详情

Managing Energy and Emissions for Rail Operations

项目名称：	Managing Energy and Emissions for Rail Operations
摘要：	North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) owns six diesel locomotives and is acquiring two additional locomotives. These locomotives, which are used for Amtrak passenger service between Raleigh and Charlotte, are old, lack emission controls, produce high emissions. However, a new locomotive with the latest emission controls costs $6 million. Therefore, to reduce emissions at lower cost, NCDOT is exploring the use of alternative fuels and retrofitted emission control technologies. Furthermore, NCDOT has made extensive capital improvements to the rail corridor, including removing grade crossings and other updates that eventually will improve travel speed. There is need to assess the effect of alternative fuels, retrofitted emission controls, and changes in the rail corridor on the energy efficiency and emissions for passenger service to determine which fuels to procure, compliance of retrofitted emission controls with vendor contract specifications, and operational benefits of corridor capital improvements. NCDOT is currently conducting a pilot study to retrofit a Blended After Treatment System (BATS) on locomotive NC 1859 to reduce NOₓ and particulate matter (PM) emissions. NC State is developing methods to evaluate the BATS. During 2018, NCDOT plans to replace the BATS on NC 1859 with a second generation system, and to install the second generation Advanced BATS on the other seven locomotives in the fleet. The retrofitted second generation ABATS will require validation based on real-world data. There is a new generation of alternative fuel, referred to as "renewable diesel," that is chemically different from biodiesel. In prior work, we have assessed the effect of various biodiesel blends on locomotive emissions based on portable emissions measurement systems (PEMS). However, there has been no evaluation of the effect of renewable diesel on locomotive energy use and emissions. Furthermore, there is as yet not a reliable method based on real world data for assessing the impact of corridor capital improvements on energy use and emissions of trains traveling on this corridor. Therefore, there is need to assess the effect of alternative fuels, retrofitted emission controls, and changes in the rail corridor on the energy efficiency and emissions for passenger service to determine which fuels to procure, compliance of retrofitted emission controls with vendor contract specifications, and operational benefits of corridor capital improvements. Furthermore, there is a need for real-world data upon which to base such estimates. The objectives of this research are to: (1) quantitatively evaluate the real-world performance of the retrofitted ABATS for each locomotive in which it is installed; (2) quantitatively assess the sensitivity of locomotive exhaust emission rates to differences in fuels, with a focus on renewable diesel versus ultra low sulfur petroleum diesel; and (3) develop a new planning-level capability to quantify the effect of corridor improvements on real-world locomotive activity, energy use, and emissions.
状态：	Active
资金：	$219,996
资助组织：	North Carolina Department of Transportation
管理组织：	North Carolina Department of Transportation
项目负责人：	Bolyard, Steven
执行机构：	North Carolina State University, Raleigh
主要研究人员：	Frey, H Christopher
开始时间：	20170801
预计完成日期：	20190731
实际结束时间：	0