Electric railway traction Part 3 Traction power supplies The first two in this series of tutorial articles described traction drives with DC motors and three-phase AC induction motors. This article covers the electrical engineering aspects of DC and single-phase AC traction power transmission systems. by R. J. Hill Background Power is transmitted to electric railway locomotives and vehicles using DC or single- phase AC networks. The parallel development of traction technology in the industrialised countries has led to a plethora of different electrification systems, Table 1 exemplifying the geographical extent of the various voltages and frequencies in use in Europe. For new railways, the type of ‘network s influenced by technical considerations such as: © operational requirements (for urban metro, high-speed passenger or heavy- haul freight) © physical route characteristics (such as gradients, and bridge and tunnel clearances) © proximity of generating plant and utility or railway-owned power networks © available traction technology (converters, traction motors and regenerative capability). DC networks with trackside rectifiers and transmission voltages between 600 V and 1-5 kV are standard for urban and regional lines up to about 100 km long, although there are extensive 3 kV DC main line systems dating from the 1920s and 1930s. The original advantage of DC power supply was ‘the simplicity of the vehicle-mounted traction equipment. DC series motors, wound at the full fine voltage, could be started and run under resistance control by switching from series to parallel connection as speed increased. DC supply is still advantageous with modern power electronic traction control due to the compact size and weight of chopper and inverter drives. AC distribution of electrical power to trains is economic for high-speed and heavy-haul railways, The high catenary voltage implies lower currents and smaller power losses, so fewer substations are required compared with the lower voltage DC traction networks. Standard AC distribution equipment and switchgear is used. Three-phase AC transmission, normally the most efficent means of distributing high-power electricity, would be advantageous for traction due to the inherent regenerative capability of three- phase induction motors. However, it has not been widely applied because of the difficulty of power collection by moving locomotives. A number of systems were tried in the early 1900s on mountain railways in Italy, Switzerland and USA, The last major line, from Genova to Torino, was converted from three-phase at 3-6 kV, 16%/s Hz to 3 kVin 1964. In the early 20th century, low-frequency single-phase AC traction networks were established to combine the economies of high-voltage AC transmission with the advantages of using AC commutator motors. In Europe, the 15 kV, 16% Hz networks are very extensive and have been expanded despite the need for frequency converters or special generating stations. in the USA, some sections of the 12 kV, 25 Hz electrification system in the New York area have been converted to 60 Hz, facilitated by the ready availabilty of dual-frequency traction equipment. Nowadays, the standard supply for main line systems is 25 kV single-phase AC at 50 or 60 Hz, The system was first widely exploited in France in the early 1950s, The economy of high-voltage transmission is combined with the compatibility of national utility electric grid networks. The development of rectifier Table 1 Main ine railway electrification systems in Western European countries UK France, Finland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain| ISkV 16YsHe Germany, Austia, Seized, Sweden, Norway 25kVSOH2 BVOC Belgium, Spain Italy TSAVOC France, Wetherands TsoVOC UK POWER ENGINEERING JOURNAL DECEMBER 1994 275econpuaena locomotives with OC traction motors and tapchangers, using mercury arc rectifiers, semiconductor diodes and finally thyristor phase control, ensured the success of the system. New lines at 25 kV, 50/60 Hz have been constructed adjacent to existing 3 KV OC networks in, for example, France, Russia and South Africa. 25 KV remains the standard voltage although since 1980 some freight railways in North America and South Africa have been electrified at 50 kV, 50/60 He. 1. Third-ail power collection on London Docklands Railway OC railway traction power systems The standard voltages for new DC railways are 660 or 750V for urban metros and 1-5 kV for interurban and regional systems, 2 1S kV DC railway feeding system incoming uty supe 3oaow AC cet breakers ACisatators a y } x i 0 cieuit breakers Mean prams Ey —titioe tie ih. | [catenary 2 Hy pale TA ecoen raacx coen suestaron — secTOWNG ——suasiatow rout Power is derived by trackside rectifier substations, typically with ratings in the range 1-10 MW, from the AC utility or railway-generated supply. For supply voltages less that 1 kV, power distribution to trains is made through a conductor rail laid on insulators on one side of the running rails Fig. 1) or, for light rail systems involving street running, by ovethead catenary. Traction current return is usually through the running rails, One advantage of using @ conductor rails the lower Construction cost to establish suitable electrical clearances when existing railways are electrified. Traction currentis collected by vehicles using a sliding contact, either over of Under the conductor rail. On a few systems, principally the London underground, current returns through an additional insulated Conductor rail laid at the centre of the track. Although this installation was originally intended to prevent traction return current Passing through iron tube tunnels and other metallic structures, there is an additional advantage of providing complete galvanic isolation between traction and signalling circuits Overhead catenary, with running rail current return, is used for light ral systems at 600-800 V and conventional systems at 1-5 and 3 KV. Because of the large currents involved compared to high-voltage AC systems, the DC copper contact wire is made from heavier gauge material Fig. 2 shows a typical power supply arrangement for a 1-5 kV DC electric railway. The main parts of the traction network are the transformer/tectifier substation, the traction line and the protection equipment. Utility feeds, usually at distribution voltage level, are transformed, rectified and connected to the catenary and track at specific points, Adjacent feeds may be isolated from each other and additional switchgear is available for fault management and to ensure continuity of supply during maintenance outages. The operational features of the system which must be considered at the design stage include DC and AC-side harmonic effects, feeding irmpedance and regulation, the protection philosophy and rail voltage management. Transformerirectitier substations The AC three-phase utility supply is, rectified to obtain DC traction power. To ensure availabilty, the lineside substations are linked by the AC distribution network, for example at 132, 66 or 33 KV in UK. The pulse ‘number of the rectifiers is determined by the transformer winding and converter configuration. Six, 12 or 24-pulse circuits may be used, higher values giving reduced tipple current which is particularly significant for the operation of DC traction motors with solid, non-laminated poles ahd for DC-AC traction inverters which require minimal interference between the line ripple and ‘output frequencies. 4 typical substation rating is 3 MW at 750 V DC supplying 4 kA POWER ENGINEERING JOURNAL DECEMBER 1994“with overload capabilities of 150, 300 and 450% of the rated current for 1 hour, 1 minute and 10s, respectively Six-pulse rectifiers, used for 750V urban metro systems and also in the Polish 3 kV network, are usually constructed with the transformer secondary in a bridge or double star connection. In the bridge circuit (Fig. 32), each diode conducts the full load current for ‘one-third of the cycle. The double-star circuit (Fig. 36) consists of two independent, parallel-connected, three-phase half-wave rectifiers, supplied at x phase difference. Each diode conducts for one-third of a cycle but carries only half the load current. The two star points are linked by an interphase reactor, centre-tapped for the DC negative return current, which allows each star group to conduct simultaneouisy. The voltage difference between the two star points causes reactor current to flow, thus defining the negative load voltage, As in the bridge circuit, the AC current has @ stepped, quasi- square shape. For correct circuit operation, the interphase reactor must receive.a small ‘magnetising current in antiphase to the load current which occurs since continuous load current will flow through track leakage even the absence of tains The 12-pulse rectifier, used for example on the Italian 3 KV system, consists of series- connected delta and star transformer secondaries each with its own bridge circuit (Fig, 3c). The advantages over the six-pulse configuration are reduced device current rating and lower harmonics. Symmetrical ‘output is ensured by the /6 phase angle displacement of the three-phase voltages supplying the two bridges. Transformers with coupied secondaries are used to minimise regulation and to limit the short-circuit fault current. The physical layout of the windings determines the short-circuit reactance, commutating reactance and load losses, from which the DC voltage regulation, efficiency, power factor and AC- side harmonics may be calculated C:side harmonic effects The DC waveform contains ripple frequency harmonic voltages which give rise to current harmonics due to the finite load inductance. An approximate expression for the mean DC voltage and harmonic content for a p-pulse uncontrolled rectifier may be found from a Fourier analysis assuming a balanced three-phase input as: _ PV ansinn/p) * xlmip? = 2 a) X1(1 ~ costyexpjam)} —jm sintyexplia)] where yis the overlap angle and m is the harmonic order, The resulting variation of harmonic components with overlap angle for = 6s shown in Fig. 4. The OC-side harmonics are of order np, where n is a Positive integer. For a perfectly balanced 12- ulse cectifier, the lowest harmonic ism = 12 > 44 e with amplitude 1-4% pu. The 24th harmonic amplitude is 0:35% pu. By comparison, the 6th, 18th and 30th harmonics in a six-pulse rectifier have amplitudes 5:71%, 0-62% and 0-22% pu, respectively. Ideal rectifier performance can be assessed by evaluation of the load voltage ripple factor (RF) and total harmonic distortion (THO). The RF is the ratio of the total RMS value of all the alternating components to the mean value and is 1-03% fora 12-pulseuncontrolled rectifier. The THD is the root of the sum of squares of the harmonic voltages divided by & fetatve harmonic mapa, ¢8 ci $ POWER ENGINEERING JOURNAL DECEMBER 1994 3. Transformer Secondary and rectifier substation crcults for De tract (2) Sixpulse, three- phase bridge; (5) Six. pulse, sixphase double star; (€) 12-pulse, double ‘three-phase series bridge 4. DCsubstation D- side harmonic ‘magnitude for sixpulse rectifier with overlap, angle as parameter 277the fundamental voltage and is 1-458%. In practice, certain imperfections increase the amplitude of low-order odd harmonics, including non-ideal rectifier diodes, finite leakage reactance in the supply transformer and the use of external components such as power factor correction capacitors. Even harmonics will also be present, generated from AC-side unbalance conditions such as ‘occur from an inexact traction transformer tums ratio or asymmetries in the rectifier diode conduction pattern. In a six-pulse rectifier, for a 3% voltage unbalance and an overlap of 1/4, harmonics at 3% of the DC ‘output at 900 Hz and 0-5% at 6 kHz will occur. The C-side harmonics can be reduced by using substation output filters. In Japan and Poland, for example, LC series harmonic traps are used to absorb the 300, 600, and 900 Hz harmonics from six:pulse rectifiers. A capacitor of value about SOF is also present forming an output filter when combined with the sum of the inductances due to the rectifier diodes, transformer leakage and high-voltage system (about 5 mH). ACside harmonic effects The commutation process also causes non- sinusoidal current to be drawn from the AC utility supply, creating line voltage distortion and increasing reactive power consumption. For each harmonic of order nin the DC waveform, the corresponding AC-side current contains two harmonics given by the equation: sinf(n+ Net) sinln-1ext] mt nei i= i(snton + & For balanced three-phase supplies, triplen harmonics are eliminated from the input lines, so for a p-pulse rectifier with steady OC oad current, the input harmonic currents are of order (np + 1) and magnitude 1Anp = 1) of the fundamental. Fora 12-pulse rectifier operating under ideal conditions, the lowest current harmonic will be the 11th (6-6 kH2 for 50 Hz supply). In practice, however, many imperfections contribute to give an uncertain harmonic spectrum, and electricity supply utilities limit the harmonic power that can be fed back to the supply to a THD between 2 and 5% when supplied by about 132 kV. Higher values apply when the substation is supplied from lower AC distribution voltages. Feeding impedance and regulation Traction systems must function correctly with a large pantograph voltage toleran Italy, for example, the 3 kV nominal traction voltage can vary between 2:4 and 4-2 kV. The voltage regulation characteristic is determined by the substation output impedance and the traction line feeding impedance. Atypical figure for substation regulation over the complete load current range is 6% in The main factors affecting this are the series impedance and overlap voltage drop. Since overlap isin reality aline-line short circuit, the commutating reactance corresponds toa short-circuit of the transformer. Current commutation between the rectifier diodes will be delayed by the effective source inductance (), and the overlap will reduce the mean output voltage by approximately Vs = ~(300U/2) |, . 8) where fis the load current, The substation ‘output impedance also inciudes the diode forward resistances, the impedance of the AC supply including associated cables, and the ‘transformer winding resistance which depends on the output power and temperature. In750V DC supplies with low distribution voltage feeds (e.g, 33 or 66 kV), 12 or 24- pulse rectifiers are usually necessary to achieve the required regulation. However, a trade-off can be made by increasing the substation fault current and hence the converter and breaker ratings. Typically, a 7-5 MW (2 hour), 1:5 kV DC substation may have a transformer with 63 KV primary, 1-72 KV secondary, iron losses at 8 KW and regulation of 21 V per 1 kA, ‘The AC-side power factor is normally better than 0:9in DC substations. Degradation is caused by the supply transformer inductance and DC-side harmonic distortion. The regulation is also affected by the traction line impedance. A typical value of feeding resistance for a third-ail system is 0°08 S7km. For high-power systems, the ‘overhead catenary, being mounted on insulators of imited strength, must be reinforced with parallel feeders. The contact Wire and messenger wire together have an equivalent cross-section of 320, 440 or, exceptionally, 600 mm?. C traction network protection “Traction network protection, both at the substation and along the track, is necessary to prevent injury to personnel and to limit equipment damage after faults and overloads, It also prevents interference to other users, for example from induced currents corrupting communications or stray currents causing corrosion, In addition to the AC-side switchgear and isolators, the distribution voltage feeder. ‘transformers will have overcurrent, earth fault, Buchholz and temperature protect and the supply cables will have differential feeder protection. On the DC side, the traction rectifiers incorporate overcurrent and reverse current trip protection and there are high-speed rectifier breakers for controlled switching. Overcurrent protection is also usually provided in conjunction with a differential earth fault or resivicted earth fault protection system, Protection is also required in case of earth faults along the track or on traction vehicles. POWER ENGINEERING JOURNAL DECEMBER 1994‘This is achieved by impedance relays, undervoltage intertripping of breakers at section ends, di/dt and A/ tripping, and catenary thermal overload protection. Fault management procedures are necessary to discriminate between legitimate loading and actual remote faults. The DC short-circuit fault current is determined by the surge rating of the rectifier devices and the mechanical strength of the transformer windings under short-circuit conditions. The overload setting of the DC track circuit breakers must be less than the fault current, ands calculated by considering the limiting ‘case that a circuit breaker must trip with @ fault current near the substation, but not under the normal starting current of a train far away. ‘Acomplex system of interconnection within the AC distribution system is necessary to cater for non-standard feeding arrangements when faults occurin transformers, cables or traction line sections. The line feed is maintained by linkage and ‘mid-section isolation with track paralleling circuits as shown in Fig. 2. Emergency feeding, however, will involve reduced voltage supply to the remaining tracks on the section because of the usual paralleling of tracks to reduce the feeding impedance. Care must be taken in a double-end-fed section where a short-circuit fault adjacent to one substation may cause local circuit breaker ‘to.0pen, but with fault current still flowing from the other substation. Typically, the feeder breaker trip setting range is 4-16 kA for a full load of 4 kA, with a peak load current of 12 kA and a mean load of 2'5 KA. Rail voltages Traction current return along the running rails and the finite ail-to-ground conductance imply that earth currents can flow with the possibilty of stray currents causing corrosion and communication network interference. However, insulation of the track to reduce these currents may cause unacceptably high rail voltages and hence excessive step and touch potentials. The protection system must therefore also detect catenary-ral and catenary-ground faults, taking action to increase the ral-to-ground leakage current and decrease the rail voltage when the latter exceeds a critical value (65 V according to the CCITT standard). A system proposed for the Dallas light rail network involves a GTO thyristor which provides an additional traction return current path ifthe rail voltage exceeds a predetermined level (Fig. 5), At the same time, a detected ‘overcurrent indicates a catenary-to-earth fault requiring action to disconnect the traction power supply by opening the circuit breakers OC traction system design Selection of the optimum rating and spacing of substations for a given traffic pattern may be carried out by calculating the line voltage drop between the substations POWER ENGINEERING JOURNAL DECEMBER 1994 rece negave bus under the worst operating conditions. This, however, is a non-trivial task since, particularly in rail transit systems, therecan bbe many trains on each supply section. Computer simulation is necessary for which the following information is required: 5 Foultcurrent and rail Voltage protection for Dctraction power system # magnitude and distribution of traction load, in terms of train power necessary to satisfy the published schedule © regulation characteristics of transformer/ rectifier units and traction line # voltage tolerance levels of traction units, particularly the minimum permissible voltage at the train pantograph and the voltage required by auxiliary equipment tooperate © traction fault protection requirements, such as short-circuit fault current setting, The rating of DC substations varies between 1-5 and 10 MW, and substation spacings can be up to 3 km for 600 V, 10 km for 1:5 kV and 20 km for 3 kV supply. A typical 4 kA substation on a 1-5 kV DCsystem would be given an 8 km protection zone, The use of inverting substations has been made feasible by the development of high- power thyristor rectifiers, in which regenerated energy can be returned to the ‘AC supply when there are no suitable nearby loads. Such a system, however, requires a careful operating strategy including blending of regenerative and dynamic braking systems and close monitoring of the line voltage. So far, working networks with inverting substations have been installed only inJapan. AC railway traction power systems Whereas 16% and 25 Hz AC traction networks require special generators or frequency converters, 25 kV traction networks at 50/60 Hz can be directly fed from the electric utility network by transformer substations using, for example, 132/25 kV single-phase transformers. The catenary typically consists of a 90 mm: steel messenger wire supporting 2 110 mm? 279Manel Communications Ltd.) 7 Centreed AC railway traction feeding system with eatenary fault isolation arrangements Zourtesy ABB Corporate hi anki copper contact wire. Fig. 6, showing a transformer substation for a 16%/ Hz systern, illustrates the necessary physical space requirements for these high-power installations ‘Acentre-fed AC traction power system is shown in Fig. 7. Adjacent sections are supplied from different phases of the three- phase network to ensure approximately equal loading. The track neutral and paralleling sections have isolators and switchgear to ensure continuity of feeding after faults or outages by isolating individual transformers or catenary sections and reconnecting them in different thee phase uty supaty configuration, Other feeding arrangements are also possible, such as single-end feeding with two transformers per substation, used to achieve a high-reliaility supply, or double- end feeding which can handle high-power requirements The practical details of AC power feeding are concerned with maintaining the quality of the supply. On the traction side, catenary feeding systems using booster transformers and autotransformers have been developed to improve transmission efficiency and system regulation and to reduce earth currents and electromagnetic interference. On the utility side, special consideration must witine|_ gf xy RUPE & Hew 280 TRANSFORMER SUBSTATION as TaAcK TRANSFORMER | SECTIONING SUBSTATION IS STATION POWER ENGINEERING 10) TRACK Taansronver | SecTONNG SUBSTATION 15 AND PARALLEUING : STATION EMBER 1994estonary “a fate booster ranetomer sats anil catenay catonay “l ‘srucures —J he = A ay™ ZT Z LZ rotten ve be given to three-phase network unbalance, power factor, production of harmonic overvoltages and protection. ‘Simple and booster transformer feeding The least capital-intensive way of feeding power is by direct connection of the traction feed transformer secondary to the catenary and rails at each substation (Fig, 82). The disadvantages are high feeding impedance with large losses, high rail-to-earth voltage (a Potential safety hazard) and the production of earth currents which can cause interference in adjacent telecommunications circuits. The addition of a return conductor connected to the rails at regular intervals, typically 5 or 6 km, provides a lower impedance traction current return path (Fig. 86). By its screening effect, it can also reduce inductive interference in parallel telecommunications cables by about 30%. Booster transformers (BTs), rated at about 150 kVA, were first used on the Tokaido Shinkansen (lapan) in 1964. They are placed along the catenary at 3-4 km intervals and represent a further improvement in the feeding circuit. The BT Primary is connected across a gap in the contact wire and the secondary across an insulated rail section (Fig. 8c), The turns ‘ratio is unity and traction return current is forced from the rails and earth to flow through the transformer secondary to equalise the Amptre-turns in the core set up by the primary current. The preferred configuration is to incorporate a conductor in parallel with the rails for the return current, as shown in Fig. 8d. In high-voltage AC traction networks, the line impedance is the most significant part of the total feeding impedance. The impedance at power frequency is dominated by the physical layout of the circuit and mounting ‘the negative feeder on the mast close to the catenary minimises the circuit inductance. Fig. 9 shows the current paths in a BT system and the form of the feeding circuit impedance curve. The feeding transformer impedance is typically between (0-5 + /3-0) and (1-2 + /7.6)@, depending on rating, and the line impedance is about (0:2 + j0°6) fam. The inherent slope of the curve is given by the contact-wire/return-conductor short-circuit impedance and the vertical represents the BT series impedance. When the short-circuit load isto the right of the BT, the impedance is low since return currentis forced to flow through the BT winding rather than the rails. n a practical system, the BT series impedance is made approximately equal to the feeding impedance between BTS. Ifthe ail leakage to ground admittance is minimised, the total feeding section POWER ENGINEERING JOURNAL DECEMBER 1994 8 AC railway feeding systems: (2) Direct feed; (8) Direct feed with return conductor, (2) Booster transformer feed: (0) Booster transformerwith return conductor; (¢) Autotranstormer feed 281 (MW, MVAr), POWER ENGINEERING JOURNAL DECEMBER 1994example, star zig-zag traction transformers are used in the Eurotunnel traction supply system due to their very low zero phase sequence (2PS) reactance. This helps to reduce the 25 kV side unbalanced voltage drop from the residual 2PS current which arises because the traction load appears as star-connected. Out of the three power feeds, balancing equipments required only for the 1% NPS appearing at the Folkestone (UK) 132 kV busbar. Power factor correction: Low power factor (PF) can bea serious problem, particularly in long single-end fed railways with weak supply. PF is the product of displacement factor and distortion factor, both of which may be exacerbated by the use of power- electronic controlled traction drives. Displacement factor is governed by the input impedance of the traction line and the lag of the fundamental component of traction current over voltage, whereas distortion factor is due to nonsinusoidal line current ‘waveforms, Since the PF of phase-controlied rectifier locomotive drives can be particularly low (perhaps 80% averaged over the traction duty cycle but reducing to 40% Cn starting), correction is required to satisfy stringent specifications such as AMTRAK's BostoryNew Haven requirement of a 15 minute average PF greater than 0:95 lagging at the utility connection point. The necessary correction capacitor can also be combined with external balancing components. Fig. 12c shows a Scott transformer feed with a PF capacitor and balancing reactances ly and C, used in situations of extreme unbalance. To obtain unity power factor, the MVA in X<_ and Xi» are each equal to half the load MW and the MVA in Xe is equal to the load MVAr. For zero unbalance, the sum of the MVA in all three components is the load MW plus the load MvAr. Harmonic overvoltages: Harmonics generated during the operation of thyristor- Controlled traction equipment and by magnetic saturation in machines and transformers can excite resonances in the traction network and produce high- frequency currents with a number of unforeseen effects, for example: * increased heating in traction motors, ‘auxiliary machines, and traction and feeding transformers © overcurrents inline capacitor equipment © undervoltages at locomotive pantographs © resonant overvoltages along the line which may exceed safety levels. These problems may be serious in traction systems since: traction lines are lightly damped with low resonant frequencies: a typical ductance of 1-33 mH/km, capacitance OF 0-091 yF/km and resistance of 0-17 Wrkm will produce resonances at about 1 ke, 2 third harnone reactance 9%, renarmonie ti reactance 3X practical narménic ier pantograph vag bout pantograph votage wether © traction loads are high compared with the system short-circuit fault level: the load may, for example, be 10 MWend the fault level set at a minimum of 40 MW at the end of a lang section. # locomotive input filters may interact with the line distributed reactance. In practice, power utilities specify THO limits at the common connection point. Typical THD levels at 132 KV are 2% under normal feeding arrangements and 3% under exceptional conditions, with individual harmonics limited to 1% and 1-5%, respectively. Reduction of harmonics in the traction line can be achieved by modifying the line resonant characteristics using shunt harmonic filters. The first problem is to optimise the position of the filter along the catenary. Consider the single-end-fed line of Fig, 132. In normal operation, the equivalent third harmonic reactance plotted as a function of distance demonstrates that the optimum filter location would be where the line end reactance is equal to the maximum between supply and filter. During emergency feeding conditions, however, theline length may change and so a filter position at the end of the line is normally chosen with a POWER ENGINEERING JOURNAL DECEMBER 1994, 13 Harmonic filter (2) Equivalent circuit and third harmonic reactance diagram; (b) iter; (effect pantograph voltage waveform 285286 surge impedance termination at the resonant frequency. ‘The second taskis in selecting the necessary filter component values to achieve the required damping, noting that, over a ong line, the line resistance may alter the resonant conditions. A practical broadband shunt filter, suitable for a single track line with substations up to 60 km apart, is shown in Fig. 136, with sample voltage waveforms, showing that the high crest voltage elevation is reduced by the filter, in Fig. 13e. AC traction system protection ‘The transformer, switchgear and cables on the supply side and the catenary on the rallway side must all have sufficient protection. Normal protection arrangements apply to the incoming supply, such as: © overcurrent protection for the traction feed transformers, with inverse definite minimum time relays set to the rated load earth fault protection against phase-to- earth short circuits, star-connected current transformers being used with an earth fault rely in the neutral connection insulation breakdown detection using Buccholz relays in the transformer oil circuits * winding and coolant temperature detection © differential protection, with comparison Of the transformer primary and secondary side Ampbre-turns. There are a number of difficulties which affect protection on the traction line:, ‘© the normal load may be high compared with the system short-circuit fault level, and a single-phase transformer impedance may limit the fault current to aslowas 6 kA the unbalance in loading of some traction transformers, such as Scott or ‘Woodbridge, requires compensation for phase differences between primary and secondary line currents © the use of on-load tapchangers may give rise to unbalance in the relay signals, requiring a biased differential relay approach for compensation © regenerative operation may require special distance protection arrangements. To ensure security of traction supply in the event of faults or outages, duplicated catenary feeds are provided, each rated at the full load. The supply may be reconnected during a substation outage using bus section and feeder circuit breakers supplied from an adjacent section with the traction load at reduced voltage, a typical fauit clearing time being 200 ms. Voltage sensing is necessary to ensure that bus section is not simultaneously energised by different phases. Distance protection is also required along the traction line. This compares the ratio of fault current and sending voltage with a predetermined value corresponding to the unfaulted line impedance. The locus of the relay voltage and current coils in the resistance/reactance diagram also reveals information concerning faults, power swings and loads enabling the system to be studied for disturbances. AC traction system design As in DC networks, the complexity of AC traction with multiple train loading means that computer simulation is necessary to apiimise the power feeding arrangements, fF The design process results in the determination of substation spacing and rating for specific traction characteristics and service patterns on particular routes. One problem is that, as the positions of vehicles change, the power system geometry alters and, although steady-state operation may be attainable, the system may still be vulnerable to overcurrents or undervoltages, The traction system model used must therefore be sufficiently robust to undertake transient studies, to determine the effects of Unbalance and harmonic propagation and to propose a PF correction strategy. ‘Whereas the maximum catenary voltage is normally 27°5 kV, or + 10% of nominal, the minimum is determined form the acceptable regulation under emergency feeding conditions. Although the IEC recommends a minimum of 19 kV for normal operation and 17-5 kV under exceptional conditions, the Bostor/New Haven scheme will be designed for 21-25 kV and 20 ky, respectively. In the UK, however, the system is able to function at voltages as low as 14 kV for 10 minutes and 12:5 kV for 2 minutes. Furtherreading 1 WATERS, C.0., FARRELL M., GRAINGER, RP., MELUTT, ‘Dublin area IEE Proceedings, 1988, 1358, (2), pp.134-150 2 _ RNESCHKE, TA: ‘Design considerations for the DART traction elecifiation system’, Proceedings ofthe 1987 IEEE/ASME Joint Reikoad Conference, Toronto, 21st-23rd Apri 1987 (New York, IEEE, 1987), pp.1-11 3 KNESCHKE, TA ‘Control of utility system unbalance caused by single-phase electric traction’ IEEE Trens, 1985, 1A-21, (6), 1p.1559-1570 4 BARNES, R,, and WONG, KT."Unbalance and harmonic studies for the Channel Tunnel railway system’, IEE Proceedings, 1991, 1388, 2), pp.at-50 5. MORRISON, R.E, and CORCORAN, J.C.W.'Specifcation of an overvoliage damping fter for the National Railways of Zimbabwe", IEE Proceedings, 1989, 136B, (6), .249-256 ©lee-1994 Or. Hillis a Senior Lecturer with the School of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK. Heis en IEE Member POWER ENGINEERING JOURNAL DECEMBER 1994