Minimization of Power Pulsations in Traction Supply – Application of Ant Colony Algorithm

Abstract

In this paper a particular problem related to transformation of AC voltage into DC voltage used in tram supply is considered. Variable component is always present in rectified voltage. Pulsation of rectified voltage is influenced by different factors. In 12-pulse system, where two secondary transformer windings are used (one delta-connected, the other star-connected), an additional factor increasing the pulsation is the unbalance of the output voltages at these windings. Tap changer may be used to compensate (equalize) those voltages and its setting is optimized here by applying ant colony algorithm. Different supply voltage variants have been considered, with particular attention paid to distorted voltage, containing 5th and 7th harmonic. The effects of applying ACO algorithm are demonstrated.