Railway Electrification
Railway electrification systems have undergone significant development in recent years due to the demands of high-speed lines, metros and light rail systems. In order to achieve safe and reliable integration of electrical/electronic systems, such as train control systems, in the railway environment, a basic understanding of railway electrification systems is required. This is an essential pre-requisite for understanding EMC issues for example. Also railway electrification is changing with moves away from traditional DC and 16 ⅔ Hz systems in Europe to 25kV AC and in the UK the introduction of auto-transformers on the WCRM project.
Level: Introductory
Length: Two days
Subjects Covered:
- dc Railway electrification
- ac Railway electrification ‘booster’ transformer and ‘auto-transformer’ systems
- Protection systems for ac and dc railways
- Earthing strategies and ‘touch’ potentials
- Earthing and grounding
- System modelling dc
- System modelling ac
- Current collection equipment – OLE, 3rd/4th rail systems
The course covers dc railway electrification systems, including sub-station spacing, supply voltage system regulation, rectifiers, substation rating, fault currents; ac railway electrification, including explanations of booster transformer and auto-transformer systems; protection systems, including vacuum breakers, high speed-breakers, distance impedance protection, track fault discrimination, earth fault detection; earthing strategies, stray current corrosion, diode earth systems, floating systems, effects on touch potentials; examples of dc and ac system models; overhead contact line arrangement, conductors, pantograph design, dynamic characteristics, conductor rails, shoe-gear, arcing/wear and maintenance.
Who should attend?
Those requiring an introduction to railway electrification. Graduate engineers new to the rail industry, engineers needing to understand booster vs auto transformer systems, essential background for systems integrators and EMC Assurance Managers/Engineers
Mode of delivery: Lectures and demonstrations. Each delegate will receive a set of course notes as a reference document.