Method for optimizing the operation of a reversible traction substation and associated devices

• US 9,038,794 B2
• Filed: 12/26/2013
• Issued: 05/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alstom Transport Technologies
• Original Assignee: Alstom Transport Technologies
• Inventors: Cornic, Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Jason C
• Application Number:
  US14/140,664
• Publication Number:
  US 20140182991A1
• Time in Patent Office: 516 Days
• Field of Search: 191 2- 9, 191/14, 191/17, 191/20, 301/9.1, 301/116
• US Class Current: 191/4
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/26 Rail vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/53 in combination with an external power supply, e.g. from overhead contact lines
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 9/00 Electric propulsion with power supply external to the vehicle electric propulsion for monorail vehicles, suspension vehicles or rack railways B60L13/00; in combination with batteries or fuel cells within the vehicle B60L50/53
• CPC Class Codes: B60M 3/06 Arrangements for consuming regenerative power
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries

Abstract

The method according to the invention aims to optimize the operation of a reversible traction substation (Sk) of a power supply system (4) for railway vehicles, said reversible substation being able to be commanded in a traction operating mode or a braking mode.

This method includes:

• • determining a current value (Mc) of a favored operating mode;
  • maximizing at least one optimization function (F) that depends on the current value of the favored operating mode, based on instantaneous values (G(t)) of multiple operating properties of the substation (Sk);
  • computing optimized values (Popt(t)) for multiple configuration parameters of the substation (Sk) from maximized values (Gmax(t)) of the operating properties.

Claims

1. A method for optimizing the operation of a reversible substation of a power supply system for railway vehicles, the system being situated at the interface between a power supply grid and a DC power line, said DC power line being positioned along a track and being electrically connected to a railway vehicle, said reversible substation having a traction operating mode in which the reversible substation transfers electricity delivered by the power supply grid to the DC power line, a braking operating mode in which the reversible substation transfers excess recovery electricity captured on the DC power line to the power supply grid, the method comprising:

determining a current value of a first operating mode selected from the traction operating mode and the braking operating mode based on instantaneous values of a plurality of operating parameters of the substation;

selecting an optimization function from a plurality of optimization functions based on the current value of the first operating mode, the optimization function depending on at least one operating property of the group comprising;

voltage, traction energy, harmonic distortion of current, peak power, power factor, braking energy, efficiency, overall net energy and overall harmonic content;

maximizing the selected optimization function to obtain a maximized value for each operating property of the plurality of operating properties;

computing an optimized value for each configuration parameter of a plurality of configuration parameters of the substation based on the maximized values of the plurality of operating properties; and

setting the instantaneous values of the plurality of configuration parameters of the substation at said optimized values of the plurality of configuration parameters.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the current value of the first operating mode includes the value +1 when the selected mode is the traction operating mode, the value −

1 when the selected mode is the braking operating mode, optionally the value 0 when no operating mode is selected, and optionally the value −

2 when the selected mode is a standby mode, in which no energy is exchanged between the power supply grid and the DC power line and the substation is controlled to minimize its electricity consumption.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the determination of the current value of the first operating mode comprises a decision step that implements an algorithm of the decision tree type to determine an instantaneous value of the first operating mode based on the instantaneous values of the plurality of operating parameters of the substation and an update step that updates the current value with the instantaneous value.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein said algorithm of the decision tree type takes, as input, the instantaneous values of the plurality of operating parameters comprising an operating time interval of the railway vehicles along the track, an AC voltage delivered by the power supply grid, and, when the system includes at least two reversible substations, a distance between said at least two reversible substations.

5. The method according to claim 1, including a selection step for selecting the optimization function to be maximized, based on the current value of the first operating mode.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the optimization function is a weighted sum of multiple elementary functions.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the selection step uses an algorithm for estimating weights used in the weighted sum of multiple elementary functions.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the selection step uses an adaptation algorithm causing an evolution of the elementary functions in the weighted sum of multiple elementary functions.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the maximizing step includes determining the instantaneous value of the selected optimization function as a function of the values of the operating properties, the modification of the instantaneous values of the operating properties, the determination of the modified value of the optimization function as a function of the modified values of the operating properties, the comparison of the modified value and the instantaneous value of the constraint function, and, when the modified value is greater than the instantaneous value, allocating the modified values as maximized values of the operating properties.