Maligaon, Jan 06: In line with Indian Railways decision to adopt Head on Generation (HOG) technology on all Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coach fitted trains; NFR has already taken steps in this regard.
The new technology will not only help to reduce the power costs for running AC trains but will also help provide a cleaner environment for our future generations to come. The present LHB Linke Hofmann Busch coaches have been designed to run on End on Generation (EOG) system with two power cars employing two DG sets on either end.
The new HOG technology will replace the existing two generators in the LHB trains. In this new system power supply will be tapped from overhead power lines through pantograph to the train engine which will then be distributed to the coaches for train lighting, air conditioning, lighting, fans and other equipment that runs on the electrical power supply.
As the entire N.F. Railway portion has been sanctioned for Railway Electrification; the trains of N.F. Railway with LHB coaches are being modified in various depots and trial run are also being conducted. There will be better reliability due to reduced number of power generating equipments, low maintenance and reduced train weight.
The power generator cars which are being used presently consume about 100 lts diesel per hour, so there is substantial operating expenditure apart from huge noise, fume emission during run. With changeover to this new HOG technology, there will be huge savings in fuel bill thereby saving precious foreign exchange towards import of fuel.
Currently, the cost of power through burning of diesel is about Rs. 22/- per unit and with HOG technology it will available at Rs. 6/- per unit. Moreover diesel generators also pollute the air by producing about 1724.6 tons of CO2 and 7.48 tons of NOX per annum apart from producing about 100db of noise. With new HOG technology, there will be zero emission of CO2 and NOX apart from being noiseless.
In place of two such generator cars there will be one standby silent generator car to be used for emergency. In place of the other car, there will be LSLRD (LHB Second Luggage, Guard & Divyaang) coach. This LSLRD will also have capability to convert power from the overhead supply to be utilised in the entire train while providing space for luggage guard room and additional passengers. The savings towards fuel cost will be around Rs. 2 cr. per year per rake.
Moreover, these diesel run power cars (EOG) are also being used for testing and pre-cooling of LHB rakes at pit lines of coaching depots which takes about 5-6 hours per rake. So there is considerable consumption of diesel fuel apart from creation of air and noise pollutions.
The NFR is working to provide 750 V 3-phase power supply to coaching depots (where coaches are maintained) located at Kamakhya, Dibrugarh, New Jalpaiguri, Katihar and Agartala which would be used for testing of LHB rakes instead of the present diesel run generators. Work in Dibrugarh and New Jalpaiguri is already complete and it is in progress at Kamakhya.
There will be savings of about Rs. 25,000/- per rake per trip on fuel cost incurred during testing of LHB coaches at pit line apart from avoidance of the air and noise pollution that are being caused due to running of these generators during testing and pre-cooling.
