by a computer that tells the diesel when to start and when to shut down.
So, that means it isn’t meant for any real road work. It only works in a switcher.
Yes.
However, both GE and Railpower are working on hybrid mainline locos and UP has ordered road switchers from Railpower. While hybrid technology, may not lend itself to mainline service entirely, a hybrid booster…essentially a self powered road slug is not out of the question. Using the unit for additional tractive effort to get a train moving, then let it charge until needed again.
Dan
I knew it was only a matter of time before hybrid locos started making their way on to the mainlines. I hope these hybrid locos have regenerative braking so as to re-charge the batteries.
Not in terms of Btu/kwH. Remember Norfolk & Western’s Jawn Henry, a coal-fired steam turbine? Aside from the “cleanliness” problems of coal dust and soot fouling the electrical gear (a problem easily mitigated with today’s technologies), the only other problem with the Jawn Henry was a problem endemic in all turbines, namely the engine ran full out all the time, wasting fuel. With the hybrid concept, this problem has been addressed. The turbine either runs full out or is shut down temporarily, while the power supply to the traction motors is regulated via the battery draw.
In another thread, the hypothesis was put forth - to combine the Jawn Henry concept with the Green Goat concept. Whoever comes up with a workable coal-fired hybrid will become a millionaire, because then you have the lowest cost method of producing electricity via coal and the most efficient concept for supplying that electricity to the traction motors via stored energy draw/recharge.