Exhaust treatment system implementing coordinated locomotive control

Abstract

An exhaust treatment system may be associated with a plurality of locomotives in a consist. A plurality of individual controls may each be associated with a separate locomotive, and each of the individual controls may be configured to receive signals indicative of power plant operating parameters and exhaust gas parameters for the associated separate locomotive. A master control may be configured to receive data from the individual controls and supply operating instructions to the locomotives. The master control may also be configured to coordinate initiation and staging of exhaust gas treatment at each of the locomotives in accordance with power settings for each of the locomotives that increase fuel economy and reduce exhaust gas emissions for the entire consist.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An exhaust treatment system associated with a plurality of individually-controlled locomotives in a group of locomotives, the system comprising:
 a plurality of individual controls, each of the individual controls associated with a separate locomotive in the group of locomotives, and each of the individual controls configured to receive signals indicative of power plant operating parameters and exhaust gas parameters for the associated separate locomotive; and   a master control configured to receive data from one or more of the individual controls and supply operating instructions to one or more of the separate locomotives in the group of locomotives, the master control being further configured to coordinate initiation and staging of exhaust gas treatment at each of the plurality of individually-controlled locomotives in accordance with power settings for each of the individually-control led locomotives that increase fuel economy and reduce exhaust gas emissions for the entire group of locomotives.   
     
     
         2 . The exhaust treatment system of  claim 1 , wherein one or more of the master control and the plurality of individual controls is configured to alter the power settings for each of the individually-controlled locomotives automatically based on data received from one or more of a look-up table and a map. 
     
     
         3 . The exhaust treatment system of  claim 1 , wherein the power settings for each of the individually-controlled locomotives are controlled by an operator. 
     
     
         4 . The exhaust treatment system of  claim 1 , wherein one or more of the master control and the plurality of individual controls is further configured to coordinate initiation and staging of exhaust gas treatment at each of the plurality of individually-controlled locomotives in accordance with power settings for each of the individually-controlled locomotives that maintain a substantially constant pulling power generated by the group of locomotives. 
     
     
         5 . The exhaust treatment system of  claim 1 , wherein one or more of the master control and the plurality of individual controls is configured to coordinate initiation and staging of Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) regeneration at each of the plurality of individually-controlled locomotives. 
     
     
         6 . The exhaust treatment system of  claim 5 , wherein one or more of the master control and the plurality of individual controls is further configured to control a flow of oxygen into the exhaust gas to facilitate the DPF regeneration in conjunction with the initiation and staging of DPF regeneration at each of the plurality of individually-controlled locomotives. 
     
     
         7 . The exhaust treatment system of  claim 6 , wherein one or more of the master control and the plurality of individual controls is further configured to control a flow of fuel into the exhaust gas in conjunction with the initiation and staging of DPF regeneration at each of the plurality of individually-controlled locomotives. 
     
     
         8 . The exhaust treatment system of  claim 1 , wherein one or more of the master control and the plurality of individual controls is further configured to alter the power settings for each of the individually-controlled locomotives in order to increase fluid economy for the group of locomotives. 
     
     
         9 . The exhaust treatment system of  claim 8 , wherein one or more of the master control and the plurality of individual controls is configured to increase economy of fluid reductant used in exhaust treatment and increase economy of fuel. 
     
     
         10 . A method of performing exhaust treatment for a plurality of individually-controlled locomotives in a group of locomotives, the method comprising:
 receiving signals at each of a plurality of individual controls, each of the individual controls being associated with one of said plurality of individually-controlled locomotives, and the signals being indicative of power plant operating parameters and exhaust gas parameters for the associated locomotives;   receiving data at a master control from one or more of the plurality of individual controls; and   supplying operating instructions from the master control to one or more of the individually-controlled locomotives in the group of locomotives, the operating instructions including coordinating initiation and staging of exhaust gas treatment at each of the plurality of individually-controlled locomotives in accordance with power settings for each of the individually-controlled locomotives that increase fuel economy and reduce exhaust gas emissions for the entire group of locomotives.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein one or more of the master control and the plurality of individual controls is configured to alter the power settings for each of the individually-controlled locomotives automatically based on data received from one or more of a look-up table and a map. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the power settings for each of the individually-controlled locomotives are controlled by an operator. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein one or more of the master control and the plurality of individual controls is further configured to coordinate initiation and staging of exhaust gas treatment at each of the plurality of individually-controlled locomotives in accordance with power settings for each of the individually-controlled locomotives that maintain a substantially constant pulling power generated by the group of locomotives. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein one or more of the master control and the plurality of individual controls is configured to coordinate initiation and staging of Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) regeneration at each of the plurality of individually-controlled locomotives. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein one or more of the master control and the plurality of individual controls is further configured to control a flow of oxygen into the exhaust gas to facilitate DPF regeneration in conjunction with the initiation and staging of DPF regeneration at each of the plurality of individually-controlled locomotives. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein one or more of the master control and the plurality of individual controls is further configured to control a flow of fuel into the exhaust gas in conjunction with the initiation and staging of DPF regeneration at each of the plurality of individually-controlled locomotives. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein one or more of the master control and the plurality of individual controls is further configured to alter the power settings for each of the individually-controlled locomotives in order to increase fluid economy for the group of locomotives. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein one or more of the master control and the plurality of individual controls is configured to increase economy of fluid reductant used in exhaust treatment and increase economy of fuel. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the master control supplies operating instructions to one or more of the locomotives based on a corresponding nominal operating point for the one or more locomotives selected from a group of operating points consisting of a fuel efficiency operating point, an emissions operating point, a power operating point, and an engine lifetime operating point. 
     
     
         20 . A locomotive consist control system for controlling a plurality of locomotives in a consist, the control system comprising:
 a plurality of individual controls, each of the individual controls associated with a separate locomotive in the consist, and each of the individual controls configured to receive signals indicative of power plant operating parameters and exhaust gas parameters for the associated separate locomotive; and   a master control configured to receive data from one or more of the plurality of individual controls and supply operating instructions to one or more of the locomotives in the consist, the master control being further configured to coordinate initiation and staging of exhaust gas treatment at each of the plurality of locomotives in accordance with power settings for each of the locomotives that increase fuel economy and reduce exhaust gas emissions for the entire consist, wherein one or more of the master control and the plurality of individual controls is configured to alter the power settings for each of the locomotives automatically based on data received from one or more of a look-up table and a map.