EMISSIONS TESTING OF AN INTERCITY PASSENGER LOCOMOTIVE OPERATING ON B20 BIODIESEL FUEL

摘要

The emissions of a GE P-32 passenger locomotive was not adversely impacted by the use of B20 biodiesel blended fuel. Amtrak, with the support of the Federal Railroad Administration operated a P-32 passenger locomotive in revenue service for a period of 12 months, operating on a blend of 20% pure biodiesel and 80% #2 ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel. The P-32 locomotive used in the biodiesel demonstration was a Tier 0 12-cyclinder engine, built in 1991. The locomotive was operated on the Heartland Flyer route, providing passenger train service between Oklahoma City, OK and Fort Worth, TX. The biodiesel test locomotive maintained the Heartland Flyer train schedule 331 times by providing one roundtrip daily between the two cities, for a total of 410 miles.Following the in-service trial, the locomotive underwent emissions testing at the GE Transportation's locomotive emissions test facility in Erie, PA. The locomotive was tested according to the US Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) Title 40 Part 92. The test results show that operating the P-32 passenger locomotive on B20 biodiesel blended fuel for 12 months did not adversely affect the emissions of the locomotive. The paper will outline the procedure and results from the emissions testing of the B20 fuel in a passenger locomotive engine, after having used B20 fuel for 12-months in revenue service. The paper will show that the locomotive B20 emissions for hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) particulate matter (PM), and smoke opacity were not adversely affected, and were well below the EPA locomotive emissions limit.Due to warranty issues, GE permitted use of B20 for this study however GE does not approve use of B20 under its warranty provisions.