EMISSION FROM DIESEL LOCOMOTIVES – AN OVERVIEW

D.K.Saraf ED(Engine Development) RDSO

&
A.K.Kathpal Director (Engine Development) RDSO

Synopsis

The combustion of hydrocarbon fuels in a Diesel engine results in the production of

pollutants namely NOx, SO2, HC, CO, CO2 and Particulates. Due to harmful effects of
above pollutants on health and environment, norms have been prescribed world over to
regulate emissions from all sectors, including transport sector. In India too, the
environmental impact of emissions has come under legislative, judicial and public
scrutiny. Limits for the exhaust from various sources have already been laid down.
However, for locomotive diesel engines, no legislation norms are presently in vogue in
India.

The article compares the overall Emissions from Rail transport and Road transport for
transporting the same freight in Net Tonne / number of passengers. The comparison has
been made for the emissions from Tier - 1 EPA standard compliant ALCO design locomot-
ive, UIC-II 624 compliant ALCO design locomotive and the new GM design locomotives
with emissions from Euro-I standard compliant road vehicles.

Since the electric locomotives mainly use the power generated from thermal power
plants, the paper also compares the indirect emissions with the use of electric locomot-
ives and the direct emissions from diesel locomotives. Separate comparison has been
made considering the emissions from thermal power points complying with the CPCB
regulations and the average emissions from the thermal power points in the country.

The article also discusses the action plan of Indian Railways to reduce the Emissions
from their diesel locomotives in a phased manner so as to achieve the limits laid down in
International standards.

INTRODUCTION
Air Pollution results in damage to the environment, human health, and quality of
life. It also results in changing the Earth's atmosphere as it lets in more harmful radiation
from the Sun. At the same time, our polluted atmosphere prevents the heat from escaping
back into space and leads to a rise in global average temperatures. Scientists predict that
the temperature increase, referred to as global warming, will affect world food supply,
alter sea level, make weather more extreme, and increase the spread of tropical
diseases. Most air pollution comes from one human activity: burning fossil fuels such as
coal and oil to power industrial processes and transport sector.
In the present scenario, mobility is one of the most important requirements of
human kind. Unfortunately, in the long run the benefits offered by the transport system
are getting offset to a great extent by hazardous pollutants emitted by them. The
metropolis world-over are on the brink of major environmental crisis due to increasing air
pollution caused by the combustion of hydrocarbon fuels, which result in the production of
pollutants namely NOx, SO2, HC, CO, CO2 and Particulates. There is growing awareness
of the harmful effects of pollutants emitted from Internal Combustion engines on health
and environment, and, therefore, norms have been prescribed world over to regulate
emissions from all sectors, including transport sector.
In India also, the environmental effect of emissions has come under legislative,
judicial and public scrutiny. Limits for the exhaust from automobiles have already been
laid down. As per directives of Supreme Court, Euro-II norms are in force for the
automobiles in the National Capital Region. NGOs are demanding imposing of these
limits in other parts of the country as well.
July – September 2004 Abhivyakti
 For locomotive diesel engines, no legislation norms are presently in vogue in the
country. However, it is expected that emissions from Railway locomotives will also be
subjected to limits in the near future inline with International trends.
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS FOR DIESEL LOCOMOTIVES EMISSIONS
The maximum work in the world in the field of measurements, control and
legislation for the emissions from Diesel locomotives has been done by United States of
America (USA). This is so because 80% volume of Railway transport is carried by Diesel
locomotives (virtually 100% in case of freight) in USA as against 15% in Europe. In
European Union, European Rail Road Institute has done lot of work to finalise emission
testing procedures and testing cycles for emissions from diesel locomotives. However, at
present there is no legislation in Europe to regulate the locomotive emissions.
Emission norms in USA
The Clean Air Act of USA, as amended in 1990, mandated that Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) establish emission regulations for a variety of previously
unregulated non-road mobile sources. A specific mandate was given to adopt emission
standards for locomotives and locomotive engines. The emission standards and
associated regulatory requirements were promulgated in USA for control of emissions
from locomotive engines. These rules issued on April 16, 1998 have been made part of
Federal register / Volume 63, number 73.
The above rule in the Federal Register contains three sets of standards i.e. Tier 0,
Tier 1 and Tier 2, with the applicability of each dependent on the date of original
manufacture of locomotive. Tier 0 standards apply to the locomotives manufactured on,
or after, Jan. 1, 1973 and before Jan. 1, 2002. Similarly, Tier 1 standards apply to
locomotives manufactured on or after Jan. 1, 2002 and before Jan. 1, 2005; and Tier 2
standards apply to locomotives manufactured on or after 2005. These standards apply
when the locomotive is manufactured, re-manufactured or imported. The emission limits
prescribed in these standards in gm/bhp-hr are as under :

Tier HC CO NOx PM
Line Switch Line Switch Line Switch Line Switch
0 1.00 2.10 5.0 8.0 9.5 14.0 0.60 0.72
1 0.55 1.20 2.2 2.5 7.4 11.0 0.45 0.54
2 0.30 0.60 1.5 2.4 5.5 8.1 0.20 0.24

As can be seen from above, the standards require compliance over two defined
duty cycles i.e. Line-haul and Switch operation. These duty cycles represent the percent
of time locomotives typically spend in each throttle notch, including idle and dynamic
brake modes. While the line-haul duty cycle is weighted towards operation in the higher
power notches, the switch cycle lays more emphasis on idle and low power notch
emissions. (The switch cycle is applicable to shunting locomotives while line pertains to
main line locomotives).
In addition to the emission standards for gaseous and particulate matter, EPA has
also laid down smoke opacity standards. The limits for steady-state, 30 second peak and
3 second peak prescribed in the standards are as under.

Tier Smoke opacity (%) – Normalised

Steady-state 30 second peak 3 second peak
0 30 40 50
1 25 40 50
2 20 40 50

July – September 2004 Abhivyakti

 Since the passenger railroads face a variety of challenges, both fiscally and
otherwise in complying with the re-manufacturing aspects of the rule, EPA has agreed to
delay the effective date of Tier 0 requirements for passenger locomotives until Jan. 1,
2007.
Emission norms in Europe
European Rail Road Institute (ERRI) issued UIC leaflet 624 in April 2002. The
regulations specified in the above leaflet are applicable to all the new engines used, from
the date the leaflet is published, in new tractive units or existing tractive units being re-
engined with the exception of engines for special locomotives.
The limiting values prescribed by UIC in leaflet 624-0 are specific weighted values
over three modes. The modes and weighing factors are as per ISO Standard 8178-4,
Cycle F (applicable to locomotives). The speeds and weighing factors specified at
different modes are as under:

Mode Speed Weighing factors

1 Rated 0.25
2 60 to 75 % of rated 0.15
3 Idle 0.6

The above standards are in two parts – UIC I and UIC II. UIC I standards are
applicable upto 31.12.2002 and from 1.1.2003, UIC II standards are applicable. In the
UIC II standards, different limits have been laid down for the engines having the power
less/equal to 560 kW and greater than 560 kW. The limiting values specified in UIC II for
HC, CO, NOx and particulates in gm/kW-hr are as under :

Engine power HC CO NOx Particulates

≤ 560 kW 0.6 2.5 6 0.25
> 560 kW 0.8 3 9.5 for n > 1000 rpm 0.25*
9.9 for n ≤ 1000 rpm
* - A value of 0.5 gm/kw-hr acceptable in exceptional cases upto
31.12.2004

EMISSIONS FROM DIESEL LOCOMOTIVES OF INDIAN RAILWAYS

Emissions from ALCO Locomotives
Since NOx emissions are most problematic for diesel engines, the first effort made
by Indian Railways in November 1996 was to measure only the NOx emissions on the
fuel efficient 6-cylinder engine on RDSO engine test bed using the Thermo Electric make
equipment (based on Chemiluminescent detector principle). The measurements and
calculations gave the NOx value of 11.09 gm./kW-hr.
For the measurements on 12 and 16 Cyl. Engine, a portable emission measuring
equipment was used in November 2000. They give some idea of the range in which the
emission from the locomotives fall. The equipment is also useful in determining the
comparative performance of engines from the point of view of emissions.

Since the portable equipment are not capable of measuring particulates, only
gaseous emission measurements were carried out. Emission measurements were made
with different engine configurations.

For converting the ppm values to gm/bhp-hr., the calculation procedure and duty
cycle prescribed in EPA standard was followed. The results of measurements and
calculations have been compared with the limiting values specified in EPA Tier-1
standards and applicable in USA on date. The results in gm/bhp-hr. are as under :

July – September 2004 Abhivyakti

 ParametersEPA Std. Values calculated by EPA procedure
(Tier-1) for line-haul
(gm/bhp-hr.) 3100 HP 2600 HP 2300 HP
NOx 7.4 10.44 12.94 16.28
HC 0.55 0.02 0.03 0.03
CO 2.2 2.80 2.77 1.29
Emissions from new technology locos :

The results of Emissions and Particulates measurements of a typical 16 cylinder

710 G3B engine carried out by M/s. General Motors Corporation, USA on 10 th Oct. 2001
on their engine test bed have been analysed and the overall results for Line-haul cycle
are summarized and compared with EPA standards hereunder:

Parameters EPA standards EPA standards GM locomotive values

(Tier-0) (Tier-1) by EPA procedure for
line-haul

NOx 9.5 7.4 5.83

HC 1.0 0.55 0.31

CO 5.0 2.2 0.42

Particulates 0.6 0.45 0.29

All values in gm/bhp-hr.

COMPARISON OF EMISSIONS FROM ROAD VEHICLES AND LOCOMOTIVES

Since last few decades, there is a continuous marked shift in the usage of trans-
port sector from rail to road transport. This has already caused serious damage to our
environment by way of multifold increase in gaseous pollution levels. The magnitude of
problem will be clear from the discussions in succeeding paragraphs, where the emis-
sions from the road and rail transport have been compared from the point of view of emis-
sions, while carrying the same load in tonnes / number of passengers. The exercise has
been done separately for freight and passenger transport.

A. For Freight transport:

Emissions from conventional ALCO design and new GM design locomotives:

Since Indian Railways have planned to modify their locomotives so as to comply

with EPA and UIC standards, the calculations of emissions and payload carried by
ALCO design 3100 HP locomotives have been made with EPA Tier-1 compliant
locomotive and UIC-II 624 compliant locomotive. For the new 4000 HP GM design
locomotive, actual emissions have been considered, since it already complies with
the EPA and UIC standards. The calculations are made hereunder:

• A 3100 HP ALCO design locomotive and 4000 HP new design GM locomotive

can haul a train of 4700 gross tonnes and 7800 gross tonnes respectively on a
level track at a speed of 60 kmph.
• Even though new design GM locomotive can haul 7800 gross tonnes of load,
only 4700 gross tonnes is permissible to be carried on the Indian Railways
system in view of operational constraints. Hence, for this locomotive also, only
3100 HP has been considered while calculating the emissions in gm/hr.
• The load of 4700 gross tonnes corresponds to payload of 3400 tonnes
approximately.

July – September 2004 Abhivyakti

 • The emissions from the Tier - 1 EPA std. compliant 3100 HP ALCO design
locomotive, UIC-II 624 compliant ALCO design 3100 HP locomotive, actual
emissions from ALCO design 3100 HP locomotive and actual emissions from
the 4000 HP new design GM locomotive (only 3100 HP considered) in gm/hr
are worked out as under:

Locomotive Hydrocarbons Carbon Oxides of Particulate

engine Monoxide Nitrogen Matter

Tier - 1 EPA std. 1,705 6,820 22,940 1,395

compliant 3100
HP ALCO
UIC-II 624 1,829 6,944 21,948 589
compliant 3100
HP ALCO
3100 HP ALCO - 62 8,680 32,364 Not known
Actual emissions
4000 HP new 961 1,302 18,073 899
design GM -
Actual emissions

Emissions from Road Vehicles:

For comparison of emissions from Road Vehicles and locomotives, emissions from
equivalent number of trucks required to carry the same load i.e. 3400 tonnes have
been considered hereunder:

• A Tata Truck Model LPT-1613 turbo having 125 HP engine can haul a load of 16
gross tonnes on a level road at a speed of 60 kmph.
• The above truck can carry a payload of 10 tonnes.
• Thus, 340 trucks are required to carry a payload of 3400 tonnes approximately,
which correspond to payload carried by ALCO / GM locomotives.
• Permitted emissions from a truck in gm/bhp-hr as per Euro-I standards are as
under:

Unit Hydrocarbons Carbon Oxides of Particulate

Monoxide Nitrogen Matter

gm/bhp-hr 0.821 3.357 5.968 0.269

• From the above values, the emissions from one truck and 340 trucks
(equivalent to 58 BOXN load carried by 3100 HP and 4000 HP locomotives) in
gm/hr. are worked out as under:

No. of Hydrocarbons Carbon Oxides of Particulate

trucks Monoxide Nitrogen Matter

1 102.6 419.6 746 33.6

340 34,884 1,42,664 2,53,640 11,424

Comparison of Emissions from locomotives and Road Vehicles:

July – September 2004 Abhivyakti

 The values of individual constituents of emissions worked out above are compared
in chart hereunder:

300,000

Emissions in gm/hr
250,000

200,000
Hydrocarbons
150,000 Carbon Monoxide
Oxides of Nitrogen
100,000

50,000

0
Emissions Tier-1 EP A UIC-II 624 3100 HP 4000 HP new
from 340 std. compliant compliant ALCO - Actual design GM -
Trucks 3100 HP 3100 HP emissions A ctual
A LCO ALCO emissions

12,000

10,000
Emissions in gm/hr

8,000

6,000 Particulate Matter

4,000
2,000

0
Emissions from Tier-1 EP A std. UIC-II 624 4000 HP new
340 Trucks compliant 3100 HP compliant 3100 HP design GM - Actual
ALCO ALCO emissions

B. For Passenger transport:

Emissions from conventional ALCO design and new GM design locomotives:
As in case of freight transport, the calculations for emissions and number of
passengers carried by EPA Tier-1 compliant 3100 HP ALCO design locomotive,
UIC-II 624 compliant ALCO design 3100 HP locomotive and new 4000 HP GM
design locomotive for passenger transport are as under:

• A 3100 HP ALCO design locomotive can haul a train of 24 coaches on a level

track at a speed of 90 kmph.
• A 4000 HP new design GM locomotive can haul a much longer train but
because of operational constraints, Indian Railways do not run a train length of
more than 24 coaches. Hence, for this locomotive also, only 3100 HP has been
considered while calculating the emissions in gm/hr.
• Each coach has a capacity to carry 100 passengers.
• Thus, 24 coaches have the seating capacity for 2400 passengers.
• The emissions from Tier - 1 EPA std. compliant 3100 HP locomotive engine,
UIC-II 624 compliant ALCO design 3100 HP locomotive and actual emissions
from new design GM locomotive of Indian Railways, in gm/hr. as well as in
gm/bhp-hr. are same as calculated above in case of freight locomotives.
Emissions from Road Vehicles:
For comparison of emissions from Road Vehicles and locomotives, emissions from
equivalent number of buses required to carry the same number of passengers have
been calculated hereunder:

July – September 2004 Abhivyakti

 • A Tata Bus Model LP - 151052 having 110 HP engine has a seating capacity for
50 persons.
• Thus, about 48 buses are required to carry 2400 persons, which are carried by
the Indian Railway locomotive.
• Permitted emissions from a bus in gm/bhp-hr as per Euro - I standards are as
under:

Unit Hydrocarbons Carbon Oxides of Particulate

Monoxide Nitrogen Matter

gm/bhp-hr 0.821 3.357 5.968 0.269

• From the above values, the emissions from one bus and 48 buses (equivalent
to one 3100 HP locomotive) in gm/hr. are worked out as under:

No. of Hydrocarbons Carbon Oxides of Particulate

buses Monoxide Nitrogen Matter

1 90.31 369.27 656.48 29.59

48 4,334 17,724 31,511 1,420

Comparison of Emissions from locomotives and Road Vehicles:

The values of individual constituents of emissions worked out above are compared
in the chart hereunder:

35,000

30,000
Emissions in gm/hr

25,000

20,000 Hydrocarbons
Carbon Monoxide
15,000 Oxides of Nitrogen

10,000

5,000

0
Emissions from Tier-1 EPA std. UIC-II 624 3100 HP ALCO - 4000 HP new
48 Buses compliant 3100 compliant 3100 Actual emissions design GM -
HP ALCO HP ALCO Actual emissions

July – September 2004 Abhivyakti

 1,600
1,400

Emissions in gm/hr
1,200
1,000

800 Particulate Matter

600
400
200
0
Emissions from48 Tier-1 EPA std. UIC-II 624 compliant 4000 HP new design
Buses compliant 3100 HP 3100 HP ALCO GM - Actual emissions
ALCO

COMPARISON OF EMISSIONS FROM DIESEL LOCOMOTIVES AND INDIRECT

EMISSIONS WITH THE USE OF ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES

It is a common notion in the mind of general public that electric traction is totally
pollution free in comparison to diesel traction. In fact, whenever new rail lines are
electrified, media also propagates this notion. This notion is, however, misleading and
deceptive since the thermal power plants supplying electrical energy to operate these
electric locomotives produce heavy emissions.

An effort has been made to compare the indirect emissions with the use of electric
traction. Since electric generation from thermal power plants forms the major share out of
the total electric generation in the country, the above comparison has been made in
reference to thermal power plants only.

While the major pollutants from diesel locomotives include only NOx and
particulate emissions, the major pollutants from thermal power plants include suspended
particulate matter (SPM), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and ash.

Particulate matter from Thermal Power Plants

For Thermal Power Plants, the following regulations have been issued vide para
63a and 63b of Environmental Standards issued by Central Pollution Control Board
(Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India).

Generation capacity Pollutant Emission limit

(i) 210 MW or more Particulate matter 150 mg/Nm3
(ii) Less than 210 MW Particulate matter 350 mg/Nm3

To compare the above emissions from thermal power plants supplying electricity to
Power grids for use by Electric locomotives with the emissions from diesel locomotives, the
above limiting values in mg/Nm3 need to be converted to gm/bhp-hr. These calculations are
made hereunder :

Flow rate of flue gases from a typical coal : 247.7 Nm3 / second
based power plant having generation
capacity of 210 MW
Particulate matter in gm/bhp-hr from the : 247.7 * 150 * 3600 *
0.7457
thermal power plant complying with the 1000 * 210 *
1000
above CPCB Environmental Standards
July – September 2004 Abhivyakti
 (taking 1 bhp = 0.7457 kW) i.e. 0.47 gm/bhp-hr
Power transmission losses : 8%
Effective Particulate matter emissions in : 0.47 * 1.08
gm/bhp-hr at the use point i.e. Electric loco
i.e. 0.51 gm/bhp-hr
However, the average actual particulates from the thermal power plants in the country
are 2.6 gm/kW-hr, which works out to 1.94 gm/bhp-hr.
Sulphur dioxide from Thermal Power Plants

Even though, no limits have been laid down in the Environmental Standards issued
by CPCB for SO2, they have been calculated for comparing the values with diesel
emissions hereunder :
Coal required to be burnt to produce 210 MW : 147 tonnes / hr
% Sulphur content in coal (by mass) : 0.3%
Ratio of atomic weight of SO2 to sulphur : 32 + 16 * 2
32
i.e. 2

SO2 emissions : 147 * 10,00,000 * 0.3 * 2 * 0.7457

(taking 1 bhp = 0.7457 kW) 100 * 210 * 1000

i.e. 3.13 gm/bhp-hr

Power transmission losses : 8%

Effective SO2 emissions in gm/bhp-hr at the : 3.13 * 1.08

point of use i.e. Electric loco
i.e. 3.38 gm/bhp-hr
Sulphur dioxide from Locomotives

Since no limits have been laid down for sulphur dioxide emissions from diesel
locomotives, they have not been calculated in the foregoing paras. For comparing with
the thermal power plant SO2 emissions, the SO2 emissions from diesel locomotives are
calculated hereunder :

HSD oil required to produce 3100 HP : 483 Kg / hr

% Sulphur content in HSD oil as per amendment 2 : 0.25%

to IS1460:1995 (by mass)

Ratio of atomic weight of SO2 to sulphur : 2

SO2 emissions : 483 * 1,000 * 0.25 * 2

100 * 3100

i.e. 0.78 gm/bhp-hr

The above indirect particulate and SO2 emissions with the use of electric
locomotives in gm/bhp-hr are compared with the values in diesel locomotives hereunder :

Thermal power plants Railway % reduction

July – September 2004 Abhivyakti

 locomotive in Railway
engines engines

Particulate 0.51 (As per CPCB regulations) 0.45 for EPA tier-I 11.76%
Emissions 1.94 (Average actual) 0.19 for UIC-II 624 62.74%

SO2 Emissions 3.38 0.78 76.92%

FUTURE ACTION PLAN OF INDIAN RAILWAYS

Even though there is presently no legislation in the country for limiting the
emissions from locomotive, Indian Railways are taking initiative in setting up the facilities
at RDSO for measuring the emissions from their locomotives as per International
Standards.

The following is the detailed action plan of Indian Railways to measure the
emissions and reduce them to the limits laid down in International Standards :

(a) The test beds of Engine Development Directorate of RDSO are shortly going to be
equipped with the dedicated Mass emission measuring equipment capable of
measurements as per International Standards. The work of measurement of
emissions as per International Standards followed by their reduction to the levels
specified in EPA and UIC standards will start in full swing thereafter.

(b) Since change in the design of engine components and improvement in the fuel
and lube oil specifications can contribute in reduction of emissions, discussions
have been held with most of the suppliers of major engine components as well as
fuel / lube oil and they all have agreed to associate with Indian Railways and
provide technical support so as to achieve the objective of meeting International
Emission standards.

(c) In the second phase, Indian Railways plan to set up emission measurement
facilities for measurement of in-use emissions at the testing stage itself in 3-4
Diesel Sheds/ Workshops in the country. The facilities similar to the one available
at Southwest Research Institute (SWRI), Texas, USA and in line with the
requirements specified in EPA standards are plan to be created.

CONCLUSIONS

(a) Although the new technology GM locomotive engine emissions are much below
the limits laid in EPA and UIC standards, the ALCO locomotive engines are inferior
only in respect of NOx. Since HC and CO values in the ALCO engines are much
lower than the limits laid in EPA and UIC standards, it should not be difficult to
achieve the limits specified in International Standards.

(b) The comparison of emissions from Automobiles and Railroad engines clearly
shows that rail transport results in considerably cleaner environment in
comparison to road transport.

(c) The advantages of rail transport are more pronounced in case of freight
movement in comparison to passenger movement. This is because rail travel is
generally used by passengers for long distance travel and hence offers the facility
of toilets and more floor space per person.

(d) The comparison of particulates and sulphur dioxide emissions from thermal power
plants and Railroad diesel engines per bhp-hr clearly shows that diesel

July – September 2004 Abhivyakti

 locomotives are more environmental friendly as compared to electric locomotives,
which use major chunk of power from Thermal Power Plants. The rationale of
going in for railway track electrification in an electrical energy retraced country,
therefore, requires careful rethinking.

July – September 2004 Abhivyakti