MVDC Railway Traction Power Systems; State-of-the Art, Opportunities, and Challenges

Patrobers Simiyu and I. E. Davidson
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Patrobers Simiyu: Department of Electrical Power Engineering, Durban University of Technology, Durban 4001, South Africa
I. E. Davidson: Department of Electrical Power Engineering, Durban University of Technology, Durban 4001, South Africa

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-27

Abstract: Advances in voltage-source converters (VSCs), as well as their successful application in VSC-HVDC systems, have motivated growing interests and research in medium-voltage direct current (MVDC) traction power systems (TPSs) for high-speed rail (HSR) applications. As an emerging power-converter-based infrastructure, this study reviewed developments that shape two key evolving pieces of equipment—namely, high-power traction substation (TSS) converters, and power electronic transformers (PETs)—for MVDC TPS as well as prospects for smart grid (SG) applications in the future. It can be deduced that cost-effective and robust high-power TSS converters are available from hybrid modular multilevel converters (MMCs) for enhanced performance and fault-tolerance capability. In addition, silicon carbide (SiC) MMC-based PETs with input-series-output-parallel (ISOP) configuration are present for greater weight/size reduction and efficiency for MVDC rolling stock design. Finally, the implementation of a smart MVDC TPS incorporating a sophisticated railway energy management system (REM-S) based on the smart grid principles is feasible in the future, with numerous benefits. However, there are related challenges, like knowledge gaps on these technologies, the high costs involved, and lack of standardization to overcome to realize widespread future commercial deployment.

Keywords: MVDC traction power system (TPS); traction substation (TSS); PET; MMC; REM-S; smart grid (SG) (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: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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