Simulated Comparison of Energy Storage Systems for Heavy Haul Locomotives Available to Purchase

Diesel locomotives in heavy haul operations are good candidates to adopt energy storage systems (ESSs). This paper modelled a battery ESS and a flywheel ESS for heavy haul locomotives. Three heavy haul trains with different traction plans (diesel, diesel-flywheel, and diesel-battery) were compared. The diesel, flywheel, and battery locomotives have traction powers of 3100 kW, 2000 kW, and 3100 kW respectively. Available energy from the flywheel and battery ESSs are 500 kWh and 5000 kWh respectively. The simulated railway is about 300 km long while the trains are about 10,000 tonnes each. Traction performance and fuel consumption were compared. The results show that, compared with the diesel train, the diesel-flywheel and diesel-battery trains were 13.26% and 9.20% slower in speed respectively. However, they decreased their fuel consumptions by 12.40% and 20.65% respectively.