HAROLD train upgrade; VAT tests hydrogen trucks
The HAROLD 2.0 test rig will deliver a safer, more reliable and higher capacity railway.
The UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN) will soon launch HAROLD 2.0 full-scale bogie test rig builds upon the existing HAROLD facility with £1 million of capital funding.
The upgrade will use real-time energy storage models, e.g. battery and hydrogen fuel cell model-in-the-loop.
Commissioned as the UK’s only full-size rig of its kind, it features a motored rolling road that can drive a wheelset of a standard gauge bogie at speeds up to 200km/h, exerting real-world forces via its hydraulic actuation system.
The test environment can re-create whole-route traction and braking duty cycles under a range of wheel-rail adhesion conditions, thereby providing an invaluable proving stage prior to on-track trials.
With provision for battery banks and fully configurable real-time models, the test rig will also provide the capability to prove novel hybrid drivetrains and energy storage systems, enabling hardware and software solutions to be trialled in a controlled but realistic environment.
The installation is expected to be ready for operation by summer 2022, where it will join other recent UKRRIN funded investments, such as the PANTHER high-speed pantograph test rig and the THOMoS high-fidelity passenger comfort/motion simulator.
VAT and Gebrüder Weiss
VAT is expanding testing environmentally friendly goods transport with a hydrogen-powered truck via its logistics partner Gebrüder Weiss GmbH (Austrian based transport and logistics company).
Gebrüder Weiss GmbH is a member of the H2 Mobility Switzerland Support Association. This initiative developed and implemented the world’s first ecosystem for the practical use of hydrogen to power vehicles. By using a hydrogen-powered, zero-emission truck to transport goods, Gebrüder Weiss GmbH is to protect the environment while increasing efficiency and productivity.
