Railway Locomotives
The Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railway has a fleet of more than 6000 locomotive engines and processed roughly 1000 locomotive fluid samples (oil and coolant) daily as part of their engine condition assessment program for the fleet. Until recently, most of the effort associated with the analysis and interpretation of the oil sample data was done manually.
BNSF wanted to automate the collection, processing, and analysis of their fluid program data to improve the accuracy and consistency of data interpretation.
GasTOPS automated the data entry process, upgraded lab instruments and methods, and implemented a rule-based expert system that provides automated maintenance recommendations to the BNSF’s 50 way stations.
From this service, BNSF realized significant technical and financial benefits including: 
- Reduced locomotive shutdowns;
- Extended engine oil changes;
- Significantly reduced major component failures;
- More accurate maintenance recommendations;
- Improved sampling compliance; and
- Demonstrated program payback in less than one year.