New study shows how East Palestine derailment could have been averted
EAST PALESTINE, OHIO: Researchers have proposed a fix for the malfunctioning detectors that experts say caused the train accident in a small Ohio town earlier this month. A failing, blazing wheel bearing destroyed the rail car that crashed and caused a catastrophe in East Palestine on February 3. Now, Hum Industrial Technology, a rail car telematics business, has proposed the use of vibration sensor technology, built by Constantine Tarawneh.
There are wayside hot box detectors installed on rail tracks every 20 miles or so to monitor bearing temperatures as trains pass by, according to CNN. When they detect an overheated bearing, the detectors sound an alarm using infrared sensors, alerting the train operator to stop and check the rail car for possible failures. However, these detectors failed to pick up a bearing failure before the East Palestine disaster.
RELATED ARTICLES
'Major shortcoming'
The Department of Transportation-funded assessment into hot box detectors revealed that one "major shortcoming" of these detectors is that they cannot differentiate between good and faulty bearings, and temperature itself is not a reliable indicator of bearing health.
Constantine Tarawneh, director of the University Transportation Center for Railways Safety (UTCRS) and principal investigator of the study, told CNN, "Temperature is reactive in nature, meaning by the time you’re sensing a high temperature in a bearing, it’s too late, the bearing is already in its final stages of failure."
The UTCRS researcher developed a new methodology as part of the analysis to more effectively identify a bearing problem before a catastrophic breakdown. The key is to measure the bearing's vibration as well as its load and temperature. Tarawneh, who supports federal regulation of the system, claims that if it had been used on Norfolk Southern's line, the derailment in East Palestine would not have occurred.
Vibration sensor technology: 'Very, very expensive'
The vibration sensor technology developed by Tarawneh and his team has been licensed by rail car telematics provider Hum Industrial Technology. Also, it has started pilot projects with several rail companies. However, there are currently very few trains in operation in the US that have those sensors, which Tarawneh largely attributes to the expense of upgrading and monitoring cars as well as what he perceives as companies prioritizing profit.
It is unclear how much it would cost to install sensors into every train car currently in use, but Hum Industrial Technology emphasized that installing sensors would be less expensive than having to repair bearings. However, according to former Federal Railroad Administration officer Steve Ditmeyer, it might not be financially practical to retrofit every rail car with onboard sensors.
Ditmeyer stated to CNN, "What they’re proposing will work, but it’s very, very expensive. And one does have to take cost into consideration."
Tarawneh estimates that more than 12 million onboard sensors would be required to equip all 1.6 million operating rail cars in North America. According to Ditmeyer, railroads should spend more money on roadside acoustic bearing detectors, which appear alongside the tracks and monitor the passing trains in a manner similar to hot box detectors. Long before a potential disaster, they listen for sounds that indicate a bearing failure.
What went wrong in the East Palestine derailment?
On Thursday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) initiated a preliminary investigation into the derailment in East Palestine, finding that hot box sensors had discovered a wheel bearing was getting hot miles before it finally broke and caused the train to crash. However, the crew was not informed by the detectors until it was too late.
CNN reported that hot box detectors are uncontrolled, rendering organizations like Norfolk Southern unable to regulate their activation and deactivation as well as the temperature threshold at which employees are alerted.
The NTSB said they are investigating what caused the incident in East Palestine. Overheating roller bearings can have a number of causes, including water damage, fatigue cracking, a loose bearing, mechanical damage, or a wheel fault.