Dick, List;
The locomotives are diesel-electric as you describe but they are not
hybrids, the diesel just runs at a rate needed to supply the electric motors
in response to the throttle setting, but there is no significant on-board
battery energy storage (as in a Prius). The typical locomotive of this type
has four drive axles and a max of 2000 HP because more than 500 HP per axle
just makes the steel wheels spin.
One problem with hybrids, battery or capacitor, is that the
charging/discharge cycle has a "turnaround" efficiency as low as 60%, so
it's probably more efficient to run a small IC engine at a constant rate and
use the battery/capacitor as a "trimmer"---but the best trade-off between
engine and battery size depends on how your going to operate the car, or
what's the duty cycle? Some of the hybrids give high MPG in city driving,
not so good on the highway.
Lance
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dick J" <lsr_man@yahoo.com>
To: "Rich Fox" <v4gr@rcn.com>; "Ed Weldon" <23.weldon@comcast.net>
Cc: "landspeed@autox.team.net" <land-speed@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 08, 2006 7:51 PM
Subject: Re: E85, more questions
>I understand that deisel locomotives are actually hybrid electric. the
>diesel engines only run a generator which runs an electric motor which, in
>turn, powers the locomotive. Maybe some new breakthrough in that
>technology? Maybe something like running a high speed, efficient internal
>combustion engine for a minute or two to charge some sort of capaciter
>instead of a battery, and then shut off that motor and run on the
>electricity for an hour or so. I'm sure there are still some fantastic
>breakthroughs on the horizon. I mean, look where computers were in 1976 !
>! !
> Dick J
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