Filter transients onboard DC rolling stock and exploitation for the estimate of the line impedance

Power supply transients in dc railways related to filter charging may trigger network and filter oscillatory responses, as well as cause very fast voltage spikes. These phenomena are relevant not only for Power Quality and EMC, but also for their impact on the measured pantograph quantities e.g. for power and energy consumption estimate. The broadband excitation of the system gives the possibility of attempting the identification of the network impedance. The experimental results are discussed and compared to the output of a circuit and a distributed parameter simulator. Matching between simulated and experimental data is very good

A Method for the Measurement of Digitizers’ Absolute Phase Error

A lot of engineering applications, from telecommunications to power systems, require accurate measurement of phase angles. Some of them, like synchrophasor measurement and calibration of instrument transformers with digital output, in order to reach high phase measurement accuracy, require the knowledge of phase error of digitizers. Therefore, in this paper a method for the measurement of digitizers’ absolute phase errors is proposed. It adopts a sinewave and two square waves, that are the digitizer sample clock and a phase reference signal. Combining the measurements of the relative phase differences between the adopted signals it is possible to accurately evaluate the absolute phase error of a digitize

How pantograph electric arcs affect energy efficiency in DC railway vehicles

In DC electrified railways pantograph electric arcs represent not only a disturbance, but the step change of the pantograph voltage affects power losses directly and indirectly. The available line voltage is reduced if the train is in traction condition, the arc itself is characterized by ohmic power losses, and the triggered oscillating transient responses are characterized by a net power loss. In addition, if arc occurs during braking the arc voltage suddenly increases the pantograph voltage and may interfere with the dissipative braking chopper, reducing the recovered energy. This work presents the model and analysis of these phenomena with experimental results for arcs measured on a 3 kV dc line in traction and braking conditions

Synchronized Measurement System for Railway Application

In the light of the recent European directives that regulate railway networks in EU, in order to implement the monitoring and controlling of the railways power supply network, an accurate and reliable knowledge of the exchanged energy between the train and the railway grid is an essential task. Therefore, a measurement system for railway applications must accurately evaluate energy and power quality. In order to do this, the synchronization to a common time reference of all the measurement devices of the network is mandatory. In this paper, a flexible measurement instrument for analysing different types of signals that could be found in railway systems is presented. The proposed instrument has extreme flexibility about the nature of input signals and it implements a synchronization technique to the absolute time via Global Positioning System (GPS). The implementation of the measurement system, along with evaluation of synchronization accuracy, is discussed

A Set-up for Static and Dynamic Characterization of Voltage and Current Transducers used in Railway Application

In the recent years, much more attention is paid to energy and power quality measurement in railway system. In both the case, the voltage and current transducers play a crucial role and their accuracy could determine the performance level of whole measurement system. To obtain reliable results, the accuracy of transducers should be tested with waveforms as close as possible to real working conditions. To assess the metrological characteristic of DC voltage and current transducers under real operating conditions, this paper presents a calibration set up able to generate up to 6 kV for DC voltage and up to 300 A for DC current. The system is able to generate complex and non-stationary test signals which go beyond the standard characterization procedures. Dynamic tests can be derived from real signals obtained from experimental data. For this aim, a specific software tool was developed and here it is presented

Calibration of voltage and current transducers for dc railway systems

To establish a single European railway area, the European Commission requires, by 2019, that energy billings shall be computed on the actual energy consumed. So, in the near future, all the trains shall be equipped with an energy measurement system, whose measurement accuracy should be assessed and periodically reverified, as required by EN 50463-2. As for every energy and power measuring system, the voltage and current transducers play a crucial role as their accuracy could determine the performance level of the entire measurement chain. To answer to this emerging need, this paper presents a calibration system allowing the accurate testing of dc voltage and current transducers, up to 6 kV and 300 A and up to 10 kHz. It is able to reproduce all the tests prescribed by EN 50463-2, but in order to characterize the transducers in actual operating conditions, a series of additional tests can also be performed using synthetic complex waveforms or even signals acquired on-board trains. The expanded uncertainty (level of confidence 95%) of the calibration system is 43 mu extV /V and 24 mu extA /A at dc and 520 mu extV /V and 820 mu extA /A at 10 kHz. Moreover, the calibration of two commercial voltage and current transducers, currently installed in the trains of an Italian operator, is presented

Power Quality Assessment in Railway Traction Supply Systems

The assessment of the power quality (PQ) could be a valuable tool to foster the efficiency of the railway systems. PQ is a well-addressed topic in conventional ac 50/60 Hz power systems, and many procedures, algorithms and measurement systems were presented in the international standards and widely discussed in the scientific literature. A less explored research field is the assessment of the PQ in the railway traction supply systems, in particular with reference to the dc and 16.7 Hz systems. The article explores this theme, proposing an extension of the definitions and of the standard measurement procedures for some of the main PQ indexes, well defined and widely used for conventional power systems, in order to be used also in all railway traction supply systems. The limits or difficulties of applicability are discussed with reference to measurements performed both on-board and in substation. The proposed procedures are applied to an experimental case of a real dc railway system with a large measurement campaign

Design of a Stationary Energy Recovery System in Rail Transport

Although rail is one of the most sustainable transport systems, there is still room to reduce its energy demand. In particular, during the braking of DC powered trains, a significant amount of energy is wasted. The recent developments in energy storage system technologies, combined with the widely used technique of regenerative braking, can considerably increase energy saving. This paper explores this theme, quantifying the amount of braking energy that can be potentially recovered in a real case study, starting from the experimental data measured on-board train. A simplified numerical model of the recovery process has been implemented. Adopting it, the energy that can be saved, with one or two energy storage systems, has been quantified for each possible position along the track. The procedure allows to determine the optimal position. Further findings about the impact of voltage level on the efficiency of the recovery process have been reported. The optimal level of voltage has been determined, also considering the additional losses in the catenary, both during the traction and braking phase of the train. Moreover, it allows dimensioning of stationary storage systems considering two different energy management strategies and their impact on the peak of stored energy. The proposed approach will be presented with reference to the concrete case of a specific route on the Italian rail network, analyzing a train in normal commuter service and the obtained results will be discussed. In the best situation, about the 73% of the braking energy can be recovered

Measuring the impact of reversible substations on energy efficiency in rail transport

open6Nowadays great interest is placed on the environmental issue. Greenhouse gas emissions are more than 50% higher than in 1990. European energy policy has been supporting efficient energy management in order to reduce the railway transport emissions by 50% within 2030. The railway stakeholders are encouraged to adopt technological solutions to foster energy efficiency. The electrodynamic braking combined with the adoption of reversible substations is one of the most promising solutions. In order to evaluate the impact of this innovative technology, a measurement campaign has been conducted on Metro de Madrid where a reversible substation was installed. In this paper, a preliminary analysis on the data acquired is presented. Traceable and accurate on-board train measurements of the energy flows and the losses are fundamental to quantify the impact of these new technologies and to carry out a survey on the efficiencies of the different vehicle components and on the strategies to reduce the energy consumption in the various operation modes. © IMEKO TC-4 2020.openCascetta F., Cipolletta G., Delle Femine A., Gallo D., Giordano D., Signorino D.Cascetta, F.; Cipolletta, G.; Delle Femine, A.; Gallo, D.; Giordano, D.; Signorino, D

Calibration System for DC Power/Energy Measurement chain in Railway applications

In order to guarantee the European interoperability of rolling stock, the European Union (EU) established that all the trains shall be equipped with an Energy Measurement Function (EMF) for billing purposes. The measurement accuracy of such devices should be assessed and periodically re-verified, as required by EN 50462-2. This paper describes a setup for the calibration of combined voltage and current transducers and EMFs for on-board Direct Current (DC) train installation. The reference system is able to generate an arbitrary DC phantom power up to 6 MW with voltage up to 5 kV and a current up to 1.2 kA. Furthermore, in order to perform tests as close as possible to real operating conditions, the system allows performing dynamic tests, reproducing waveforms obtained in real measurement campaigns. The computed uncertainty for steady state tests is 0.025%, whereas the target uncertainty for dynamic tests is 0.1%. The generation system can also be applied for on-board reverification of EMF