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   Re-engining of diesel stock (replacement of engine)  evaluated  
For old stock re-engining is a means to improve fuel economy and reduce exhaust emissions. With re-engining the existing diesel engine is replaced by a new one with better economic and environmental performance.
Technology field: Optimisation of traction technologies
close main section General information
  close sub-section Description
    Due to the long useful life of railway vehicles there are a lot of old diesel locomotives with a bad fuel economy in service. For old stock re-engining is a means to improve fuel economy and reduce exhaust emissions. With re-engining the existing diesel engine is replaced by a new one with better economic and environmental performance. In many cases, re-engining has to be performed in close co-operation with the original manufacturer since engine layout is often closely related to locomotive design. Therefore one engine cannot simply be replaced by another engine of the same power class.
close main section General criteria
  close sub-section Status of development: not applicable
    (no details available)
  Time horizon for broad application: now
    Over the last years DB AG has re-engineered a substantial part of its old diesel fleet.
  Expected technological development: not applicable
    (no details available)
    Motivation:
   
  • Operation costs (usually main motivation)
  • Emission control
  Benefits (other than environmental): big
   

Lifetime

Replacement of the engine considerably prolongs the lifetime of diesel stock.

Maintenance

Reduction of operation costs through improved fuel economy and reduced maintenance.

  Barriers: low
    (no details available)
    Success factors:
    (no details available)
  Applicability for railway segments: medium
    Type of traction:  diesel
    Type of transportation:  passenger - main lines, passenger - regional lines, passenger - suburban lines, freight
    Re-engining is especially profitable for old diesel locomotives with some 10- 20 years of residual life. (cf. Amortisation)
    Grade of diffusion into railway markets:
  Diffusion into relevant segment of fleet: (no data)
  Share of newly purchased stock: not applicable
    (no details available)
  Market potential (railways): medium
    (no details available)
    Example:
   

Re-engining of Class 360/361 locomotives at DB AG

Re-engining of Class 360/361 to Class 363 locomotives. The GTO 6 /6A diesel engine by Maybach was replaced by a modern Caterpillar engine of type 3412 DI-TA. The two engines are separated by about 50 years of engine development. Engine power output has remained unchanged at 478 kW.

Fuel economy was improved by about 20 %. Noxious emissions have also been considerably reduced. In addition, less servicing and maintenance is needed for the new engine.

close main section Environmental criteria
  close sub-section Impacts on energy efficiency:
  Energy efficiency potential for single vehicle: > 10%
  Energy efficiency potential throughout fleet: (no data)
    Re-engining of old stock may result in improvements in fuel economy of up to 30 %. Energy efficiency effect in entire fleet depends on age structure of diesel fleet and diesel/electric ratio.
  Other environmental impacts: positive
    Reduced emission of pollutants.
close main section Economic criteria
  close sub-section Vehicle - fix costs: high
   

General figures are not available, but the following are rough figures from DB AG (for the case of a MTU engine):

Investment for new engine: 150.000 EURO

Conversion: 35.000 – 40.000 EURO

  Vehicle - running costs: significant reduction
   

Significant reduction in operation costs (fuel and maintenance) summing up typically to some 30.000 – 40.000 EURO/a.

The total diesel-engine-related costs are typically composed as follows (Source: Günther 1998):

Costs for fuel and lubricants: 65 %

Maintanace costs: 15 %

Initial investment: 20 %

This gives an idea of the economic relevance of fuel consumption and maintenance.

  Infrastructure - fix costs: none
    (no details available)
  Infrastructure - running costs: unchanged
    (no details available)
  Scale effects: low
    Diesel technology is generally a very mature technology. Minor scale effects will come from mass markets but not from railways.
  Amortisation: > 5 years
   

According to DB AG, typical payback times of re-engining measures are 5 - 6 years. The measure is therefore profitable even for old locomotives with residual lifes of 10 years.

In general, dependence of profitability on locomotive age is a complex one:

  • The older the locomotive, the more potential there is for efficiency improvement and reduction of running costs.
  • On the other hand, the older the locomotive, the less residual life is left for payback of re-engining costs.

Whereas in most retrofit measures profitability is mainly determined by residual life, in the case of re-engining a trade-off has to be found between long residual life on the one hand and age of stock and corresponding improvement potential on the other hand.

no data available Application outside railway sector (this technology is railway specific)
close main section Overall rating
  close sub-section Overall potential: very promising
  Time horizon: short-term
    Re-engining of old diesel stock is in many cases a cost-effective measure with strong energy efficient benefits. Profitability is a function of both locomotive age (determining the potential for improvement and thus payback) and residual life.
References / Links:  Hörl, Klimmer 2001
Attachments:
Related projects:
Contact persons:
 date created: 2002-10-09
 
 
© UIC - International Union of Railways 2003
 
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