Traction power systems for electrified railways:evolution,state of the art,and future trends

Traction power systems(TPSs)play a vital role in the operation of electrified railways.The transformation of conventional railway TPSs to novel structures is not only a trend to promote the development of electrified railways toward high-efficiency and resilience but also an inevitable requirement to achieve carbon neutrality target.On the basis of sorting out the power supply structures of conventional AC and DC modes,this paper first reviews the characteristics of the existing TPSs,such as weak power supply flexibility and low-energy efficiency.Furthermore,the power supply structures of various TPSs for future electrified railways are described in detail,which satisfy longer distance,low-carbon,high-efficiency,high-reliability and high-quality power supply requirements.Meanwhile,the application prospects of different traction modes are discussed from both technical and economic aspects.Eventually,this paper introduces the research progress of mixed-system electrified railways and traction power supply technologies without catenary system,speculates on the future development trends and challenges of TPSs and predicts that TPSs will be based on the continuous power supply mode,employing power electronic equipment and intelligent information technology to construct a railway comprehensive energy system with renewable energy.

Research on the longitudinal protection of a through-type cophase traction direct power supply system based on the empirical wavelet transform

This paper proposes a longitudinal protection scheme utilizing empirical wavelet transform(EWT)for a through-type cophase traction direct power supply system,where both sides of a traction network line exhibit a distinctive boundary structure.This approach capitalizes on the boundary’s capacity to attenuate the high-frequency component of fault signals,resulting in a variation in the high-frequency transient energy ratio when faults occur inside or outside the line.During internal line faults,the high-frequency transient energy at the checkpoints located at both ends surpasses that of its neighboring lines.Conversely,for faults external to the line,the energy is lower compared to adjacent lines.EWT is employed to decompose the collected fault current signals,allowing access to the high-frequency transient energy.The longitudinal protection for the traction network line is established based on disparities between both ends of the traction network line and the high-frequency transient energy on either side of the boundary.Moreover,simulation verification through experimental results demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed protection scheme across various initial fault angles,distances to faults,and fault transition resistances.

A Loss-model-based Efficiency Optimization Control Method for Induction Traction System of High-speed Train under Emergency Self-propelled Mode

Increasing attention has been paid to the efficiency improvement of the induction traction system of high-speed trains due to the high demand for energy saving. In emergency self-propelled mode, however, the dc-link voltage and the traction power of the motor are significantly reduced, resulting in decreased traction efficiency due to the low load and low speed operations. Aiming to tackle this problem, a novel efficiency improved control method is introduced to the emergency mode of high-speed train traction system in this paper. In the proposed method, a total loss model of induction motor considering the behaviors of both iron and copper loss is established. An improved iterative algorithm with decreased computational burden is then introduced, resulting in a fast solving of the optimal flux reference for loss minimization at each control period. In addition, considering the parameter variation problem due to the low load and low speed operations, a parameter estimation method is integrated to improve the controller's robustness. The effectiveness of the proposed method on efficiency improvement at low voltage and low load conditions is demonstrated by simulated and experimental results.

Generalized autoencoder-based fault detection method for traction systems with performance degradation

Fault diagnosis of traction systems is important for the safety operation of high-speed trains.Long-term operation of the trains will degrade the performance of systems,which decreases the fault detection accuracy.To solve this problem,this paper proposes a fault detection method developed by a Generalized Autoencoder(GAE)for systems with performance degradation.The advantage of this method is that it can accurately detect faults when the traction system of high-speed trains is affected by performance degradation.Regardless of the probability distribution,it can handle any data,and the GAE has extremely high sensitivity in anomaly detection.Finally,the effectiveness of this method is verified through the Traction Drive Control System(TDCS)platform.At different performance degradation levels,our method’s experimental results are superior to traditional methods.

Algorithm for Calculating Torque Base in Vehicle Traction Control System

Existing research on the traction control system（TCS） mainly focuses on control methods, such as the PID control, fuzzy logic control, etc, aiming at achieving an ideal slip rate of the drive wheel over long control periods. The initial output of the TCS （referred to as the torque base in this paper）, which has a great impact on the driving performance of the vehicle in early cycles, remains to be investigated. In order to improve the control performance of the TCS in the first several cycles, an algorithm is proposed to determine the torque base. First, torque bases are calculated by two different methods, one based on states judgment and the other based on the vehicle dynamics. The confidence level of the torque base calculated based on the vehicle dynamics is also obtained. The final torque base is then determined based on the two torque bases and the confidence level. Hardware-in-the-loop（HIL） simulation and vehicle tests emulating sudden start on low friction roads have been conducted to verify the proposed algorithm. The control performance of a PID-controlled TCS with and without the proposed torque base algorithm is compared, showing that the proposed algorithm improves the performance of the TCS over the first several cycles and enhances about 5% vehicle speed by contrast. The proposed research provides a more proper initial value for TCS control, and improves the performance of the first several control cycles of the TCS.

New generation traction power supply system and its key technologies for electrified railways

Unlike the traditional traction power supply system which enables the electrified railway traction sub- station to be connected to power grid in a way of phase rotation, a new generation traction power supply system without phase splits is proposed in this paper. Three key techniques used in this system have been discussed. First, a combined co-phase traction power supply system is applied at traction substations for compensating negative sequence current and eliminating phase splits at exits of substations; design method and procedure for this system are presented. Second, a new bilateral traction power supply technology is proposed to eliminate the phase split at section post and reduce the influence of equalizing current on the power grid. Meanwhile, power factor should be adjusted to ensure a proper voltage level of the traction network. Third, a seg- mental power supply technology of traction network is used to divide the power supply arms into several segments, and the synchronous measurement and control technology is applied to diagnose faults and their locations quickly and accurately. Thus, the fault impact can be limited to a min- imum degree. In addition, the economy and reliability of the new generation traction power supply system are analyzed.

Wide speed range for traction motor in braking force of electric braking control system

A vehicle stopping method using an electric brake until a traction motor is stopped is studied. At the moment of vehicle stop, electric brake is changed to control mode where torque is reduced at a low speed. Gradient is controlled by estimating the load torque of motor, thereby traction motor is not rotated after stop. In addition, coasting operation and brake test are performed from normal-opposite operation and start using a small-scale model comprising the inertial load equipment and the power converter. Further, traction motor is made to be equipped with a suspension torque. Pure electric braking that makes traction motor stop by an air brake at the time of stop is also implemented. Constant torque range and constant power range are expanded during braking so that braking force is secured with the electric brakes even in high speed region. Therefore, vehicle reduction effect can be expected by reducing parts related with an air brake which is not used frequently by using a pure electric brake in the M car in wide speed region. Further, maintenance of brake system can be reduced. Besides, ride comfort of passenger in the electric rail car, energy efficiency improvement, and noise reduction effect can be additionally expected. Further, an improved brake method that uses only an electric brake till motor stop is proposed by comparing those in the blending brake that uses an air brake while reducing brake torque at vehicle stop.

A preventive opportunistic maintenance method for railway traction power supply system based on equipment reliability

Conventional maintenance mode for the traction power supply system(TPSS)is to perform scheduled regular maintenance activities for power supply equipment,while such maintenance mode may result in undue maintenance tasks and low efficiency due to different degradation processes of different sorts of equipment.To address this problem,this paper introduces a preventive opportunistic maintenance(POM)method for TPSS based on equipment reliability.Firstly,a POM model is established by considering the equipment reliability degradation process based on Weibull distribution.Then,by considering the total power outage time in the planned operation cycle of TPSS as the optimization objective,the optimal maintenance scheme of TPSS is formulated by iterative method of maintenance strategies.The proposed method is verified by introducing practical maintenance strategies and fault record data of the traction transformer,circuit breaker and disconnector in an actual TPSS of a railway administration.Results show that the presented method can make full use of the existing fault data to develop a POM scheme for TPSS.It can improve maintenance efficiency and reduce power outage time,providing guidance to formulate scientific maintenance strategies for TPSS.

Power management in co-phase traction power supply system with super capacitor energy storage for electrified railways

Increasing railway traffic and energy utilization issues prompt electrified railway systems to be more economical,efficient and sustainable.As regenerative braking energy in railway systems has huge potential for optimized utilization,a lot of research has been focusing on how to use the energy efficiently and gain sustainable benefits.The energy storage system is an alternative because it not only deals with regenerative braking energy but also smooths drastic fluctuation of load power profile and optimizes energy management.In this work,we propose a co-phase traction power supply system with super capacitor(CSS_SC)for the purpose of realizing the function of energy management and power quality management in electrified railways.Besides,the coordinated control strategy is presented to match four working modes,including traction,regenerative braking,peak shaving and valley filling.A corresponding simulation model is built in MATLAB/Simulink to verify the feasibility of the proposed system under dynamic working conditions.The results demonstrate that CSS_SC is flexible to deal with four different working conditions and can realize energy saving within the allowable voltage unbalance of 0.008%in simulation in contrast to 1.3%of the standard limit.With such a control strategy,the performance of super capacitor is controlled to comply with efficiency and safety constraints.Finally,a case study demonstrates the improvement in power fluctuation with the valley-to-peak ratio reduced by 20.3%and the daily load factor increased by 17.9%.

Industrial frequency single-phase AC traction power supply system for urban rail transit and its key technologies

To avoid stray current and maintain the benefit of no phase-split in the DC traction power supply system, an AC traction power supply system was proposed for the urban public transport such as metro and light rail transit. The proposed system consists of a main substation （MSS） and cable traction network （CTN）. The MSS includes a single-phase main traction transformer and a negative-se- quence compensation device, while the CTN includes double-core cables, traction transformers, overhead catenary system, rails, etc. Several key techniques for the proposed system were put forward and discussed, which can be summarized as （1） the power supply principle, equivalent circuit and transmission ability of the CTN, the cable-catenary matching technique, and the selection of catenary voltage level; （2） the segmentation technology and status identification method for traction power supply network, distributed and centralized protection schemes, etc.; （3） a power supply scheme for single-line MSS and a power supply scheme of MSS shared by two or more lines. The proposed industrial frequency single-phase AC traction power supply system shows an excellent technical performance, good economy, and high reliability, hence provides a new alternative for metro and urban rail transit power supply systems.

Experimental research of traction motor system for electric vehicle base on sound tensity

The traction motor of electric vehicle is differing from the general industry traction motor completely. Not only frequently start, parking, accelerate, decelerate and low speed, but also high torque in climbing slope, low torque in high speed and wide range speed are requested. Base on the theory of sound intensi- ty, the experiment of noise are study through the measurement at discrete points. The sizing grid is 10mm × 10mm, The sound intensity map of traction motor are protracted at 1000r/min and the result show that the main noise sources are fan, gear-box and the traction motor in turn.

Cooling System Design Optimization of an Enclosed PM Traction Motor for Subway Propulsion Systems

This paper presents the design optimization of a self-circulated ventilation system for an enclosed permanent magnet(PM)traction motor utilized in the propulsion systems for subway trains.In order to analyze accurately the machine's inherent cooling capacity when the train is running,the ambient airflow and the related heat transfer coefficient(HTC)are numerically investigated considering synchronously the bogie installation structure.The machine is preliminary cooled with air ducts set on the motor shell,and the fluidic-thermal field distributions with only the shell air duct cooling are numerically calculated.During simulations,the HTC obtained in the former steps is applied to the external surface of the machine to model the inherent cooling characteristic caused by the train movement.To reduce the temperature rise and thus guarantee the motor's working reliability,an internal self-circulated air cooling system is proposed according to the machine temperature distribution.The air enclosed in the end-caps is driven by the blades mounted on both sides of the rotor core and forms two air circuits to bring the excessive power losses generated in the heating components to cool regions.The fluid flow and temperature rise distributions of the cooling system's structural parameters are further improved by the Taguchi method in order to confirm the efficacy of the internal air cooling system.

Electromagnetic Fields and Induced Voltages on Underground Pipeline in the Vicinity of AC Traction System

Various regulations, aimed at the protection of human beings and electrical equipment against possible adverse effects resulting from exposure to electromagnetic fields, have been issued in many countries. Most of them are based on safety guidelines published by international expert groups. In this paper, electric and magnetic fields are calculated in the vicinity of 25 kV traction line supplying railway traction systems. Calculation results are compared to exposure limits specified by safety guidelines and regulations. Possible countermeasures for reduction of electromagnetic fields are proposed. Also, this paper presents a method for calculation of the induced voltages to an underground gas pipeline from a neighbouring 25 kV electric traction overhead line in case of short circuit. Calculations are performed with EMTP-ATP software. Possible countermeasures for reduction of induced voltages are proposed.

Research and improvement of leakage protection system in traction motor

Because the leakage protection circuit in traction motor of coal mining machine is impacted by frequency converter devices,malfunctions appear frequently.This paper makes an in-depth analysis,proposes a solution of using the subtraction circuit to offset interference signals and conducts a simulation analysis.The above scheme,which is simple and easily realized,can improve the reliability of leakage protection device in traction motor.

Investigation of Power Factor Behavior in AC Railway System Based on Special Traction Transformers

The single-phase traction load has essentially an unbalance characteristic at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC), which injects harmonic into the utility grid. In this paper, the effect of harmonic distortion and unbalance loading are investigated simultaneously for electrical railway systems. Special traction transformers (i.e. single-phase, V/V, Wye-Delta, Scott, and Le Blanc) are used between the utility grid and the traction load. For analysis, different defini-tions of power factors are considered, which are presented by IEEE Std.1459. The detailed simulation study is made with MATLAB/SIMULINK program to represent the impacts of harmonic components and unbalance loading on the power factor behavior in the Electrical Railway systems.

Study of Traction Motor Feedback Testing SystemControlled by Microcomputer

this paper describes the design of a feedback testing system for locomtive tractionmotor. The structures and features of the software and hardware of themicrocomputer control system have been studied. This testing system hasalready been put into operation successfully in several locomotive depots inChina.

Pars plana vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane plugging assisted by autologous blood for optic disc pit associated with vitreomacular traction

Dear Editor,We report a case of optic disc pit(ODP)associated with vitreomacular traction which has been successfully treated by a combined technique.We have obtained the written informed consent from the patient,and this case study is in accordance with the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.

A fast power control method based on high-speed communication for the continuous co-phase traction power system

Continuous co-phase traction power system is an effective method to eliminate neutral sections and provide high quality power for both the public grid and the catenary.The substations have the ability to provide cooperative support to each other to reduce capacity and improve system reliability.A fast power control method for substations is needed due to rapid load changes and low overload capability of the system.This paper proposes a fast power control method based on high-speed communication between substations,with additional transient power control to significantly improve the dynamic response of the system.

Effect of endoscopic full-thickness resection assisted by distal serosal turnover with floss traction for gastric submucosal masses

BACKGROUND Complex and high-risk surgical complications pose pressing challenges in the clinical implementation and advancement of endoscopic full-thickness resection(EFTR).Successful perforation repair under endoscopy,thereby avoiding surgical intervention and postoperative complications such as peritonitis,are pivotal for effective EFTR.AIM To investigate the effectiveness and safety of EFTR assisted by distal serosal inversion under floss traction in gastric submucosal tumors.METHODS A retrospective analysis of patients with gastric and duodenal submucosal tumors treated with EFTR assisted by the distal serosa inversion under dental floss traction from January 2023 to January 2024 was conducted.The total operation time,tumor dissection time,wound closure time,intraoperative bleeding volume,length of hospital stay and incidence of complications were analyzed.RESULTS There were 93 patients,aged 55.1±12.1 years.Complete tumor resection was achieved in all cases,resulting in a 100% success rate.The average total operation time was 67.4±27.0 min,with tumor dissection taking 43.6±20.4 min.Wound closure times varied,with gastric body closure time of 24.5±14.1 min and gastric fundus closure time of 16.6±8.7 min,showing a significant difference(P<0.05).Intraoperative blood loss was 2.3±4.0 mL,and average length of hospital stay was 5.7±1.9 d.There was no secondary perforation after suturing in all cases.The incidence of delayed bleeding was 2.2%,and the incidence of abdominal infection was 3.2%.No patient required other surgical intervention during and after the operation.CONCLUSION Distal serosal inversion under dental-floss-assisted EFTR significantly reduced wound closure time and intraoperative blood loss,making it a viable approach for gastric submucosal tumors.

Laparoscopic Orchidopexy after 4 Weeks of Testicular Traction with Preservation of Blood Supply: A New Concept for the Treatment of Intra-Abdominal Cryptorchidism: Original Article

Background: Testicular atrophy is recurrent after orchidopexy for intra-abdominal cryptorchidism due to damage to vessels. Fowlers-Stephens and Shehata methods proposed staged orchidopexy, but are still associated to a rate of atrophy greater than 10%. Purpose: We set out to present a new technique that preserves testicular vessels. Our study is aimed at investigating testicular vitality after surgery. Patients and Method: We reviewed files of boys who underwent orchidopexy for 2 years in our department. Those who have been operated for intra-abdominal cryptorchidism with the new technique and aged between 6 months and 14 years old were included in our study. We excluded boys who have been operated before 6 months and after 14 years old and those who did not respect their follow-up plane. Ultrasound (US) outcomes were used to measure testicular volumes and blood flow at each postoperative visit. The Sample population was divided into group A and group B representing testes that were followed respectively for 12 and 24 months. Results: 22 boys with 25 testes were included in our study;11 testes in group A and 14 testes in group B. In each group, we noted a significant difference of UDT volumes from the third month after surgery with respective P-values 0.05. There was no statistical difference between UDT and contra lateral testes volumes 12 months after surgery in group A and 24 months in group B with respective P-values of 0.07 and 0.72. All volume differential indexes were Conclusion: This method offers a new perspective in performing safe orchidopexy for intra abdominal undescended testes.