Energy
A new advance makes train trips more efficient
Centuries after its introduction, rail transportation remains a critical means of delivering freight. An innovative ecomagination product illustrates how GE continues to improve fuel efficiency and control costs. GE’s Trip Optimizer™ System automatically controls a locomotive’s throttle and creates an optimal speed profile.
Canadian Pacific owns a fleet of Olympic Games-branded Evolution™ Series Locomotives that is traveling across Canada prior to the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, both transporting games-related equipment and moving the Olympic spirit. In 2008, Canadian Pacific tested the Trip Optimizer on 18 of these GE Evolution Series locomotives. It reported that fuel savings results were impressive in the pilot territories.
Trip Optimizer creates an optimal trip profile that can minimize braking by automatically learning a train’s characteristics. The system calculates the most efficient way of running by considering such factors as train length, weight, grade, track conditions, weather and locomotive performance. During the trip, a sophisticated network of onboard computers and GPS systems updates the profile continuously, adjusting for changes so the train can reduce fuel.
Even in a single year of use, the effect of the system is significant. For each Evolution locomotive on which it is used, the Trip Optimizer system typically reduces fuel consumption by 32,000 gallons, cuts CO2 emissions by over 365 tons, cuts NOx emissions by 3.7 tons, and decreases particulate matter emissions by 140 pounds per year.
