Lecture 6 Railway Propulsion System

Rail Motive Power (REGM-6008)
Lecture 6
Railway Propulsion System

Kiros Tesfay
Email: kirostr@gmail.com
African Railway Center of Excellence

Addis Ababa Institute of Technology
Addis Ababa University
1
Outline
• Introduction
• Voltage source induction motor propulsion
system
• DC motor propulsion system
• Energy storage in railway
2
Introduction
 Railway propulsion system is a combination of

components such as converters, motors, transformers,
and others, which provide the tractive force required to
propel the train along a specified route within a targeted
time.
 The railway is an important infrastructure and means of
mass transportation, which is of vital importance for the
economic and social development of a nation
 Countries are consistently investing in expansion and
upgrade of their railway fleet and network, which in turn
is driving the global railway propulsion system
3
Introduction
Propulsion Technology
 Railway power equipment can broadly be classified
depending on the source of energy:
 Steam, particularly, steam from water.
 Mineral oil products, particularly diesel fuel.
 Electricity.
 Combinations of different sources of energy.
4
Introduction
Propulsion System Topology
 Electric propulsion systems can be categorized into two
general types:
 single-machine propulsion systems and
 multi-machine propulsion systems
 By using the single-machine type, the traction machine will be
very large, and when the power requirement is low, the
machine has to be working in either low-speed condition or
low torque condition.
 Multi-machine drive (MMD) system is composed of two (or
even more) small machines. Then, it can effectively share the
load torque between the machines to avoid low-efficiency
machine
5
operation
AC Motor Propulsion System
 The AC fed propulsion system is mainly composed

of the pantograph, main transformers, rectifiers,
DC-link, inverters, AC motors, gear boxes, and
wheels.
 AC electrical power is fed through pantograph and
then transformed, finally mechanical output force
of wheels propels the train.
6
7
 The pantograph is connected to the main transformer

 After regulated to a certain voltage level by the
transformer, the AC is rectified to DC by the pulse width
modulation (PWM) controlled rectifier.
 A DC-link filter, which is composed of DC-link capacitor,
second-harmonic filter, and midpoint grounding unit, is
added between the rectifier and inverter.
 This filter is able to smooth the DC-link voltage and keep
the system voltage at a certain level with reference to the
ground.
8
 The DC filter is composed of resistances, capacitors

and inductors.
 After passing the filter, the DC power is inverted to
the 3-phase power by the inverter.
 In this conversion stage, the PWM control strategy
is also applied but generated by a separate set of
auxiliary control circuits which are different from
that in the rectifier.
9
 When the train is operating the electric power is

converted to mechanical power and the energy
flow is illustrated by the solid arrows in figure
above
10
 When the train is braking, there are two ways to

conduct the reversal energy away:
 The old way is to burn the reversal energy in so-called
brake resistors.
 There is a rather new concept, “energy saving”,
where the reversal energy is fed back to the contact
wire, and can be used by other trains on the same
supply section or in some cases can be stored in the
substation and even be fed back to the high voltage
supply line, depending on the design of the
11 infrastructure.
 Due to the energy saving consideration, the most recent

train propulsion system is designed as a bidirectional
system so that when train is braking the mechanical energy
will be transmitted back to the substation.
 In the reverse conversion the AC motor works in generator

mode, propulsion inverter works in rectifier mode, and the
rectifier works as a single phase inverter.
 Finally the mechanical to electric conversion is

implemented and therefore the energy can be stored in
the substation.
12
DC Motor Propulsion System
 The term “DC propulsion system” implies that a propulsion

system includes a power conditioner to convert AC to DC, such
that a DC motor can be used.
 Figure below shows an overview of the propulsion system.
 It starts with the Line power supplied to the trains via the
overhead line and pantograph (or a third rail and shoe).
 The next step is to convert the line power to the chosen DC-link
voltage.
 The DC-link feeds the motor inverter which in turn feeds the
motor.
13
DC Motor Propulsion System
 The motor then gives the motive force that makes the train move.
 When the train is supplied with DC there is often no need for any
conversion; the DC-link can be supplied directly from the line.
 However, sometimes there is a need to convert the voltage up or
down to comply with the chosen DC-link voltage.
 This conversion can be performed by step-up or step-down choppers
14
Energy storage in railway
Introduction
 Energy storage technologies have made significant strides
in helping to alleviate major issues in the railway domain.
 They help to reduce overall peak energy demand of the
railway system.
 Energy storage in railway can be classified as three
aspects:
1. Diesel vehicle (and fuel cell) hybrids;
2. Electric vehicles using batteries only (on-board energy
storage)
3. Trackside applications on DC electrified lines (stationary
15 energy storage).
Introduction
 Energy storage technologies face four major
challenges that are:
1. Cost
2. Lifetime
3. Size
4. Weight
16
Introduction
 Electrical energy storage devices essentially convert
electrical energy into other forms of energy, chemical
energy, which can be stored and used when required.
 The option of the ESS for an application is dependent on
its
 Power
 energy ratings
 response time
 Weight
 Volume and
 operating temperature.
17
Introduction
 Table below, shows the details of different types of energy storage
systems
18
Different Types of Energy Storage
 There are several technologies employed in the energy
storage system.
 The following energy storage system are suitable to use on
the railway system:
 Battery
 Super Capacitors and
 Flywheel
19
Batteries
 A battery is made by electro-chemical cells, which normally
consists of an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte
 All the equipment’s are fitted in a container.
 Batteries convert chemical energy into electrical energy.
 For choosing correctly a battery pack, the specific application
must be considered
 Therefore, it is essential to understand some more details on
battery.
 In order to use batteries for railway application first of all, it is
necessary to know the characteristics of trains, such as input
voltage, maximum power, maximum current, and
characteristic of the electrification system.
20
Batteries
 The battery pack should be chosen on the basis of voltage
required by the railway and power required by the train.
 Besides, the capacity of battery is dependent on the system
current. For example, when it is displayed on battery data
sheet that the capacity is 100Ah@20 hour, it means that 100
Ah can be released if the battery is discharged in 20 hours.
 In order to choose a battery pack, the C-rate of a battery must
be considered. The C-rate is normally used for indicting the
charge and the discharge currents of a battery. Most portable
batteries are rated at 1C, which means that 1Ah battery
provides 1A for one hour when it is discharged at 1C rate
21
Batteries
 The battery data sheet is based on the assumption that the
battery is fully charged. It is therefore necessary to make
ensure that a battery is 100% charged in order to collect
accurate information on the battery during testing
 There are various approaches to measure the State of Charge
(SOC) of a battery. The most common method relies on using
the voltage across a battery cell, in order to determine the SOC
of a battery. For example, 12V Li-ion battery has 14.4V when
the state of charge is 100%; however, its complete discharge is
only 9.6V. Consequently, different voltages of battery reflect
different SOC.
22
Batteries
 Types of Batteries
 Lead Acid Batteries
 Nickel Metal Hydride Batteries
 Lithium-Ion Batteries
 Sodium-Sulphur (NaS) Batteries
 Flow Batteries
23
Super-Capacitors Technology
 Capacitors store energy by separating two metal foil plates
by a dielectric film.
24
Super-Capacitors Technology
25
Features of Super-Capacitor
26
Super-Capacitor’s Application in Transportation System
27
Flywheels for Energy Storage
 Flywheel is the mechanical form of energy storage
system in which mechanical inertia is the basis and
kinetic energy is stored in the rotor which is actually a
huge rotating cylinder.
 The main parts of the flywheel energy storage system are:
 Rotating body
 Bearing
 Electrical machine( generator/motor mounted on the shaft.)
 Power converter
28
 Containment chamber
 The rotating body is mainly composed of more energy

dense composite and alloy materials.
 Ceramic superconducting materials can also be used in
flywheel energy storage system.
 The rotor is kept at constant speed maintaining the
energy in the flywheel.
 An increase in speed of the flywheel results in the
increase in storage of the energy.
29
 The operation of flywheel energy storage system mainly

faces the loss due to friction.
 Bi-directional power converters convert flywheel storage
system output into grid level voltages and generate
variable speed control signals for energy storage.
 GTO Thyristors and IGBT are used in power.
30
Advantage
 There are several advantages of flywheel energy storage
system.
 Some of them are given below:
1. Longer life span and requires very less maintenance.
2. The system is very eco-friendly and does not cause any pollution.
3. Rapid response due to less complex arrangements.
4. It can provide high quality, highly reliable uninterrupted power supply
when required for several field of applications like communication
networks, commercial facilities, industrial manufacturing, etc.
5. It can produce high peak power without any overheating issues.
6. It has a very high efficiency depending upon the speed of flywheel
which may vary up to 6000 rpm for low speed fly wheel and 10000-
110000 rpm.
31
Disadvantage
 The major demerit of fly wheel storage system is it’s high
discharge rate of energy.
 The other important factors are its high acquisition cost as
well as its low storage capacity.
Application
 Flywheel energy storage systems can be used in load
leveling in:
 railway power systems
 primary frequency regulations
 peak shaving and off peak storage and
32  for improving power quality in the renewable energy systems.
Energy Storage in Different Railway Applications
Disadvantage
 The applications for using energy storage in railway

can be classified into two major types:
1. Stationary storage applications or trackside energy
storage applications
2. On-board energy storage system or mobile storage
application
33
Stationary Energy Storage Application

 Stationary energy storage systems are a popular choice for
industrial transmissions and distribution power networks in
most countries
 Stationary storage (or track side application) is made by
installing one or more energy storage systems alongside the
tracks.
 It helps recover the braking energy from the line during periods
of low demand.
 This type of system is configured for use only on DC electrified
railways as AC electrified railway systems are inherently
receptive.
34
 Because AC electrified system normally have lower levels of transmission
loss, which is one of the main reasons to use stationary energy storage on a
DC railway.
 Figure below illustrates DC voltage network with stationary energy storage.
35
 Track side application has the following of advantages.
1. It is available for all vehicles running on the same line.
2. It reduces of the peak power demand by averaging loads over a
period of time.
3. Storage devices could be useful to increase the number of vehicles
without the improvement of the electrical supply systems.
4. It is environment friendly; as it helps to reduce and remove heat
caused due to mechanical braking from a closed environment like a
tunnel. This especially helps in reducing air-conditioning costs in
the tunnel for underground metro networks.
5. Lastly, it is available in different sizes and configurations to meet
the demand of each railway.
36
 On the other hand, track side application has some
disadvantages as well.
1. Its capability depends on the distance from the train. It
cannot account for the losses due to transmission from the
location of the train.
2. It cannot recover all the braking energy and some energy
could still be lost in the barking resistors.
3. It is impossible to have catenary-free for trains.
4. Lastly, its position, alongside the track, may create a
problem in some situations.
37
Onboard Energy Storage Application
 Onboard or mobile energy storage application is generally
placed on the roof of the vehicle
 The operation of each onboard system is independent, that
recovers braking energy and sends the energy directly to the
storage energy system which is also located on the train.
 The energy will be available for using anytime when the train
requires it; for example, when the train needs to accelerate out
of a station from a standing stop, when the train requires
power supply for complex situations such as when there is a
break in the third rail or overhead line or when the train face
some sections of neutral electrification such as in tunnels or on
bridges.
38
 Figure below presents onboard energy application
39
 There are three possible situations where a locomotive can face
a discontinuity in power supply. In each of these cases different
energy storage design should be considered, it can be designed
as following:
I. For the case of gaps having short length (10 to 20 metres), it is
unnecessary to have energy storage.
II. For the cases of small breakings which electrification has 100s of
metres, small energy storage such super capacitors and flywheel
can be used. This usually happens at crossovers, junctions, level
crossings, brides, and so on. In this case, super capacitors are the
preferred choice.
III. For the case of long discontinuous electrification that energy
storage powers a train for a long distance, such as few kilometres,
40 battery is prefered.
Thank you!!!
41

Lecture 6 Railway Propulsion System

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lecture 6 Railway Propulsion System

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Rail Motive Power (REGM-6008)

Railway Propulsion System

African Railway Center of Excellence

 Railway propulsion system is a combination of

 The AC fed propulsion system is mainly composed

 The pantograph is connected to the main transformer

 The DC filter is composed of resistances, capacitors

 When the train is operating the electric power is

 When the train is braking, there are two ways to

 Due to the energy saving consideration, the most recent

 In the reverse conversion the AC motor works in generator

 Finally the mechanical to electric conversion is

 The term “DC propulsion system” implies that a propulsion

Super-Capacitor’s Application in Transportation System

 The rotating body is mainly composed of more energy

 The operation of flywheel energy storage system mainly

 The applications for using energy storage in railway

Stationary Energy Storage Application

You might also like