Initial bio-coal trials show promise as HRA member railway takes the lead Heritage Railway Association member, the Bure Valley Railway has held the most extensive trials of bio–coal on a heritage steam line in the UK to date.
The Bio-Fuels Trial
The trials, a cooperation between members of the Advanced Steam Traction Trust (ASTT), Bure and HRA took place over two days, Friday 11th June and Monday 14th June. The 10.15 departure to Wroxham on the Friday burnt the usual Welsh coal from Ffos-y-fran as a base comparator under test conditions, on the narrow gauge line. The second round trip test train burnt Homefire Ecoal50 and departed Aylsham around 14:00. Monday saw engines fire with Briteflame and Homefire Ovals. All three products are from a range of manufactured smokeless fuel samples given to the Bure Valley Railway for the trials by CPL Industries. Andrew Barnes, Managing Director of the Bure Valley Railway explained careful measurements were taken during the experiment: “Fuel in the tender was weighed, the amount of water consumption and ash left in the ash pan and smoke box were also measured. Tranducers were rigged to a computer in the lead carriage to measure smoke box vacuum, exhaust performance, and speed.” “All three fuels functioned well but Homefire Ecoal50, made up of 50% biomass, notably crushed olive husks which would otherwise end up in landfill with the associated risks of methane, and 50% traditional solid fuel fines, was an unqualified success giving the same performance as our usual Welsh coal whilst emitting up to 40% lower emissions.” ASTT produced the test protocol, provided the test equipment and supervised the trials. John Hind, Chair ASTT said: “We are not only looking at performance here but how the bio-fuel burns and what will be acceptable to passengers? Homefire Ecoal50 is the nearest to recreating that unique ambience visitors expect recreating the smell of heritage steam.” The results from the trials were as follows: Homefire Ecoal50 came out on top with an exact match for the performance of coal, Briteflame showed 80- 85% of the performance of coal but with significantly higher ash output. Homefire Ovals had 95% of the performance of coal. HRA’s CEO Steve Oates attended the event. He said: “It’s excellent to see one of our member railways taking the lead. The timing couldn’t have been better. As carbon came under the spotlight at the G7 summit, a UK steam railway has been testing an alternative to fossil fuel. Although heritage steam only produces 0.023% of total UK carbon emissions
Great Western Star Summer 2021
(Above) The Bure Valley used for the trials (Below)Loading the Bio-fuel
we continue to be very focussed on finding ways to reduce this further.” Andrew Barnes, MD of Bure Valley Railway added: “The trials have been a positive step forward for the future of Heritage Steam and suggest that, certainly for 15-inch gauge lines, we now have 2 viable alternatives to coal. More trials will of course be needed under controlled conditions for larger narrow-gauge and standard gauge steam.
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