System integration of Chinaʹs first proton exchange membrane fuel cell locomotive

In the face of growing environmental pollution, developing a PEMFC driving shunting locomotive is a great challenge in China for environmental protection and energy saving, it combines the environmental advantages of an electric locomotive with the lower infrastructure costs of a diesel electric locomotive. In this paper, through innovation of the power system using PEMFC, an experiment prototype of a PEMFC shunting locomotive has been developed which will reduce the effects on the environment. The performance of the fuel cell power plant and the integrated locomotive are experimentally investigated. It is the first locomotive to use a PEMFC power plant in China. Staring from October 2012, we started to test the PEMFC locomotive on the test rail-line in Chengdu, Sichuan. The achieved encouraging results can provide fundamental data for further modification of the locomotive powered by individual PEMFC stack or even development of hybrid ones powered by PEMFC and other power sources in China.