Air Leakage Research

Research to evaluate the effects of air leakage on operations and performance of locomotive automatic engine start/stop (AESS) systems. Understand the impact of excessive air leakage on AESS' ability to operate as intended. This project focuses on quantifying the fuel penalty associated with air leaks on the locomotive and simulated air leaks in the break pipe air system. Previous SwRI screening tests only identified the fuel penalties associated with the line haul and switcher duty cycles during continuous operation but did not identify the penalty associated with the additional time that the Automatic Engine Start Stop (AESS) system needs to operate the engine to maintain the air pressure in the Main Reservoir (MR).