Prospects for the use of supercapacitors in railroad electric transport

Abstract

In this article we considered a conversion device that ensures matching of the characteristics of the superconducting inductive (SPIN) energy sources and receivers of electric energy of the traditional performance in a power unit of autonomous perspective of the locomotive. Diesel-electric traction is a well-known and established technology for railways operators, but this alternative is non-ecological for the future because only electric traction has a considerable superiority. Besides, diesel-electric engines waste energy when resistive braking is used. This non-regenerative braking decreases the overall efficiency by 10-20%. With these premises, it is important to develop new strategies to increase the energy efficiency of diesel-electric haulage. To reach a better efficiency, a locomotive with energy storage (battery, super-capacitors) is theoretically proposed. Besides, the possibility of using a lower thermal engine with energy storage devices is considered too. This solution reduces diesel consumption and CO2 emissions while being economically viable. It supposes an efficient energy management because the diesel-electric locomotive could act as a dispersed mobile generation (DMG) unit when working under electric overhead lines, and it can be used as a distributed resource for this specific electric power system.