Improved energy and power quality assessments will allow for smarter, more energy-efficient train network management.
The project
The effective use of energy across Europe’s railway system is required to accomplish the ambitious EU aim of lowering CO2 emissions from rail travel by 50% by 2030. This necessitates precise and trustworthy knowledge of the energy transferred between the train and the railway grid, as well as real-time power quality.
The completed EMPIR project Metrology for smart energy management in electric train systems (16ENG04, MyRailS) built the infrastructure required for accurate energy exchange and power quality measurement in transit’s highly dynamic settings. The project also focused on defining the railway subsystem as a producer-consumer capable of transferring excess energy, with the goal of incorporating it into a larger smart grid.
New methodology
This project’s study illustrates that monitoring electric quantities in the railway system is critical to ensuring the long-term viability of this mode of transportation. A method for detecting arc events utilising the transducers already on board the train was devised. The project group estimated that the energy wasted by the braking rheostat of 15 trains per day, with a mass of 316 Mg in around 1 GWh, corresponds to the annual consumption of about 365 families after measuring over the Rimini – Bologna route (120 km).
The project’s findings will underpin the energy-efficient administration of Europe’s railway networks and enable compliance with impending EU regulations on railway energy management.
Furthermore, the project consortium created an excellent set of easily available dissemination materials that described the project’s activities.
