Locomotive engines and the future of railway automotive power in Africa: A review

Abstract


 
 
 This work presents the review of locomotives and the future of railway automotive power in Africa. Locomotives down time on account of inadequate spare parts still remains a challenge in African. It is thus, imperative to review the locomotives in African, to establish the current capabilities as well as provide recommendations to bridge the gaps and its extrapolated trends in future. Firstly, the comparison factors were track length, electrified rails, number of locomotives and yearly passengers on each of Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia rails. Secondly, the focus was on engine parameters from literatures and maintenance logbooks of locomotives. From available data, it was found that South Africa and Egypt have more advanced rail system than the rest four selected countries. It was also found that additive manufacturing, 3D printing, ductile cast iron and die-forging can be used to produce the engine body for diesel engine using steel and aluminum alloys while aluminum silicon and tin doped with copper are good for reciprocation mechanisms. And finally, increased reliability of locomotives can be guided by an engine selection matrix, while use of renewable and energy hybridization are needed to meet the expansion of railroads in Africa.
 
 

Identification of Voltage Sag Sources in the Electrified Railway Power Supply System Based on CNNs

“…Among them, the voltage level of the ordinary electrified railway is 110 kV, and it is used in the railway equipment system, which has the characteristics of high equipment power and long service time. However, in the operation of the CNN electrified power supply system, it is often affected by three-phase unbalanced factors, and in the design of high-speed railway power supply system, it is necessary to improve the reliability of the power supply system to enhance power quality and achieve the electrified railway power supply system [13]. At present, single-phase wiring, CNN wiring, and impedance balance wiring are mostly used for traction transformer wiring, of which the latter two belong to balanced transformer wiring.…”

New approach to maintenance based on functional analysis of traction engines: Case of Locomotives of the International African Transport Company by RAIL

“…In common language, railway rolling stock is generally referred to as a "train", which is defined as one "engine vehicle(s) towing or not towing one or more vehicles". This definition refers to an assembly (or not) of vehicles, or railway convoy, designed to travel on a specific infrastructure: the railway [4]. This equipment is therefore guided along its entire route, which can be guided by a monorail or two or more rails.…”

“…These are the series-parallel groupings (3 TM in series and in parallel with the others), parallel (6 TM in parallel) and parallel series (2 TM in series and in parallel with the others). A TM is defined as an electrical device that performs the torque of the machine to drive the wheels of a locomotive [4].…”

Challenges of Application of Green Ammonia as Fuel in Onshore Transportation

“…In 2013, a map of nine main EU rail transport lines was presented, almost 50% of which are used by trains powered by diesel engines [84]. The power of diesel engines used in locomotives ranges from 1to 3 MW [85,86]. Reducing fossil fuel consumption requires technological changes in this part of the transportation sector as well.…”