Ultra-efficient trains

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Socoder -> Off Topic -> Ultra-efficient trains
Sun, 20 Jun 2010, 18:19
mindstorm8191	I thought I'd share a cool idea I had the other day, because I don't know who else to share it with! Okay, so modern trains, they have a diesel engine, which actually drives a generator that powers motors on each wheel. When a train goes downhill, it can use the same motors as generators, slowing the train down. With that extra energy though, all it really does is send it to a giant heating unit, sending the hot air over-top the train. Personally, I think generating heat off the energy is a bad idea. But how could you possibly store it? There aren't any decent options that could work with a train; a drive-wheel would require a lot of weight, or have to spin extremely fast. But, why not put it onto the power grid? You could set up power rails over train lines, where-ever the trains go downhill, and as the train generates energy, the lines would put the energy onto the power grid. What do you all think? -=-=- Vesuvius web game
Sun, 20 Jun 2010, 18:54
CodersRule	Super-fast cell phone charging for train passengers.
Sun, 20 Jun 2010, 19:21
mindstorm8191	heh, not a bad idea... but I think most trains carry freight, not passengers. Actually it would be possible for cellphone chargers to draw more power. The trouble is, batteries can only charge so fast, or internal components overheat. -=-=- Vesuvius web game
Sun, 20 Jun 2010, 20:41
JL235	I believe there are trains that do this already.
Sun, 20 Jun 2010, 23:43
spinal	I thought modern trains were 100% electric? At least for the past 40 years or so anyway. Also, there's at least one model of electric car which charges its own batteries from the wheel motion whenever the driver releases the accelerator pedal. -=-=- Check out my excellent homepage!
Mon, 21 Jun 2010, 08:00
mindstorm8191	Well there are plenty of electric trains. I think nearly all subway trains are electric. But the freight trains I see moving down the rails around here, they're diesel. They are driven by actual electric motors, but those motors are powered by the diesel engine. I don't know about regaining power while a car is coasting, but I do know about regenerative braking, where cars reverse their wheel motors to generate power while slowing down. However, the car batteries can only absorb so much of that energy while you're braking. It may be as low as 20% of the total energy possible. Its like the cellphone battery problem. But of course trains have been using regenerative braking for years, just not to store the power. Using an alternative energy storage method, I don't think would be cost-effective, but selling that power to the grid would be somewhat easy. -=-=- Vesuvius web game
Mon, 21 Jun 2010, 08:13
JL235	It's not going to be that cost effective, especially for freight trains. They typically have very long routes and so you'd need very long power lines put up (and maintained) across the entire route.
Mon, 21 Jun 2010, 14:03
mindstorm8191	Umm, that wasn't exactly the plan I had in mind. The energy can only be captured on downhill stretches; you would only need to set up lines around these areas. You could then sell the power to the immediately local power grid. For each downhill portion you would have a separate wiring system to collect energy, routing it to the closest place on the power grid. Some downhill stretches are pretty lengthy, at least here in the US, and homes are everywhere, nearly all of them having power hookups. It shouldn't be hard to find lines that cross the train rails in many near-city downhill places. Other places you may need some amount of powerline distance, and for some places it may be too costly to run & maintain lines to the downhill stretches, but I'm sure there is energy to be gained, and money to be made. -=-=- Vesuvius web game