Providing traction power in the enclosed, highly regulated workplaces of underground mining and tunneling is a difficult challenge, and the inadequacies of conventional power are the basis of economic stress in the industries. Clean, safe, and productive fuelcell underground vehicles, while higher in capital cost, offer cost offsets that will make them the first commercially successful products. The Locomotive Project of the Fuelcell Propulsion Institute is developing and testing the world's first fuelcell-powered underground vehicle, a mine locomotive. Using a proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuelcell system coupled to metal-hydride storage, the vehicle is equivalent to the corresponding battery vehicle in power and tractive effort and has twice the volumetric energy and power density. Because weight is not a problem for locomotives and other mine vehicles, safe and compact metal-hydride storage is an ideal storage solution for underground vehicle applications. The locomotive will be exhaustively tested for safety, performance, and productivity, the latter in underground metal mines. The 25-month project involves more than 20 international partners, including mining companies, mine vehicle companies, mine regulators, organized labor, and national laboratories, and is internationally funded by two governments and the mining industry.
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