To be competitive to the air traffic the railway traffic must aim to higher speeds. For the time being the light weight gas turbine is, owing to its high power concentration, the only prime mover with which maximum speeds of 250 km/h and more can be realized on the present rail system. The European railway system is highly electrified (but with different current systems). But due to the enormous increase in the need for electrical energy, if the speed in express train service is increased, high investments would be necessary. Furthermore, the current collecting at speeds of 250 km/h covers many unsolved problems. Many routes are not frequented enough to make an electrification pay. But the development costs of a modern gas turbine are very high too and cannot be paid by the railway companies alone. Therefore 'industrialized' aircraft engines are used. The prices of the industry versions of today's aircraft engines are approximately twice as high as diesel engines of the same power output. The weight to power ratio of aircraft gas turbines to the weight to power ratio of (high speed) diesel engines is about 1:10. Prices (respectively production costs) and the weight to power ratio have an inverse relation. The further aim therefore has to be to reduce the production costs for the light weight industry gas turbine. The highest rates of the development costs of an aircraft gas turbine are: the development of aerodynamically and thermal highly loaded turbine components (compressor and turbine), the combustion system, the extreme light weight construction and the high demand for safety margin and reliability. By maintaining the aerodynamic parts (compressor and turbine blades and ducts) and the combustion system that determine the specific fuel consumption, but with a simplified and less expensive design of the unit, a considerable reduction of the production costs could be expected. The industrialization of the flight engine AIRESEARCH GARRETT 831 to the industrial version 331 has reduced production cost to about a half. An increase in weight of 50 % and more, when compared to the aircraft engine, should not influence the applicability of the gas turbine as a prime mover in railway operation.


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    Title :

    Light weight gasturbine as prime mover for railway express traffic


    Additional title:

    Leichtbau-Gasturbine als Antriebsmotor für die Eisenbahn


    Contributors:
    Schnell, E. (author)


    Publication date :

    1975


    Size :

    31 Seiten, 29 Bilder, 2 Tabellen, 6 Quellen


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Storage medium


    Language :

    English




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