India introduces Hydrogen-powered train

The Indian Rail is the first railroad to test a hydrogen-powered train developed at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. The train will be operating on the route of Jind-Sonipat in Haryana, it will be a milestone in moving India towards green mobility. This project connects with the National Green Hydrogen Mission to produce five million metric tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2030 toward the net zero goal of India by 2070.

Hydrogen Train Technology

The train uses hydrogen fuel cells to produce electricity by a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. Jind utilises a 1-MW polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyser that produces hydrogen by separating water using renewable electricity. They store the hydrogen and feed it into fuel cells, where it is changed back into water, producing electricity to power the motors of the train. It is completely clean and free of carbon dioxide gases.

Fuel cell and Fuel cell Mechanism.

Separators isolate hydrogen and oxygen molecules by means of an electric current, and in the process of separation a polymer membrane is used to permit only protons to move through. Hydrogen molecules are divided into electrons and protons in the fuel cell. The protons mix with oxygen to make water and electrons flow through a surrounding circuit and produce the electricity that powers the train.

Green Hydrogen Production

One of the reasons why the train is sustainable is that renewable energy--solar and wind--is used to run the electrolyser. That guarantees that the production of hydrogen is carbon-free. More sustainable methods to generate green hydrogen include research in India to adopt innovative methods, including microbial electrolytic cells, to generate hydrogen using organic waste.

Innovations in Cost and Material.

The high cost of catalysts such as platinum and iridium that are in use in electrolysers and fuel cells is one of the greatest challenges facing hydrogen technology. It is being developed by Indian scientists with alternative nickel, cobalt and iron. New developments such as nickel based electrodes have demonstrated as good as platinum performance, which may assist in reducing cost and speeding up adoption.

Future Prospects

India will be the fifth nation to roll out hydrogen-powered trains after Germany, France, Sweden and China. Jind Sonipat train has the capacity of 2,638 and the speed of 110 km/h powered by a 1,200 HP engine. The government has set the cost of construction of 35 such trains at [?]2,800 crore by 2024-25. This measure is a big move towards a sustainable transport and reaching the long-term carbon neutrality targets of India.