Superconducting cables and their benefits for DC railway network
Résumé
Objective - Today, the increase in rail traffic while ensuring continuity of service presents a major challenge for the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (SNCF). To tackle this challenge, particularly in ultra-dense areas such as in Paris, France, the SNCF has recently initiated numerous electrification projects. One aspect of these projects aims at reducing the line losses in order to decrease the voltage drop on the 1.5 kV railway network. Amongst the possible technological choices, high temperature superconductor (HTS) cables have been evaluated as a promising solution. In this paper, the focus is on the benefits of unipolar HTS cables on a direct current (DC) railway network under load.
Originality - Using co-simulation, a FE model of the HTS cable is coupled to a lumped-parameter circuit model of the railway network. The latter is particularly suited for transient simulations considering the train motion. The development of such a model was deemed essential to properly study the superconducting cable and to assess accurately its impact on the power system during train accelerations.
Findings - Based on a case study representing a fraction of the Parisian railway network, it is shown that the insertion of a superconducting cable can result in a reduction of electrical losses by 35% compared to a conventional cable. Additionally, a reduction of 8% in the total electrical consumption of the traction network can be achieved.
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