General statistics of diesel engines’ idle time: Shunting locomotives in industrial sidings in Poland 2009…2013

Shunting locomotive/switcher (AmE)/utilization profiles are analyzed in this paper, in particular on the basis of idle time data collected in nineteen Polish industrial sidings and yards. 40 years old, diesel-electric locomotives are observed during 1000 h. Idle times related to work cycles are analyzed statistically. The percentage of the shunting locomotive daily operating time that the engine is operating at idle amounts to 70% (from 55% to 90%), and average daily idle fuels consumption amounts to 150 l a day (from 90 to 240 l a day).Many European and Asian countries still operate a significant number of similar (ChME3, e.g. S200) old, diesel-electric locomotives (almost 8000 locomotives have been produced), for moving trains over long distances and as shunting locomotives.Observed frequent short idle time periods suggest necessity of widening future scope of idling times’ analysis. Adaptation of Polish rolling stock will be possible using prior general public education about dangerous carcinogens in diesel exhaust smoke and fuel waste related to diesel engines’ idling. Simple simultaneous depiction of diesel engine power time series together with idle time could be used for educational visualization of idling among a wider audience. In the future classical aggregated idle time statistics should be supplemented by models that are more related to the variability of shunting locomotives diesel generator’s power time series, e.g. distribution of frequent short individual idle time cases.     

The influence of locomotive diesel engine transient operating modes on energy usage

This paper analyzes the influence of transient operating modes in the Cat 3512B-HD and MTU 4000 R41 locomotive diesel engines on their energy usage. This analysis represents an integral component of the technological research and development performed at Lietuvos Geležinkeliai AB (JSC Lithuanian Railways) with the objective of increasing the efficiency of freight transportation with the upgraded 2M62M and modern ER20CF/2ER20CF diesel locomotives. The influence of transient modes on the operating variables of the locomotive diesel engines was evaluated under operational load-cycling conditions to aid in the selection of appropriate parameters (e.g., the train weight, the diesel locomotive type, and the technical characteristics of the diesel locomotive to be modeled) for freight transportation on Lithuanian railway lines. It was determined that the engine’s electronic control system compensates for the negative effects of transient operations on the engine’s energy usage. As a result, the increase in fuel consumption is less than 3% during transient operation when compared to steady-state operation. Through this research, methodological foundations have been formulated and adapted for the use of the mathematical modeling of the transient modes of locomotive diesel engines to optimize freight transportation, resulting in an expected decrease of 10–15% in fuel consumption.     

The role of nano additives for biodiesel and diesel blended transportation fuels

The energy crisis is due to two reasons, one is the rapid increase in worldwide population and the other is changing living style of human beings. The fossil fuel is also a major contributor to add the harmful pollutants into the atmosphere. Fuel modifications play a major role in increasing engine efficiency and reducing emissions. In the present investigation focused on fuel modifications in diesel engine. Initially the single cylinder diesel engine was operated with 20MEOM, 40MEOM, 60MEOM, 8MEOM and 100MEOM without additives with diesel at different loads at constant rated speed. From the experimental study proved that 20MEOM is the best fuel ratio compared to other blends. In second phase based upon first phase results the engine was operated 20MEOM blended fuel with adding 50 ppm copper oxide nano additives with diesel using solgel process. From the results, the brake thermal efficiency was 2.19% improved compared than 20MEOM blend without additive at full load condition. Emissions of HC, CO and smoke were considerably reduced. The present analysis reveals that the biofuel from mahua oil with nano additives is quite suitable as an alternate fuel for diesel engine.     

船用柴油机12PA6B超负荷性能试验研究

我国船用柴油机功率标准规定柴油机应能够在超负荷功率(即110%标定功率)下连续运转。超负荷工况各参数变化可以反映柴油机的整体性能,是船用柴油机负荷试验的重要工况点。本文通过陕柴重工生产的12PA6B柴油机的负荷试验,研究证实该机型在超负荷工况下能保持较低的燃油消耗率和烟度排放,以及较高的功率和扭矩输出。     

Toxic air pollutants and trucking productivity in the US

This paper introduces toxic air pollutants into the measurement of trucking productivity to obtain true productivity growth. Our results show that omitting or ignoring toxic air pollutants in measuring trucking productivity yields statistically significant biased productivity estimates in for 2002-2005. Trucking productivity growth was understated by the traditional productivity measure, because the latter did not account for reductions in truck air pollution over time. We also find that the difference between traditional and environmental efficiency scores was negligible, suggesting that environmental constraint did not distort efficiency in the trucking sector.     

电力推进技术在渡船中的应用

近年来,国家陆续出台了关于长江生态保护的相关文件。随着电力推进技术在节能减排方面的优势显现,常规动力渡船存在的问题显而易见,如较长传动轴增加了能量损耗,降低了能源效率;柴油机的响应较慢,影响船舶的机动性;柴油机的燃烧不充分导致燃油的过多消耗,以及柴油机直驱渡船的动力推进装置占据了机舱的大部分空间。本文结合电力推进渡船的应用情况,针对上述常规推进渡船的缺点,对船舶动力系统进行了改进,采用全回转电力推进取代原先柴油机直驱,电站采用高压共轨电喷式柴油机带动发电机发电,经整流实现直流组网后,统一为全船提供动力和日常用电。     

Technical and environmental effects of biodiesel use in local public transport

Biodiesel use in local public transport could be especially significant in improving air quality in cities. The purpose of the experiments described in this paper was to evaluate the various (10, 20 and 50%) blends of biodiesel with diesel in the context of the engine and pollution aspects. As regards the experimental use of these findings on municipal buses, these experiments were the first reference in Hungary. The ages (15–20 years) and types of buses (Ikarus-280, Ikarus-260) used in the experiments are still common vehicles in Hungarian public transport. During our measurements, there was a significant difference between the change in fuel consumption of articulated and solo buses in traffic when compared to test bench measurements. The proportion of the engine performance reduction is nearly the same as that for biodiesel share in the blends. Most pollutants were decreasing (both at idle and full rpm), but this reduction is not directly proportional to the increase of the blending percentage. However, as for CO₂, emission increase was observed in the case of idle rpm in comparison to normal diesel operation, even though this phenomenon was not due to biodiesel use, but the catalytic converter and the fact that biodiesel was used for the first time in the engine concerned.     

The regulation of the trucking industry—deterministic replacement model application

An attempt has been made to analyze the impact of a country's regulatory policy of its trucking industry on the correlation between the preferable usage of trucks according to national interests and its counterpart according to private interests, by using a deterministic replacement model. Operational data has been obtained from time series derived from a cross‐sectional survey of the country's truck fleet. Trucks were grouped into 15 strata according to characteristics of load capacity, technological specification, and type of fuel. For each stratum the optimal replacement age was determined according to the criteria of minimal average cost of hauling ton × km, maximal average profit, and minimal average annual cost, and the corresponding costs or profits were calculated for both interests. By comparing the optimal conditions in the various strata, the preferable fuel types and load capacities were determined for the national interest and recommendations for regulation have been provided coinciding the national and private preferences in utilizing trucks.     

A derived demand model of regional highway diesel fuel use

A regional, econometric model of heavy truck diesel fuel use is derived based on the theory of production. Input demand functions for new trucks and diesel fuel are specified and estimated. A simple, logistic scrappage model is estimated and used to estimate total heavy truck stocks and diesel-engine heavy truck stocks. Demand equations based on the AIDS almost ideal demand system flexible form cost function are estimated for new heavy truck demand and regional highway diesel fuel demand. New heavy truck demand is found to be elastic with respect to GNP, inelastic with respect to own price, and appears extremely sensitive to short term GNP trends. The short run price elasticity of diesel fuel demand is found to be very small.     

Analysis of Class 8 truck technologies for their fuel savings and economics

Non-electrification efficiency-improving technologies and powertrain technologies for reducing the heavy-duty truck fuel consumption are studied. The study indicates that improvements in engine efficiency, aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance will benefit fuel economy significantly over the day drive and over-the-road highway driving cycles; 6–13% in fuel savings can be expected from each technology. Hybridization can achieve fuel saving of 16% and is financially attractive for the day drive cycle. Compared to the baseline Class 8 conventional trucks, an improvement of 20–22% and 28–50% in fuel economy by 2020 can be expected using non-electrification efficiency-improving and a combination of non-electrification and hybrid technologies. Fuel economy improvements of a factor of four to five can be achieved by hybridizing the heavy-duty trucks used on ocean ports.     

Assessing methods for comparing emissions from gasoline and diesel light-duty vehicles based on microscale measurements

This paper assess whether a real-world second-by-second methodology that integrates vehicle activity and emissions rates for light-duty gasoline vehicles can be extended to diesel vehicles. Secondly it compares fuel use and emission rates between gasoline and diesel light-duty vehicles. To evaluate the methodology, real-world field data from two light-duty diesel vehicles are used. Vehicle specific power, a function of vehicle speed, acceleration, and road grade, is evaluated with respect to ability to explain variation in emissions rates. Vehicle specific power has been used previously to define activity-based modes and to quantify variation in fuel use and emission rates of gasoline vehicles taking into account idle, acceleration, cruise, and deceleration. The fuel use and emission rates for light-duty diesel vehicles can also be explained using vehicle specific power -based modes. Thus, the methodology enables direct comparisons for different vehicle fuels and technologies. Furthermore, the method can be used to estimate average fuel use and emission rates for a wide variety of driving cycles.     

Impacts of highway congestion on freight operations: perceptions of trucking industry managers

To better understand how road congestion adversely affects trucking operations, we surveyed approximately 1200 managers of all types of trucking companies operating in California. More than 80% of these managers consider traffic congestion on freeways and surface streets to be either a “somewhat serious” or “critically serious” problem for their business. A structural equations model (SEM) is estimated on these data to determine how five aspects of the congestion problem differ across sectors of the trucking industry. The five aspects were slow average speeds, unreliable travel times, increased driver frustration and morale, higher fuel and maintenance costs, and higher costs of accidents and insurance. The model also simultaneously estimates how these five aspects combine to predict the perceived overall magnitude of the problem. Overall, congestion is perceived to be a more serious problem by managers of trucking companies engaged in intermodal operations, particularly private and for-hire trucking companies serving airports and private companies serving rail terminals. Companies specializing in refrigerated transport also perceive congestion to be a more serious overall problem, as do private companies engaged in LTL operations. The most problematic aspect of congestion is unreliable travel times, followed by driver frustration and morale, then by slow average speeds. Unreliable travel times are a significantly more serious problem for intermodal air operations. Driver frustration and morale attributable to congestion is perceived to be more of a problem by managers of long-haul carriers and tanker operations. Slow average speeds are also more of a concern for airport and refrigerated operations.     

Operational profiles of ships in Norwegian waters: An activity-based approach to assess the benefits of hybrid and electric propulsion

Various regulations are imposed on shipping to increase energy efficiency and reduce environmental impacts. Alternative fuels and power systems are among the solutions for compliance with these regulations. The power system of a ship may not operate optimally because of the diversity of the operational profile during its lifetime. This article uses an activity-based approach and big data from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) to study the operational profiles of eight ship types operating in Norwegian waters around mainland Norway in 2016. The aim is to identify ship types that can benefit from electric and hybrid propulsion through analysis of their operational profiles. Close to shore, the operational profiles of various ship types are similar, and all ships spend a great proportion of their time with lower loads. As the distance from shore increases, the operational profiles of various ship types follow distinct trends. Among the considered ship types, reefers spend more operational time close to the diesel engine design condition. On the other hand, offshore and passenger ships show the most dynamic operational profiles and spend a large percentage of their operational time with a partial load, away from diesel engine design conditions. Such ships can benefit from hybridisation, diesel-electric propulsion, and other electric concepts, such as batteries and fuel cells. Another option is to downsize diesel engines for better operation while fuel cells and batteries supply peak and partial loads. Operational profiles are plotted and details of the approach are presented in the article.     

Heavy-duty trucking and the energy efficiency paradox: Evidence from focus groups and interviews

Theory suggests that profit maximizing firms have an incentive to incorporate cost-effective technologies into their products. However, simple net present value calculations comparing upfront costs of fuel-saving technologies to future savings suggest this is not always the case. This puzzle is commonly referred to as the “energy efficiency paradox.” A growing number of empirical studies examine why households may under-invest in energy efficiency. Fewer studies examine similar undervaluation by businesses. We explore investment decisions within the heavy-duty trucking sector for fuel-saving technologies via focus groups and interviews to gain insight into what factors might explain apparent underinvestment in fuel-saving technologies. We find some evidence that market failures related to lack of information about technology performance and network externalities contribute to slow adoption of some technologies. However, information about new technologies for tractors seems to generate limited spillovers. There is also some evidence of split incentives between owners and drivers, though companies have invested in a variety of technologies and approaches in an attempt to address these effects. Other factors important in trucking investment decisions that are not classic market failures include tradeoffs between fuel economy and other valued truck attributes, as well as uncertainty and risk associated with new technologies if decision-makers are loss averse.     

Cost-benefit analysis of alternative vehicles in the Philippines using immediate and distant future scenarios

Alternative vehicle technologies promise a sustainable future by reducing carbon emissions and pollution. However, their widespread adoption tends to be slow due to high costs and uncertainties in benefits. Using a life cycle-based approach, this study calculates ownership savings and societal benefits for various alternative vehicle technologies against their baseline vehicle technology (e.g. gasoline or diesel). The assessment is performed from a developing country context – in the Philippines. Furthermore, immediate and distant future scenarios are modeled. The immediate future scenario assesses costs and benefits if the shift is to happen now, while the distant future scenario considers the effect of widespread autonomous driving and ridesharing. The results of the study echo the significant societal benefits from electric- and fuel cell-powered vehicles found in literature, but they are hindered by high ownership costs. In the immediate future, the diesel hybrid electric vehicle can potentially have both positive societal and operational costs for public transportation. For a gasoline-powered private passenger car, a simple shift to diesel, 20% biodiesel or 85% methanol can be beneficial. In the distant future, it is expected that autonomous, rideshared vehicles can potentially lure people away from driving their own vehicles, because of lower costs per passenger-kilometer while sustaining the privacy and comfort of a private car.     

Benefit of speed reduction for ships in different weather conditions

Currently, the shipping industry is facing a great challenge of reducing emissions. Reducing ship speeds will reduce the emissions in the immediate future with no additional infrastructure. However, a detailed investigation is required to verify the claim that a 10% speed reduction would lead to 19% fuel savings (Faber et al., 2012).This paper investigates fuel savings due to speed reduction using detailed modeling of ship performance. Three container ships, two bulk carriers, and one tanker, representative of the shipping fleet, have been designed. Voyages have been simulated by modeling calm water resistance, wave resistance, propulsion efficiency, and engine limits. Six ships have been simulated in various weather conditions at different speeds. Potential fuel savings have been estimated for a range of speed reductions in realistic weather.It is concluded that the common assumption of cubic speed-power relation can cause a significant error in the estimation of bunker consumption. Simulations in different seasons have revealed that fuel savings due to speed reduction are highly weather dependent. Therefore, a simple way to include the effect of weather in shipping transport models has been proposed.Speed reduction can lead to an increase in the number of ships to fulfill the transport demand. Therefore, the emission reduction potential of speed reduction strategy, after accounting for the additional ships, has been studied. Surprisingly, when the speed is reduced by 30%, fuel savings vary from 2% to 45% depending on ship type, size and weather conditions. Fuel savings further reduce when the auxiliary engines are considered.     

Impacts of fuel quality on indoor environment onboard a ship: From policy to practice

Environmental considerations, concerning the negative impacts of ship exhaust gases and particles on ambient air quality, are behind the requirements of cleaner marine fuels currently applied in designated emission control areas (ECAs). We investigated the impact of a ship operating on two types of fuel on the indoor air quality onboard. Gaseous and particulate air pollutants were measured in the engine room and the accommodation sections on-board an icebreaker operating first on Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO, 1%-S), and later Marine Diesel Oil (MDO, 0.1%-S). Statistically significant decrease of SO₂, NOx, PM_2.5 and particle number concentration were observed when the ship was operating on MDO. Due to the higher content of alkylated PAHs in MDO compared to HFO, the concentration of PAHs increased during operation on MDO. The particulate PAHs classified as carcinogens, were similar to or lower in the MDO campaign. Chemical analysis of PM_2.5 revealed that the particles consisted mainly of organic carbon and sulfate, although the fraction of metals was quite large in particles from the engine room. Principal Component Analysis of all measured parameters showed a clear difference between HFO and MDO fuel on the indoor environmental quality on-board the ship. This empirical study poses a first example on how environmental policy-making impacts not only the primary target at a global level, but also brings unexpected localized benefits at workplace level. The study emphasizes the need of further investigations on the impact of new marine fuels and technologies on the indoor air environments on board.     

Development of Malaysian urban drive cycle using vehicle and engine parameters

Vehicles travelling in actual urban areas are mostly in idle, low or medium speeds, which reflects engine part-load condition. These regularly visited engine conditions, in reality affect the fuel economy during actual driving. Thus, understanding the characteristics of the actual driving conditions will enable many other benefits besides legislation. This paper presents the development of a preliminary Malaysian urban drive cycle with the inclusion of the engine parameters and characteristics, acquired through an actual urban driving on numerous urban roads in Malaysia that represents the actual consumer’s daily driving experience. The actual engine parameters and its characteristics are integrated into the assessment measures in an attempt to formulate representable drive cycle and fuel consumption data. The initial drive cycle is composed of 17 sequences selected from the actual on-the-road conditions to represent the Malaysian urban driving. The average fuel economy of the established Malaysian urban drive cycle was then measured on a test bench using the same engine from the vehicle. The recorded fuel economy with Malaysian urban drive cycle is 8.5% below the actual Malaysian urban driving which is closer estimation to the actual driving compared to the current in-practice NEDC which shows to be 43.1% below the actual Malaysian urban driving. Thus, Malaysian urban drive cycle is better in representing the Malaysian urban driving conditions compared to the NEDC in terms of the average fuel economy measurements.     

Experimental investigation of evaporation rate and exhaust emissions of diesel engine fuelled with cotton seed methyl ester and its blend with petro-diesel

An experimental study to measure the evaporation rates, engine performance and emission characteristics of cotton seed biodiesel (cotton seed oil methyl ester) and its blends in different volumetric proportions with diesel is presented. The thermo-physical properties of all the fuel blends have been measured and presented. Evaporation rates of neat cotton seed biodiesel, neat diesel and their bends have been measured under slow convective environment of air flowing with a constant temperature. Evaporation constants have been determined by using the droplet regression rate data. The neat fuels and fuel blends have been utilized in a test engine with different load conditions to evaluate the performance, combustion and emission characteristics of the fuels. The specific fuel consumption values of the two blends, viz. B25 and B75 are found to be same. At the highest load, B0 records the lowest CO volume followed by B100. From the observed evaporation, performance and emissions characteristics, it is suggested that a blend of B50 and B75 can be optimally used in standard diesel engine settings.     

Assessment of cost as a function of abatement options in maritime emission control areas

This paper assesses cost as a function of abatement options in maritime emission control areas (ECA). The first regulation of air pollutions from ships which came into effect in the late 1990s was not strict and could easily be met. However the present requirement (2015) for reduction of Sulfur content for all vessels, in combination with the required reduction of nitrogen and carbon emissions for new-built vessels, is an economic and technical challenge for the shipping industry. Additional complexity is added by the fact that the strictest nitrogen regulations are applicable only for new-built vessels from 2016 onwards which shall enter US or Canadian waters. This study indicates that there is no single answer to what is the best abatement option, but rather that the best option will be a function of engine size, annual fuel consumption in the ECA and the foreseen future fuel prices. However a low oil price, favors the options with the lowest capex, i.e. Marine Gas Oil (MGO) or Light Fuel Oil (LFO), while a high oil price makes the solutions which requires higher capex (investments) more attractive.