I like the idea of NG for transportation, but man the potential of the fireballs after a derailing are frightening.
People go nuts for electric cars, I say why aren’t we using more LNG for cars and trucks?
The state of Connecticut routinely buys duel-fuel cars (gas and LNG) but have no refueling station anywhere near where most people use the cars, the capitol.
Trains carry a lot of dangerous chemicals safely every day. Is an LNG car likely to increase it’s risk profile significantly?
Trains are a great application for LNG as they have well defined routes and can be refueled at a limited number of specific points.
I believe it would be possible to convert existing diesel-electric locomotives to burn natural gas. I know that when I was studying mechanical engineering in the 1950s, “dual-fuel” engines in sizes comparable to current locomotive power were used in domestic electric power generation. These were basically similar to diesel, obtaining 95% of their power from natural gas, with fuel ignition provided by a small charge of diesel fuel injected into the cylinder at the start of the power stroke. The LNG, carried in the “fuel tender”, could be vaporized by waste heat from the engine exhaust. This would greatly reduce the cost of new power by saving the existing locomotive engines with fairly simple modifications.
The Kenai, AK fertilizer plant has been generating their own electricity with diesel locomotives converted to NG for 40+- years.
Please I wish someone develop a LNG system for home heating. PROPANE is TOO EXPENSIVE.
Fuels other than diesel are very problematic. Some years ago they tried locomotives fueled with gasoline. They gave off so much heat they looked like a volcano. I saw a great picture of one that parked under a concrete bridge and melted it.
However, the zinger about diesel engines is that, the hotter they get, the more efficient they get. Diesel semi trucks used to have the problem of “running away”, in which just a tiny amount of residual fuel reacted with extremely hot air resulting in the engine running out of control. It was running almost entirely on heated air.
In turn this points to a possibility for an advanced diesel engine. If the engine is made from advanced ceramics, that can handle much hotter temperatures than steel, and are otherwise harder than steel, you might be able to create a “controlled” run-away engine, vastly more efficient.
All you had to do was mention BNSF, and anything involved is warren buffett trying corner a market, and and using his government pull to destroy any competition. Union Pacific has NG powered locomotive for some time now. The reason for not using LNG for road locomotives is problems with fueling stops. Diesel fuel is stable, easy to transport, has simple storage and handling requirements, and has high energy density. Whenever you hear of an EPA mandate, think of it as simple economic warfare, and the party that buys the most government influence, wins. Buffett’s bnsf just won a huge contract to haul oil from wyoming, and his boy barry played a big part in that by not allowing a certain pipeline to be built.
Essentially, the development of steam locomotive technology ended in the 1950s. Such an idea may or may not be feasible today but because of the greens no one will ever even consider it.
Would be a BIG boom if it derails :/