Comparison of life cycle costing and economic benefits of different wayside lubrication technology in heavy haul railway
- Authors: Uddin, Md Gyas , Rasul, Mohammad , Chattopadhyay, Gopinath , Leinster, Malcolm , Sharma, Subhash
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: COMADEM 2014, Implications of life cycle analysis in asset and maintenance management
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- Description: Rail wheel service life and incurred cost significantly contribute to the economy and performance of Heavy haul railway operations. Effective wayside lubrication becomes part and parcel of steps to combat wear and improves service life multiple times compared to unlubricated rail and wheel. Currently three different types of technology of wayside lubrication are in practice throughout Australian heavy haul operation such as mechanical, hydraulic and electric lubricators. Older lubricator technologies i.e. mechanical and hydraulic, may be attractive from initial low investment point of view; however they harvest significantly lower benefits throughout their life cycle compared to enormous potential of latest technology ( i.e. electric) in the market. However, a proper economic analysis is essential to determine the cost effectiveness of these technologies which may help the heavy haul operators to have a clear understanding of the real benefits which may encourage establishing appropriate asset strategy they need. There are several closely related and commonly used methods for evaluating economic performance. These include life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) method, net benefits (net present worth) method, benefit/cost (or savings-to-investment) ratio method, internal rate-of-return method, and payback method. The basic concept of all these methods is to provide an indication on the cost effectiveness of a single technology. However, LCCA method is a preferred method amongst them because it provides most cost-effective design alternative over a period of life time that includes both the capital cost and ongoing maintenance and operating costs. In current heavy haul practice it is very rare to see any effective asset tactics and asset strategy in place which can evaluate asset performance and their incurred cost. Structured lubrication asset strategy and genuine practice can significantly contribute to heavy haul operations cost reduction, continuous improvement of human resource and sustainable lubrication practice. This paper presents a frame work and model of lifelong lubrication asset strategy and quantifies the benefits throughout incoming journey of Australian heavy haul using LCCA.
Development of effective performance measures for wayside rail curve lubrication in heavy haul lines
- Authors: Uddin, Md Gyas , Chattopadhyay, Gopinath , Rasul, Mohammad
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit Vol. 228, no. 5 (2014), p. 481-495
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- Description: Rail curve lubrication using wayside gauge face lubrication systems is widely used by the railway industry. It provides cost-effective solutions to reduce rail/wheel wear, energy consumption, costs and noise. Research efforts on cost-effective friction management solutions for the Australian heavy haul industry have been limited. Therefore, the performance measures necessary for the evaluation of effective gauge face lubrication practice have not been developed. Currently, there are no specific performance measures available for heavy haul rail curve lubrication. Also, the performance of in-rail lubrication seems to be poor in most cases. Appropriate performance measures should be implemented that can accurately demonstrate the actual performance of the lubrication. This paper is focused on the development of effective performance measures based on lubrication theory, maintenance regime, field testings of different wayside lubrication equipment technology and different greases currently used on heavy haul lines. Extensive field tests have been conducted on the Queensland Rail Network's North Coast Line, which is a dedicated coal line. Data were collected and analysed for the development of performance measures and cost-effective lubrication decisions. The presented performance measures and illustrative examples could be used by other types of railway networks for enhancement of rail/wheel asset life, asset availability, reliability and safety along with reduction of costs. © IMechE 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.