The objective of this project was to provide recommendations to the city of Pittsdelphia on ways to modify their current freight system as to alleviate the smog problem. To be considered successful, this solution must achieve a return on investment in two years, be able to coexist with those living in the city in a comfortable and safe manner, be easily implemented, and maintain or increase the freight shipping capacity of Pittsdelphia.
The system Pittsdelphia wanted modified consisted of 50 Tier II locomotives, 45 in active use and 5 held in reserve. This system was responsible for shipping 165,000 tons of freight & minerals every day.
The methods available to the team consisted of importing freight and minerals by train, truck, plane, ship, and pipeline. After researching each mode and comparing them with pugh charts, the team found that the best solution would consist of some combination of trains and ships. These methods were both the least expensive to implement (up front and in the long run) and had the lowest NOx and PM emissions. In addition, they are the two safest options for the citizens of Pittsdelphia.
After researching sources of freight for Philadelphia (a city in a similar location to Pittsdelphia), it seemed most feasible to transport 26% of freight by ship and 74% by trains pulled by Tier IV locomotives. All of the mineral shipments, mostly coal, would also be shipped by new Tier IV locomotives.
To offset the cost of purchasing the 2 ships and 44 Tier IV locomotives for the new system the team recommends that Pittsdelphia sells its old Tier II locomotives.
The new system will reduce NOx emissions by 77% and PM emissions by 86%. It will also have a return on investment in 117 days, easily under the two year goal. Finally the new system will increase Pittsdelphia’s freight capacity by 10,000 tons per day.
Concept of Operation
System Diagram: high-res pdf here.
Final Poster: powerpoint file here.
Full Technical Write-up here.