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7. Installation of a Diesel Driven Heating System to Reduce Locomotive Idling Time

Installation of a Diesel Driven Heating System to Reduce Locomotive Idling Time

The analysis and conclusions contained in this case study are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily represent the point of view of the Government of Canada.

Organization
Athabasca Northern Railway Ltd (now part of Canadian National Railway)

Major Findings
The Kim Hotstart Diesel Driven Heating System saves 12 litres of fuel for each hour of idling time avoided.

Project Timeline
August 2003 to October 2004

Please note that some figures such as cost savings on fuel are based on data from the period that this project took place.

Introduction

Transport creates about a quarter of Canada's greenhouse gases (GHG), with freight transport creating around 44% of that amount. Athabasca Northern Railway Ltd. received funds from Transport Canada's Freight Sustainability Demonstration Program to study how much fuel the Kim Hotstart Diesel Driven Heating System (DDHS) saved by reducing locomotive idling time. The project took place from August 2003 to October 2004.

The problem: Since locomotive diesel engine cooling systems use only water and may freeze if shut down in sub-zero temperatures, they are typically left idling between train-runs during the winter months. This practice is exceedingly wasteful of fuel.

The solution: The Kim HotStart Diesel Driven Heating System (DDHS) was installed to keep engine lubricant (oil) and engine coolant (water) circulated and heated during engine shut down. The system includes a battery charging system to ensure engine restart and to power the electric cab heaters, ensuring a service- ready locomotive when required.

Project Description

The project used three GM GP-9RM locomotives; two served as DDHS test units; the third had no DDHS unit and was the control. Since the three pulled the same train, engineers linked their controls with electronic cable, so that engineers in the lead locomotive could control the other two from the lead locomotive cab. If an engineer in the lead locomotive changed the throttle or brake settings, these would automatically change in the two locomotives trailing behind. This ensured proper control of each locomotive's speed.

Project Goals and Objectives

The DDHS allows engineers to turn off the engine and keep it warm when the locomotive is on sidings or waiting for a train in a yard. It also heats the cab and charges the locomotive engine's batteries. The project goal was to show how much fuel the system saved and how much it reduced GHG emissions.

Project Methodology

To calculate how many tons of cargo the locomotives hauled over how many miles (ton-miles), researchers:

• Calculated track distance for train routes;
• Calculated tonnage over the specific routes with car volumes, load weights and the average weight of empty rail cars; and,
• Measured the fuel added to the locomotive.

The table below shows how researchers measured how much fuel the locomotives used for each ton-mile.

What researchers calculated	How they did it
Litres of fuel per ton-mile used	They: Calculated the consist's* route miles Multiplied this by the tonnage moved Divided this figure by the number of locomotives in the consist* *A group of locomotives connected for a particular operation or trip.
Litres of fuel each locomotive used per mile	They: Divided the number of litres of fuel a locomotive used by the number of miles it ran.
Litres of fuel the DDHS saved	They: Compared how much fuel locomotives at idle used with how much fuel the DDHS would use over the same idling time.

To measure the DDHS operating hours, researchers used the DDHS meters.

Results

Usability Issues

The DDHS was very easy to use; when the locomotive engineer shut down the locomotive, the DDHS would automatically start operation. However, there were some problems with the automatic start up cycle. If the DDHS was not started every day, the engine would not always start due to the fuel supply bleeding back to the tank causing air locks in the fuel lines (The DDHS draws its fuel from the tank on the locomotive). When this occurred the locomotives would have to remain running until the mechanical department could address the issue. The second problem was the reliability of the DDHS in temperatures below minus 25 degrees Celsius; to guarantee locomotive availability, the use of the DDHS was restricted at these temperatures.

Testing Results

Researchers estimated that locomotives would run 5,376 hours during this study. The Kim-Hotstart DDHS eliminated 595 hours of idling, or 11.1% of running time, for a savings of 12.1 litres of fuel an hour. Over the course of the project, 7,200 litres of fuel were saved. At mid-2008 diesel fuel prices, this saved $10,440.

How much fuel locomotives used:

Fuel	Locomotive with DDHS heaters	Locomotive without heaters
Fuel used when idling (litres per hour)	13.638	13.665
Fuel used running in throttle notch 2 (litres per hour)	22.73	22.75
Fuel used per mile (litres)	6.845	6.848
Fuel used per ton mile (litres)	0.00945	0.00947

Ton-Mile Activity:

Distance or weight per distance	Litres of fuel saved per distance
Per mile	6.845
Per ton-mile	0.00945

Distance or weight by distance	Amount
Distance travelled	5,012 miles
Weight hauled by distance	14,610,525 ton-miles (21,329,905 tonne-kilometres)

Fuel used	Amount
Litres of fuel consumed	120,900 litres

Fuel Efficiency:

Average litres of fuel used or saved	Litres
Used per ton mile for the test unit	0.00896
Used per ton mile for the control unit	0.00925
Used per mile for the test unit	6.945
Used per mile for the control unit	7.805
Saved per hour of DDHS operation	12.10

Operation and Implementation Costs

According to the Natural Resources Canada Web site, the average mid-2008 diesel price was $1.45 Canadian, per litre. This means that DDHS savings were about $17.55 Canadian for one locomotive idling for one hour.(http://www2.nrcan.gc.ca/eneene/sources/pripri/prices_byfuel_e.cfm)

The two DDHSs cost $95,902.67 to buy, ship and install. The DDHS ran for 595 hours, saving 7,200 litres of fuel. At mid-2008 prices, this represents a savings of $10,440, which could pay for the system after 5,400 hours the locomotive would have otherwise spent idling.

Cost or Savings	Amount
Cost to buy, ship and install the heating systems	$95,902.67
Savings in fuel over 595 hours idling	7,200 litres
Savings at mid-2008 diesel prices for a locomotive	$10,440
Payback period in idling time	5,400 hours of idling time eliminated
Payback period in engine running time (given 11.1% idling time cited above)	48,648 hours running time - 5,400 hours idling time = 43,248

Conclusion

Since the DDHS did not work well at temperatures below -25^°, Athabasca-Northern only used it when low temperatures were above -25^°. When used, the DDHS saved 12 litres of fuel per hour of idling time. Each litre of fuel a locomotive uses creates about 2.7 kg of GHGs. This means that the DDHS cut 19,440 kg of GHGs, thus benefiting the operators and reducing harm to the atmosphere.

Additional Resources

Please note: Canadian National Railway (CN) purchased Athabasca Northern Railway in December 2007.

• CN
• Kim Hotstart
• Natural Resources Canada: Average Retail Diesel Prices in Canada

Alternative Format

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Date modified:

2012-02-08

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