Economic Feasibility Analysis Of PEM Fuel Cell Locomotive

With the era of low-carbon economy, changing technologies furnish even more fresh information into New Energy Tech. Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell power system tend to own great potential. In order to promote the application of fuel cell power system in railway industry, our project team launched The Research and Development of Fuel Cell Locomotives.Fuel cell locomotives are fueling by hydrogen energy. Since the price of fuel cell is terrifically expensive, and its fundamental fuel, hydrogen, belongs to secondary energy, the research and development of fuel cell locomotives requires the economic feasibility analysis.This paper proposed an economic model of fuel cell locomotive, and divided the factor affecting economic issue into six dimensions defined:non-renewable energy costs, hydrogen production, the cost of proton exchange membrane fuel cells, energy consumption around the world, greenhouse gas emissions around the world and hydrogen energy infrastructure. Then, this paper analyzed and proved each dimension though research, data integration, data analysis, modeling, programing and simulation. Fuel cell locomotive is economically feasible in every dimension through analyzing and proving. In consequence, the research and development of fuel cell locomotive is economically feasible.This paper includes both research analyzing and modeling simulation, with three issues in energy, environment and economic. Also, this paper proposed a method to analyze the economic feasibility of fell cell locomotive and offered the research results as valuable references to project team.