Hydrogen drives for rail

They stand taller than man, their streamlined heads peering out of the open gate of a brick building on the factory grounds of Siemens Mobility in Krefeld. Here, Mireo trains are assembled. Starting in January 2022, one of them will be equipped with technology that could turn the rail industry toward zero-emission rail transportation. Together with Deutsche Bahn, Siemens Mobility makes hydrogen usable as an energy supplier for multiple units. The trains will be equipped with fuel cells for this purpose.

"I am convinced that green hydrogen still has a lot of potential to reduce our emissions from transport," says De-Niang Maria Peymandar as she climbs an iron staircase in the assembly hall that leads to a gallery. Here you can see the roof of the trains, the area where the fuel cells wil be mounted. Maria Peymandar holds a doctorate in chemistry and works as a design manager at Siemens Mobility in Krefeld. The team she works with is working on fuel cell-based power generation onboard Mireo trains.

As a design manager, De-Niang Maria Peymandar is responsible for testing, acceptance, and integration of the system on the vehicle. For her ideas and patents related to this innovation, she has been awarded Siemens "Inventor of the Year 2021" in the Newcomers category. "Our current project is about testing a completely new overall system consisting of a hydrogen-powered train and a newly designed filling station," the award winner tells us. "Fuel cells are needed because the hydrogen is converted into electrical energy in the fuel cell. This energy is then temporarily stored in a battery and used, among other things, as propulsion energy. " In the development for Deutsche Bahn, she said, the goal is to design the interaction of the hydrogen and battery systems in such a way that the longest possible ranges are possible. "For the future, we expect to achieve ranges of up to 1000 kilometers," says Peymandar. "This makes the trains ideal for operation in regional transport."

The figures show the great potential of this approach: In Europe, 46 percent of rail lines are not electrified. More environmentally friendly propulsion technologies - including those using green hydrogen - could reduce CO2  emissions on lines still served by diesel multiple units.

"When we were developing the prototype for the project with Deutsche Bahn, ideas were forming in the back of my mind about what we could improve," Maria Peymandar says. She is holding a technical drawing in her hands. It shows a train and a sketch of a component with several layers. "These are the bipolar plates of a fuel cell," she explains.

"I have developed and patented an idea in which the plates are mounted in such a way that the circulating air cools them while the train is moving. The air is supplied from the train's surroundings via an air duct. This approach would have a stunning effect: it would make the fuel cell more efficient, cheaper, and ultimately 'greener' as we would have to spend less energy on cooling. " According to Peymandar, it could even potentially eliminate the cooling pump. That would make the train lighter and reduce maintenance costs.

"The idea for my patented invention came about in conversation with colleagues who are in direct contact with customers," she says. "Without the knowledge of real customer needs, the question of how we could make the fuel cell even 'greener,' more affordable and thus more attractive might not have arisen for me at all. "

The creativity of the entire team is something that sustains and motivates her, she says. "Sometimes you have an idea in the middle of the night, you're excited, you tell it the next day - and then you get great, constructive feedback that moves you forward. We have a culture of conversation where you can tell ideas without fear."