Topologies and Operation Modes of Rail Power Conditioners in AC Traction Grids: Review and Comprehensive Comparison

Mohamed Tanta, José Gabriel Pinto, Vitor Monteiro, Antonio P. Martins, Adriano S. Carvalho and Joao L. Afonso
Additional contact information
Mohamed Tanta: Department of Industrial Electronics, University of Minho, Campus of Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
José Gabriel Pinto: Department of Industrial Electronics, University of Minho, Campus of Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Vitor Monteiro: Department of Industrial Electronics, University of Minho, Campus of Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Antonio P. Martins: Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Adriano S. Carvalho: Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Joao L. Afonso: Department of Industrial Electronics, University of Minho, Campus of Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-30

Abstract: Electric locomotives in AC traction power systems represent a huge single-phase non-linear load and, detrimentally, affect the power quality and the efficiency of the three-phase power grid. Nevertheless, along the last decades, power electronics are being used to mitigate power quality problems in the three-phase power grid. In particular, Rail Power Conditioner (RPC) helps to increase the loading capacity of traction substations and improve the power quality of three-phase power grids. As the main characteristics, an RPC can supply reactive power, suppress current harmonics and overcome currents imbalance of the three-phase power grid. On the other hand, the traction substations may be constituted by different types of power transformers. For instance, single-phase power transformers and open-delta (V/V) power transformers are widely used, while Scott power transformers are less frequently used, since they are more complex and expensive. In this framework, this work presents a review study of RPC topologies, including their operation modes, and a comprehensive comparison between the characteristics of the RPC topologies when using different types of AC traction substations and power transformers. This helps to ensure the correct selection of the RPC topology for a specific application, according to the main structure of the traction substation. Consequently, and based on the established review, it is possible to sort and allocate each RPC topology for limited or wider applications.

Keywords: power quality; rail power conditioner; Scott power transformer; traction power grid; V/V power transformer (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: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/9/2151/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/9/2151/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:9:p:2151-:d:352768

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().