One blue white alternate with of new energy sources, electric locomotive "blue sky" number, in Southwest Jiaotong University on railway sidings slowly start, marks China's first a hydrogen fuel cell electric locomotive successfully developed.
After nearly four years of unremitting efforts, Professor Chen Weirong and his research team of Southwest Jiaotong University, finally worked out the fuel cell electric locomotive key technology, and successfully developed the 150 kw fuel cell electric locomotive.
The locomotive with 150 kw fuel cell as the traction power, 2 units of 120 kw permanent magnet synchronous motor as a traction motor, the design speed of 65 km/h, continuous traction strength 20kn, traction weight of 200 tons. Hydrogen can be filled with light load continuous 24 hours, and can be widely used in rail transit engineering vehicle, service unit and shunting yard.
The fuel cell electric locomotive is powered by hydrogen without any other harmful gas.
Compared to the traditional electric locomotive, the fuel cell electric locomotive is clean, environmental protection, high efficiency and a series of significant advantages, has a broad prospect of application. In recent years it has become a popular field t in research of rail transit.
“机车的前后均为车头，‘正反’都可以开，这在一定程度上提高了运行的安全性、便捷性。”该科研团队的陈维荣教授介绍说，“蓝天”号取“蓝天白云、美丽家园”之意，反映了机车的环保特点。
据了解，该燃料电池电动机车由西南交通大学牵头研制。以陈维荣教授为首的科研团队，经过近4年的不懈努力，终于掌握了燃料电池电动机车关键技术，成功研制出150kW燃料电池电动机车。
该车采用150kW燃料电池作为牵引动力，2台120kW永磁同步电机作为牵引电机，设计时速65km/h，持续牵引力20kN，牵引重量200吨。装满氢气可轻载连续运行24个小时，可广泛应用于轨道交通的工程作业车、检修车和站场调车。
该燃料电池电动机车是以氢燃料电池作为动力源，它将氢气与空气中的氧气通过化学反应产生电能，其产物为水，没有任何其它的有害气体。因此，是一种清洁、高效、安全、可持续的新能源，被视为21世纪最具发展潜力的清洁能源和人类战略能源的发展方向，也是车用新能源中最具潜力的优选对象，属国家能源领域的重点研发技术。
据了解，氢燃料电池的特点是不受卡诺循环限制、清洁、能量转换效率高、模块结构、比功率高，既可以集中供电、也适合分散供电，被称为是21世纪的分布式电源和最有前途的“绿色能源”，得到了世界各国的高度重视和大力资助，在众多领域得到了成功应用。
与传统电力机车、内燃机车相比，燃料电池电动机车具有清洁、环保、高效等一系列显著优势，具有广泛的应用前景，近年来逐渐成为轨道交通领域研究的热点与重点。
陈维荣说，我国轨道交通在促进经济发展的同时，也造成了能源消耗和环境污染。新一代环保、高效的新能源机车的成功研发，将大大促进中国和谐铁路建设和轨道交通的可持续发展，并将具有显著的社会效益和巨大的潜在经济效益。