Overview
The HVB2 project is funded by the European Commission under the 5th Framework Programme GROWTH, DG TREN, Subprogramme Area: 'Key Action Land Transport and Marine Technologies'.
To face the increase in both passenger and freight traffic demand, railway companies are required to upgrade their traction power supply infrastructure in order to increase track capacity. In addition, on several lines, the electrical infrastructure is no longer able to sustain the actual traffic level reliably. The growing attention to environmental issues makes the installation of new electrical substations difficult and costly. Moreover, railways pay high penalties to national grid electrical suppliers for disturbances due to railway consumption: hence an energy-saving approach is envisaged.
The main objective of this project is to develop and validate an SVC device adapted to the railway electrification infrastructure. The SVC adaptation in a single phase configuration requires extensive design studies in terms of control system, interoperability toward signalling and telecommunication systems, reliability and safety.
The main technical objectives to be reached are:
- low cost (less than 1/3 of a new ESS),
- good interoperability (to different track circuits and signalling limits) and
- low maintenance.
These objectives will be validated by the building of a prototype and testing on two different sites which represent the two extremes of application throughout Europe.
This project will develop and validate the HVB device for railway systems at 25KV-50Hz. The concept of this device has been studied in HVB project ('98-DGVII) and will face the urgent need of European railways to upgrade their electrical infrastructure at low cost and low environmental impact, in order to face the increasing request of traffic. An industrial consortium, universities and research centres will design and prototype the device, making the maximum effort to comply with the railway requirements, especially in terms of interoperability of the device. The railway end-users will test the prototype in two different countries and will represent the short time market for the industrial product, whilst other railways will draft an exploitation plan for other countries having the same problem.
The starting point of the work identified a SVC as the optimum short-term solution for voltage profile improvement in electrified railway systems. Two main steps were identified:
- design;
- functional validation.
The first step performed the detailed design of the SVC structures following these criteria:
- voltage drop compensation (>3kV);
- fast dynamic response (<200ms);
- low losses (efficiency>0.95);
- low cost and small size (<1/3new ESS);
- interoperability;
- low maintenance (availability=0.98).
The interoperability requirements influenced the design leading to the development of specific control boards and circuitry in order to respect signalling system limits, telecommunication interference levels, safety requirements, power supply disturbance levels, traction voltage quality requirements and environmental considerations.
The second step performed the integration of the device at two test sites (Chathill on the UK's East Coast Main Line and Paris on a French suburban line at Villenoy). Performance tests have already been scheduled and the recorded results will be compared with the design simulations and the design criteria set for the device.
Funding
Results
General :
- good demonstration of compliance of the HVB equipment;
- exhaustive measurement campaign and satisfactory comparison with design criteria;
- profitable cost/benefit analysis and product development. Due to confidentiality issues, the detailed data used in the simulations can not be published.
Rail
The project will develop and validate the HVB device for railway systems at 25KV-50Hz. The concept of this device has been studied in HVB project ('98-DGVII) and will face the urgent need of European railways to upgrade their electrical infrastructure at low cost and low environmental impact, in order to face the increasing request of traffic.
Integration
The European railway infrastructure will have to face important challenges in the following years, due to the expected traffic increase. Power electronics compensators can play an important role in the process of upgrading this infrastructure.
Policy implications
The European railway infrastructure will have to face important challenges in the following years, due to the expected traffic increase. Power electronics compensators can play an important role in the process of upgrading this infrastructure.
However it is necessary to analyse in detail the consequences of the introduction of these compensators to avoid any negative consequence. Account must be taken not only of the positive effects of the fundamental current, but also the potentially negative consequences of the harmonics that the compensators produce.