Fireless locomotive

A fireless locomotive is a type of locomotive which uses reciprocating engines powered from a reservoir of compressed air or steam, which is filled at intervals from an external source. They offer advantages over conventional steam locomotives of lower cost per unit, cleanliness, and decreased risk from fire or boiler explosion; these are counterbalanced by the need for a source to refill the locomotive, and by the limited range afforded by the reservoir. They were desirable in situations where smoke from a firebox would be too noxious, or where there was risk of fire or explosion. Typical usage was in a mine, or a food or chemical factory. They were also used where a source of air or steam was readily available, and for moving loads within limited areas, such as a switch yard or within an industrial factory. They were eventually replaced for most uses by diesel and battery electric locomotives fitted with protective appliances; these are described as flame-proof locomotives. They still have some limited use at factories that produce large amounts of excess steam and where the tasks of the locomotive do not require it to move far from the steam source. John Fowler attempted to make a "hot brick" locomotive for the London Metropolitan Railway, but trials in 1861-1862 demonstrated that the idea was not yet mature, and this embarrassing failure was later nicknamed Fowler's Ghost. An early application of the fireless locomotive was to street tramways in the United States. Emile Lamm developed two types of fireless locomotive, one using ammonia and the other using stored steam. Lamm founded two companies, Ammonia & Thermo-Specific Propelling Company of America in 1872 and (with Sylvester L. Langdon) Lamm Fireless Engine Company in 1874. Lamm's fireless engines were briefly popular, both in the United States and in France, but were soon displaced by electric trams. The French locomotives were built in association with Leon Francq, under the name Lamm & Francq. The fireless system then gained a new lease of life for industrial shunting locomotives.

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Pneumatic motor

A pneumatic motor (air motor), or compressed air engine, is a type of motor which does mechanical work by expanding compressed air. Pneumatic motors generally convert the compressed air energy to mechanical work through either linear or rotary motion. Linear motion can come from either a diaphragm or piston actuator, while rotary motion is supplied by either a vane type air motor, piston air motor, air turbine or gear type motor.

Electric-steam locomotive

An electric-steam locomotive is a steam locomotive that uses electricity to heat the water in the boiler to create steam instead of burning fuel in a firebox. This is a highly unusual type of locomotive that only makes economic sense under specific conditions. Normally, it would be much more efficient to build and use an electric locomotive. However, lack of time and resources (as during wartime), lack of coal or similar fuel, and the presence of relatively cheap and available electricity may make conversion of an existing steam locomotive into an electric-steam locomotive a viable proposition.

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomotive's boiler to the point where it becomes gaseous and its volume increases 1,700 times. Functionally, it is a steam engine on wheels. In most locomotives, the steam is admitted alternately to each end of its cylinders in which pistons are mechanically connected to the locomotive's main wheels.

Incorporating Location Aspects in Process Integration Methodology

François Maréchal, Ivan Daniel Kantor, Hür Ebuzer Bütün

The large potential for waste resource and heat recovery in industry has been motivating research toward increasing efficiency. Process integration methods have proven to be effective tools in improving industrial sites while decreasing their resource and ...

2019

Environmental, Energetic and Economic Evaluation of Implementing a Supercritical Fluid-Based Nanocellulose Production Process in a Sugarcane Biorefinery

François Maréchal, Juliana Queiroz Albarelli

Nanocellulose, which is a disintegration product of plant cellulose, has recently come to public attention because of its great mechanical properties combined with renewability and biodegradability. From an environmental point-of-view, nanocellulose has sh ...

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Catenary Voltage Support: Adopting Modern Locomotives With Active Line-Side Converters

Alfred Rufer, Behrooz Bahrani, Martin Aeberhard

This paper proposes a voltage support scheme for traction networks, which compensates for the voltage drop along the catenary line to which locomotives are connected. The proposed method is based on the injection of capacitive reactive power through the cu ...

2013