A method for “design to range” energy storage systems in catenary free operations of light railway vehicles

Abstract

The paper deals with line-disconnected operations of light railways vehicles using energy storage systems. In particular the suitability of on-board supercapacitors is investigated with reference to trams running along urban paths in catenary-free mode. Several tests on a real urban vehicle are presented in order to enable the evaluation of the losses in the different sections of the on-board power conversion system. These experimental data are used to estimate with good approximation the energy required for autonomous operations. A methodology called design to range is presented for properly sizing the super-capacitors bank needed to overcome different assigned distances with different road slopes.