railroad managers. The test greases were selected based on the input from the advisory committee. They were selected with a requirement that they were commercially available and had been on the market for a minimum of five years. While there are several suppliers of petroleum oil based greases, the team identified three bio-based grease suppliers two of which were manufacturers and the third one a private label distributor. The mineral oil-based greases were those that are known to be in use by major Class I railroads. One of the candidate grease was especially known to be in use by the majority of railroads, and was selected as reference grease in the field tests.
The candidate greases were analyzed in laboratory tests, in an environmental chamber and in revenue service field test on a railroad to assess their performance. Additionally a new centrifuge test method was used to assess the tackiness that would categorize the performance of the greases as suitable for rail lubrication.
The results indicated that bio-based greases perform equal and in some cases more effectively for reducing friction between the railroad tracks and train wheels, and carrying down the track. The results of testing in the environmental chamber and in the field indicated that bio-based greases can pump at cold temperatures in typical grease dispensing equipment used by the railroad industry.
1. Introduction The objective of the project was to study the use of bio-based lubricant and grease technologies in railroad applications. Three commercially available mineral oil based and three commercially available bio-based rail curve greases were selected for comparative testing. Greases included summer and winter versions. The testing was first based on laboratory results that included the evaluation of rail curve greases using a number of standard test methods. Testing was then conducted in an environmental chamber using two grease dispensers from two Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) at different temperatures; followed by field testing at two different sites on a revenue service railroad using two grease dispensers at each site. This report offers a highly compressed version of the full report divided into four sections, for publication in the Lube magazine. The full report can be accessed on line at the US Department of Transportation site free of charge at
www.fra.dot.gov/ Elib/Document/3936
2. Rail Curve Grease Properties There are several established methods for lubricating the railway tracks or wheel flanges. Track lubricant or friction modifier is applied to the wheel flange, gage face or top of rail. Friction modifiers are available in several forms including grease, oil, water, and polymer based mixtures. Solids such as graphite, molybdenum disulfide, solid stick lubricants, pastes, and sprays are also applied to the track or to the wheel flange via various applicators. Those applicators include wayside, on-board [locomotive], hi-rail [on-board of a hi-rail truck], drilled oil galleries in track, and hand brush among others.
Figure 1 presents the basic components of a wayside lubricator. Wayside lubricators typically include a grease reservoir, a positive displacement pump that is triggered by a proximity sensor. The proximity sensor is attached to the track to sense the passing of each train wheel. A control system will modulate the duration of operation of the pump based on the number of wheels passing the proximity sensor. Hoses will deliver the grease to the rail through [wiper] bars attached to the gage face of the rail. Wheel flange will come in contact with dispersed grease from the bars. Grease adheres to the flange of the wheel and is distributed along the gage face of the track curve and beyond.
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