2018
International Symposium on Power Electronics,
Electrical Drives, Automation and Motion
Voltage Oriented Control of an Innovative
Bidirectional 3 kV Railway electric substation using
Parallel Three-Level NPC Converters
M. S. Carmeli, F. Castelli-Dezza, M. Mauri, M. Pedretti, M. Rossi
Dipartimento di Meccanica
Politecnico di Milano,
20156 Milano, ITALY
Abstract—Italian railway system is based on 3 kV DC voltage
and it is connected to the AC grid through electric substation
which are realized with diode rectifier. This configuration does
not allow power reversible operation and regenerative braking is
not possible with a consequent waste of electric energy which is
dissipated on braking rheostats. The present paper proposes a
bidirectional electric substation configuration based on NPC
parallel connected converter. A control strategy is proposed and
simulation results are presented.
Keywords—Railway, traction regenerative brakiong NPC power
converter, voltage control
I. INTRODUCTION
Nowadays the energy efficiency is an important issue in
industrial, tertiary and domestic applications, for both the
environmental and economic concerns. This topic becomes
more important for all those sectors that employ a great amount
of energy in their processes.
Rail traction systems are one of these fields and the
possibility of saving energy during traction operation (through
regenerative braking) allows a significant operating cost
reduction. Therefore, regenerative braking allows using the
recovery energy in different ways, such as feed on-board
auxiliary equipment, feed other trains along the line that are in
acceleration phase or simply address it towards the feeding grid
[1]. According to the hardware, the regenerated energy can be
sent back to the AC three-phase systems as well as stored in
ad-hoc storage unit connected to the DC line.
The present paper focuses on the Italian railway system
based on 3 kV DC voltage. Electrified railway system is
connected to the electric grid through electric substations (ESS)
which realize the energy transformation from mains to DC
ones. The power conversion stage is obtained through diode
rectifier and bidirectional operation and regenerative braking is
not possible [2].
Hence, dedicated on-board rheostats mainly dissipate this
energy. Modern trains are already equipped with power
electronic devices able to perform the abovementioned tasks so
the first real step to achieve this target consists in modifying
existing conversion substations, handling their AC/DC stage in
order to have a bidirectional ERS (Electric Reversible
978-1-5386-4941-1/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE
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Substation). Beyond environmental and economic benefits,
new ERSs leads to the several technical improvements [3]:
• On-board braking rheostats can be removed or resized
making trains lighter, limiting also the heat production (a
mechanical brake is always necessary for safety
reasons).
• New force-commutated converters installed inside ERSs
lead to some advantages due to their capability of
managing the power request along the line and, at the
same time, the possibility to control the dc-bus voltage
by means of control systems (on the other hand the
system’s architecture becomes more complicated).
• From harmonic pollution viewpoint, force-commutated
converters allow a significant reduction of this problem.
Moreover, their capability of working with almost unity
power factor allows to break down the reactive power
exchange, enormous advantage for energy quality
concerns.
The upgrade from ESSs to ERSs makes sense on lines with
high traffic density; otherwise costs could be higher than
benefits along time. The present paper focuses on 3 kV DC
railway system and proposes a possible and feasible upgrade
from classical passive rectifiers to bidirectional ones. A
multilevel power converter configuration is adopted and
simulation results to particular case studies from the
operational point of view are presented. The paper is organized
in the following way: Section II presents the ERS topology,
Section III proposes the multilevel converter control strategy
while Section IV presents different case studied with
simulation results.
II. ERS TOPOLOGY
The Italian railway system is fed through an AC/DC energy
conversion section realized with a diode power converter.
The main drawbacks of this configuration are the
impossibility of reversing the electric power flow during
braking phase and also the absence of a DC bus voltage
regulation. To overcome these limits a controllable AC/DC
power converter is necessary. Nowadays, Italian ESSs are
generally connected to primary MV networks instead of HV.

Fig. 1 Possible configuration for bidirectional ESS: 1) Parallel interleaved
converters with high voltage, 2) series converters with medium voltage, 3)
Parallel converters with miedium voltage
To have bidirectional ERS the diode rectifier should be
replaced with active power converters. The main configuration
that can be obtained are represented in Fig. 1. To obtain a
bidirectional ERS, multilevel power converters have been
considered as a possible solution and a parallel medium voltage
configuration has been chosen as the best solution in terms of
power converter sizing.
Multilevel power converters (MLC) are realized through
the connection of electric power devices in series and clamp
the voltages between the respective them. MLCs have
significant advantages compared with the 2L converters [3]
such as better harmonic performance and higher power
capabilities. Today, multilevel power converter topologies are
becoming very popular in high power and medium voltage
applications, in particular three-level converters, which
represent a potential solution for the electric traction field,
especially inside the converting substations.
Among the multilevel converter structures, diode clamped
(neutral clamped) converters have been considered in this
paper as the candidate topology to realize an ERS [4].
The unipolar scheme of the new ERS is reported in Figure 2.
With reference to the abovementioned scheme, its parts are
listed and briefly described in the following, keeping the same
enumeration as the picture itself.
1) HV Transformer: this device is used to transform the high
voltage of 132 kV coming from the primary cabin (PC) into
the converters’ voltage of 1800 V (RMS).
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2) AC pre-charge circuits including inductors: these devices
are present in two sets (each set is composed by two 3 phase
AC-side chokes, two 3 phase AC-side contactors and one AC-
side pre-charger); their function is to reduce and limit the
power-up stress, controlling the rise time of the system’s
voltage in order to prevent damages of components. One of
the main purposes of the pre-charge function is to limit the
magnitude of the inrush current into capacitive loads during
power-up. In practice, they are introduced to minimize the
peak current out from the power source by slowing down the
voltage rate of rise of the input power voltage. In this way,
the system voltage will rise slowly and controllably with
power-up current never exceeding the maximum allowed.
3) IGBT Power Converters: these devices are present in two
sets (each set composed by two converters) and represent the
main part of the plant. They are water cooled converters for
rectifying mode of operation (obviously, they could also
work as inverters).
4) Cooling towers: one for each set of converters.
5) Voltage limiting units: one for each set, designed to
maintain and to not exceed the desired voltage level.
6) Air cooled converter for storage mode: this device allows
to bring the power coming from the contact line and
manipulate it to a suited level for the storage.
7) Super-capacitors bank: storage device of 10 kWh, for the
collection of the energy coming from the contact line.
8) Line DC choke: this device (two, one for each set) is an
inductor used to divert high-frequency alternating currents in
the rectified output voltage, while passing the DC
component only.
9) Auxiliary transformer: 1.8 kV/ 0.4 kV transformer for the
supply of auxiliary services, derived from one of the four
secondary sides of the main transformer.
10) HV switchgear: this is the first device of the ESS, able to
physically connect the AC network coming from the primary
cabin to the plant. It is used to de-energize the equipment
during works and to clear faults downstream the line.
11) HV transformer overvoltage protection: one for each
secondary of the transformer.
12) DC switchgear: this is the last device and it connects the
DC converters’ output voltage to the DC bus bar.
All the voltage levels of the plant are summarized in Table I.
The three-level diode clamped converter consists of 2
capacitors on the dc bus, 4 switching devices per phase and 2
clamping diodes per phase (Figure 3b).
The dc bus voltage is split into 3 levels by using the two
capacitors C1 and C2. Each capacitor stands a voltage of Vdc/2
and each voltage stress will be limited to one capacitor level
 Fig.2 Unipolar scheme of ERS
To realize a ERS three phase, three-level NPC power
converters have been adopted.
TABLE I. PLANT VOLTAGE LEVELS
Industrial Network Nominal Voltage [kV]
HV Transformer Primary Nominal Voltage [kV]
HV Transformer Secondary Nominal Voltage (Line-to-line RMS)
[kV]
Converter’s Nominal Voltage [kV]
DC Output Voltage [kV]
Auxiliary Transformer Primary Nominal Voltage [kV]
Auxiliary Transformer Secondary Nominal Voltage [kV]
Network Operation Frequency [Hz]
The purpose HV transformer provides the nominal voltage of
1800 V to each of the four NPC converters (Figure 3).
Fig.3a Simplified block diagram of Fig. 3b Three phase 3L NPC converter
ERS
III. CONTROL STRATEGY
The control target of this three-level NPC PWM rectifier
system is to make the dc-link voltage Vdc follow its imposed
reference value V*dc while keeping the input currents of each
secondary side ( with j=a, b, c referred to the three phases
and k= 1, 2, 3, 4 referred to each of the four secondary sides of
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the main transformer) approximately sinusoidal and in phase
with the corresponding voltages .
Voltage Oriented Control (VOC) is the classical and most
common cascade control strategy for three-level NPC
132 rectifiers; it provides good steady-state performance,
132 acceptable dynamic performance and ensures a constant
1.8 switching frequency for the rectifier, compared with other
1.8
strategies [5], [6]. The block diagram of the VOC strategy
3 developed in this paper for the examined application is
1.8 illustrated in Figure 4. Reference frame vectors refers to
0.4 Figure 5.
50 After the coordinate transformation, the line current is split
in the two components and . The first component
determines the active power flow whereas the reactive
power. The unity power factor conditions are met when the
line current vector is aligned with line voltage . In this case,
the current has been set to zero inside the controller (i*q=0).
The active -axis current and reactive -axis current in
the NPC rectifier model of - reference frame are heavily
coupled and this is why this control acts with a decoupling
methodology in order to decouple the inner current loops of
the rectifier thus controlling and separately.
The VOC strategy presents three control loops, an external
one for the voltage and two internal loops for current (one for
-axis current and the other for -axis current). The error
between the reference dc-bus voltage and the sampled dc-
bus voltage is processed by a voltage Proportional-Integral
(PI) feedback controller, which produces the reference active
current (through this current is controlled the power
considering constant the voltage).
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 Fig. 4 Design block diagram
output voltage easily reaches the desired reference level
keeping it constant despite the current (power) withdrawal.

Fig. 5 reference vector diagram

As in the inner loops, -axis current loops and -axis current

loops use anti-wind-up Proportional-Integral feedback
controllers to make the actual currents and to track their
Fig. 6a Output voltage Vdc with passive load
reference values i*d and i*q.
The errors are processed in these anti-windup PI controllers to
produce the output signals v*d and v*q and, after coordinates
transformation, the reference voltage triads (with
and ) are obtained and used to produce
all the gate signals by means of the three-level PWM module.

IV. CASE STUDY TEST

The behavior of the ERS has been tested under different load
conditions. A simulation scheme has been implemented and
the results are presented in the following subsections. Fig. 6b Oscillations of output voltage Vdc
A. CASE 1: ERS with Passive Load
The operation of the ERS is analyzed in presence of a power
demand by the traction circuit. This condition behavior is
studied simulating a constant current absorption equal to 500
A.
The simulation stop time is 0.5 seconds, enough to let the
system achieve the steady-state condition.
Figure 6 shows the behavior of the output voltage
measured at the output terminals of the converters and its
detailed high frequency oscillation, respectively. After a
moderate transient due to the imposed initial conditions and
start-up of the system where the voltage decreases rapidly, the
Fig. 7 Primary side line current with passive load

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Figure 7 represents the line current absorbed by the ERS at the
transformer primary side.
B. CASE 2: ERS with active load
The operation of the ERS circuit model is analysed in presence
of a power injection by the traction circuit towards the ERS,
simulating different profiles: constant current injection (case
2.1) and a particular active load profile (case 2.2).
CASE 2.1 Constant current injection
A constant current injection equal to 500 A coming from a
traction unit during its regenerative braking phase, located at a
certain distance from the ERS is considered.
Figure 8 shows the rectified voltage at the converters
output terminals. Also in this case the reference value of 3000
V is easily reached and maintained after the quite fast transient
due to the start-up of the system in which the voltage, having a
current injection instead of a current absorption, increases with
an impulse before getting to its steady-state.
The high frequency shows a peak-to-peak amplitude of
approximately 1.5 V, exactly the 0.05% in relative value
which is a very small oscillation.
Fig. 8a Output voltage Vdc with active load
Fig. 8b Oscillations of output voltage Vdc
Fig. 9 primary side line current with active load
Figure 9 shows the phase voltages measured at the
transformer primary side.
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CASE 2.2 Active load profile
This test considers an active load profile trying to get closer to
a more realistic load profile through which the train works
during its normal operation. The simulation stop time has been
enlarged looking for a compromise between reality and overall
simulation duration. The imposed command signal is depicted
in Figure 10.
This profile presents a positive current ramp variation from 0
A to the value of 1000 A reached at 0.4 s (acceleration of the
train), in this case the ramp variation starts from the origin;
after these 0.4 seconds, the traction unit starts to work with
maximum constant power for other 0.4 s (coasting mode).
Fig. 10 Current profile of active load
Then the current profile decreases with a step variation to a
value of 300 A and the traction unit works with reduced power
for other 0.7 s. At this point the train brakes and the ramp
(negative) of 1000 A is used to simulate the train braking. The
complete stop of the train is reached after the last ramp.
The simulation stop time is limited to 2 second.
Fig. 11a Output voltage Vdc with passive load
Fig. 11b Oscillations of output voltage Vdc
Figure 11 shows the output rectified voltage produced by
the converters. Thanks to this more realistic load profile, the
system response is considerably improved and the voltage
behavior is very close to the reference voltage of 3000 V. It is
obvious that two peaks occur at times where the current profile
presents abrupt steps: the first one (3350 V) is due to the
transition from maximum power to reduced power and the
second one, whose value exceeds 3500 V, is due to the
braking that, being severe requires a wider current variation
(from 300 A to -1000 A). Because of these considerations,
these voltage peaks of few hundred volts are quite normal and
acceptable also in this case. Voltage drops of few tens of Volts
occur also where ramp variations with positive slope are
introduced, but they are well tolerated.
The high voltage oscillation is shown in Figure 11b. Also in
this case the peak-to-peak oscillation is limited to at most 2 V,
with a good periodicity. The relative voltage oscillation is
again lower than the 0.066%.
Figure 12 shows the line-to-line voltage measured at the
transformer secondary side.
Fig. 12 secondary side line to line voltage
As for the line current measured at the transformer primary
side, its waveform is shown in Figure 13. In this case the
current presents an higher distortion compared to the passive
load test, due to the fact that the active profile requires a
bigger converters’ effort. Inside Figure 14 are reported the
major harmonic components of the line current obtained by
means of the FFT analysis. The obtained THD factor is 0.62%.
Fig. 13 Line current at primary side
Fig. 14 FFT of line current
V. CONCLUSION
This paper focused on the design and analysis of bidirectional
ERS. The Italian 3 kV railway system is considered and a
particular configuration based on 3L-NPC converter
topologies is considered.
First of all, analysing these converters, it was noticed that they
allow to manage the output rectified voltage level keeping low
the high frequency oscillation and absorb currents with
sinusoidal waveform, reducing the harmonic content unlike
those absorbed by Graetz bridges. Moreover these converters
allow to manage the phase shift between AC side voltages and
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currents, enabling the operation at unitary power factor
without reactive power exchange. The model of a reversible
ESS has been realized using the VOC strategy through which
the main objective was to achieve a reference voltage through
three-level NPC converters. A simulator representing the
system’s topology and control structure have been designed
using the software MatLAB-Simulink. Furthermore, this work
has been developed with the purpose of obtaining a complete
and performing simulation environment, useful for future tests
in addition to those already presented.
Simulations were carried out analysing different load profiles.
The tested variables on which the actual benefits of the new
application were based are the exact tracking of the reference
voltage, the maximum high frequency peak-to-peak oscillation
of this voltage and the energy quality in terms of harmonic
content of AC side voltages and currents. From the study
results that DC-link capacitors are really useful to reduce the
output rectified voltage oscillation and their value could be
further increased in such a way to obtain a better rectified
voltage quality. The insertion of a secondary side filter has
allowed a significant improvement of the AC side waveforms,
obtaining sinusoidal voltages and currents with THD factors
lower than 1%.
In conclusion, the use of three-level NPC converters inside 3
kV DC railway ESS systems generates significant benefits.
Beyond the additional features such as the regenerative
braking, reversibility of the power flow and capability of
managing the dc output voltage, it has been verified that the
quality of energy has increased. Another important aspect that
makes these new ERSs more efficient is the possible operation
at (ideally) unitary power factor.
Clearly this technology also introduces negative aspect,
mainly related to the complexity of the system which could
reduce the system’s reliability. Also, the installation and
maintenance costs for these reversible substations are higher
compared to traditional ones. In order to better understand if
such installations are reasonable for a specific area, feasibility
and economical studies have to be carried out considering also
the amount of energy that could be saved. The actual state of
the art concerning DC traction systems is growing towards this
direction.
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