Balancing the Active Power of a Railway Traction Power Substation with an sp-RPC

Luis A. M. Barros (), António P. Martins and José Gabriel Pinto
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Luis A. M. Barros: ALGORITMI Research Centre/LASI, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
António P. Martins: SYSTEC Research Center, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
José Gabriel Pinto: ALGORITMI Research Centre/LASI, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 7, 1-22

Abstract: The railway system is one of the safest, most efficient, and environmentally friendly means of land transport for people and goods. However, as the demand for mobility has increased, the current railway system has shown some weaknesses, requiring an increase in catenary power in order to be able to supply power to longer trains and faster locomotives, as well as to increase rail traffic. This paper proposes a control algorithm to be implemented in a sectioning post-Rail Power Conditioner (sp-RPC). The sp-RPC is connected to the neutral section between two traction power substations (TPS). With the control algorithm, it is possible to minimize the existing unbalance of the active powers of each TPS. In a regenerative braking condition, this surplus energy can be used to assist the traction of another locomotive on the existing overhead line. In this way, it is possible to increase the capacity of the overhead line. The analysis was performed with computer models using a modular multilevel converter (MMC) topology for the sp-RPC. Quantitative results for different consumption events of the locomotives and the analysis of the response to these variations are presented.

Keywords: electric railway system; neutral section; multilevel converter; regenerative braking; sectioning post-Rail Power Conditioner (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: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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