Do The Locomotion: 207 Tons and 4,400 hp

摘要

They sit on a spur of test track outside General Electric's locomotive factory in Erie, Pennsylvania, panting and grumbling like two old lions half asleep. The ominous, muttering rumble is the sound of 8,800 horsepower at idle―24 cylinders with pistons big as buckets, turbo-chargers the size of washing machines, two V12 engines direct-driving alternators five feet in diameter. These are two of the most advanced diesel-electric locomotives in the world: GE Evolutions, running all-new power-plants designed specifically to meet stiff Tier Ⅱ EPA locomotive emissions regulations that go into effect next year. You didn't know locomotives had emissions regs? Neither did I. I assumed that the 207-ton iron gorilla of the wheeled world damn well did whatever it wished. But the new Tier Ⅱ standards require substantial cuts in NO_X and particulate matter, and GE, one of the world's major locomotive manufacturers, has designed a new engine to meet them handily. The engine has an air-to-air turbocharger intercooler that lowers induction-air temperature to only a few degrees above ambient, for cleaner emissions and more power. Not only is the new GEVO 12 four-stroke diesel 40 percent cleaner than its predecessor, it's three percent more fuel-efficient as well.