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Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering

Rail Yard Tour Ideal Setting for CCEE Researchers to Present Methodologies and Findings

November 4, 2015

As part of the 108th Annual Conference and Exhibition of the Air and Waste Management Association, held in Raleigh during June 22-15, 2015, several dozen attendees visited the North Carolina Department of Transportation Capital Rail Yard. NCDOT owns locomotives and passenger cars operated by Amtrak and dispatched by Norfolk Southern for twice-daily roundtrip service between Raleigh, NC and Charlotte, NC. NCDOT is pioneering efforts to reduce locomotive emissions. Over the last eight years, NC State has conducted research to quantify the real-world emissions of train operations and to help NCDOT and the Federal Railroad Administration identify strategies for emissions reduction.

As part of the tour, Dr. H. Christopher Frey and Ph.D. student Jiangchuan Hu demonstrated how Portable Emission Measurement Systems are used to measure real-time emissions from the 3,000 horsepower “prime mover” engine of a locomotive. Frey and his team have measured the activity, energy use, and emissions of all six locomotives in NCDOT’s fleet. This research has established new measurement procedures, enabled comparison of how much emissions change if a person takes the train instead of drives their own car, and enabled evaluation of the effect of engine rebuilds, biodiesel fuel, and operator behavior on actual emissions under real-world operating conditions. Further work is planned in the coming year to measure the effectiveness of retrofitted emission controls to be installed on a locomotive.

Hosts and attendees of the technical tour of the NCDOT Capital Rail Yard.
Hosts and attendees of the technical tour of the NCDOT Capital Rail Yard.
Dr. Chris Frey explains the real time air pollution emissions of a locomotive engine.
Dr. Chris Frey explains the real time air pollution emissions of a locomotive engine.
Dr. Chris Frey presented a poster on biodiesel fuel and its impact on exhaust emissions of diesel locomotives.
Dr. Chris Frey presented a poster on biodiesel fuel and its impact on exhaust emissions of diesel locomotives.
Demonstration of how locomotive engine emissions are measured in the rail yard. The same instruments can be installed onboard the train for over-the-rail measurements.
Demonstration of how locomotive engine emissions are measured in the rail yard. The same instruments can be installed onboard the train for over-the-rail measurements.
Posters describing NCDOT’s locomotive fleet and the Amtrak-operated Piedmont rail service, with locomotive NC 1755 in the background.
Posters describing NCDOT’s locomotive fleet and the Amtrak-operated Piedmont rail service, with locomotive NC 1755 in the background.
Lynn Harris (red shirt) of McDowell Engineers leads a tour of NCDOT’s rail yard and train equipment.
Lynn Harris (red shirt) of McDowell Engineers leads a tour of NCDOT’s rail yard and train equipment.
Attendees view locomotive emissions data as explained by PhD student Jiangchuan Hu (right).
Attendees view locomotive emissions data as explained by PhD student Jiangchuan Hu (right).
The technical visit featured tours, an emission measurement demonstration, and posters highlighting results from eight years of research by CCEE on locomotive emissions.
The technical visit featured tours, an emission measurement demonstration, and posters highlighting results from eight years of research by CCEE on locomotive emissions.