8/1/2023 0 Comments Engine locomotiveThe first American-built locomotive was designed and tested on a private track by the American engineer John Stevens in 1826. The British engineer George Stephenson built his first locomotive, the Blucher, in 1814, and in 1829 he demonstrated the practicability of the steam engine for commercial transportation his locomotive, the Rocket, attained 29 mi per hr (47 km per hr). Richard Trevithick, a British engineer and inventor, built and operated (1803–4) the first successful steam engine locomotive for hauling cars on a track. The technology is used primarily on turbotrains, high-speed passenger trains that do not have locomotives but instead are powered by units built into one or more of their cars. Gas turbine–electric locomotives are similar to the diesel-electric but use a gas turbine to drive the generator. Hydraulic drives are little used in the United States but are widely used in some countries, such as Germany. In diesel-hydraulic locomotives the engine drives a torque converter, which uses fluids under pressure to transmit and regulate power to the wheels. Because mechanical drives deliver less power to the wheels than electric and diesel-electric systems, they are only used with the smallest locomotives. Diesel-mechanical locomotives have a direct mechanical link consisting of a clutch and a series of gears and shafts between the engine and the wheels, similar to the transmission in an automobile. A modern diesel-electric locomotive produces about 35% of the power of a electric locomotive of similar weight. The ratio of the gearing regulates the hauling power and maximum speed of the locomotive. These motors drive the driving wheels by means of spur gears. The generating station consists of a large diesel engine coupled to an alternator or generator that provides the power for the traction motors. It differs principally in that it has its own generating station instead of being connected to a remote generating station through overhead wires or a third rail. It also has many of the same auxiliary systems for cooling, lighting, heating, and braking. Like the electric locomotive, it has electric drive, in the form of traction motors driving the axles and controlled with electronic controls. The modern diesel-electric locomotive is a self-contained, electrically propelled unit. Diesel Locomotivesĭiesel-electric locomotives were introduced in the United States in 1924, and have become the most widely used type of locomotive. Electric railroad locomotives are used chiefly on steep grades and on runs of high traffic density although highly efficient they are not more widely used because of the cost of electric substations and overhead wires or third rails. Battery locomotives, used only for local haulage, carry electric storage batteries that act as their primary source of power. Power is collected from an electric trolley, or pantograph, running on an overhead wire or from a third rail at one side of the track. Electric locomotives generally have two or more motors. Electric locomotives range from the small type used in factories and coal mines for local hauling to the large engines used on railroads.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |