The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and Progress Rail, a Caterpillar subsidiary, are working together to develop a variety of biodiesel and renewable diesel fuels with the goal of lowering the carbon intensity of the fuels used in the US freight rail industry.
Building on their 25-year relationship, the two entities are collaborating on the three-phase research project with $750,000 in research grants from the DOE and the Federal Railroad Administration.
Scientists will work at ANL’s Engine Research Facility, which houses two EMD diesel locomotive test engines, Argonne said in a press release.
In the first phase of the project, Argonne scientists will employ the lab’s high-performance computing resources supplied by the Bebop cluster in Argonne’s Laboratory Computing Resource Centre to construct a modelling framework of various combustion systems that improve on current models.
These models will be used by researchers to construct the single-cylinder engine that will be tested at Argonne in the second phase.
In the final phase, Argonne researchers will test a number of bio- and renewable diesel fuels on the test engine’s running cycle, assessing performance characteristics such as torque, power, engine thermal efficiency, and exhaust pollutants.
Throughout the project, Progress Rail will provide hardware and technical support.
“The goal is to use the highest blends of bio- and renewable diesels without compromising engine performance,” said Munidhar S. Biruduganti, an Argonne principal research engineer. ?
Progress Rail will employ Argonne’s research to drive additional performance and emissions optimization, allowing for the efficient and dependable use of high percentage blends of lower energy content bio- and renewable diesel fuels.
These upgrades would be extended to biofuel testing on multicylinder, high-horsepower engines in locomotives used for hauling freight long distances.
According to Michael Cleveland, Progress Rail’s director of advanced energy, the company is thrilled to take part in the evaluation of biodiesel and renewable diesel to help customers achieve their sustainability-related goals.
“With over 26,000 freight locomotives currently in service globally, we were the first major locomotive manufacturer to endorse B20 across our existing fleet,” noted Cleveland.
The Argonne-Progress Rail project started in 2022 and is predicted to be completed this year.
