Solid-State Transformers in Locomotives Fed through AC Lines: A Review and Future Developments

Stefano Farnesi, Mario Marchesoni, Massimiliano Passalacqua and Luis Vaccaro
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Stefano Farnesi: Department of Electrical, Electronic, Tlc Engineering and Naval Architecture (DITEN), University of Genova, via all’Opera Pia 11a, 16145 Genova, Italy
Mario Marchesoni: Department of Electrical, Electronic, Tlc Engineering and Naval Architecture (DITEN), University of Genova, via all’Opera Pia 11a, 16145 Genova, Italy
Massimiliano Passalacqua: Department of Electrical, Electronic, Tlc Engineering and Naval Architecture (DITEN), University of Genova, via all’Opera Pia 11a, 16145 Genova, Italy
Luis Vaccaro: Department of Electrical, Electronic, Tlc Engineering and Naval Architecture (DITEN), University of Genova, via all’Opera Pia 11a, 16145 Genova, Italy

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 24, 1-29

Abstract: One of the most important innovation expectation in railway electrical equipment is the replacement of the on-board transformer with a high power converter. Since the transformer operates at line-frequency (i.e., 50 Hz or 16 2/3 Hz), it represents a critical component from weight point of view and, moreover, it is characterized by quite poor efficiency. High power converters for this application are characterized by a medium frequency inductive coupling and are commonly referred as Power Electronic Transformers (PET), Medium Frequency Topologies or Solid-State Transformers (SST). Many studies were carried out and various prototypes were realized until now, however, the realization of such a system has some difficulties, mainly related to the high input voltage (i.e., 25 kV for 50 Hz lines and 15 kV for 16 2/3 Hz lines) and the limited performance of available power electronic switches. The aim of this study is to present a survey on the main solutions proposed in the technical literature and, analyzing pros and cons of these studies, to introduce new possible circuit topologies for this application.

Keywords: medium frequency transformer; power electronic transformer; Solid State Transformer (SST); railway electric traction; Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC); soft-switching (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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