Analysis and suppression of operational overvoltage and inrush current for high-speed trains by automatic phase-switching technique

When a high-speed train approaches the insulated phase-splitting section embedded between neighbouring power supply arms, the vacuum circuit breaker (VCB) installed on trains must be disconnected to maintain the traction power supply system as a no-load condition for completing phase-switching action, as the train passes through the phase-splitting section depending on its inertia. However, when operating VCBs, the arc is easily triggered between the mobile contacts inside, accompanied by an overvoltage impulse. Herein, to explore the generating mechanism of inrush current and operational overvoltage, a model describing the ‘substation-catenary-train’ traction power supply system is launched based on an equivalent circuit modelling technique. Through the analysis of the transient VCB operational process, the phase of catenary voltage is directly related to the characteristics of the VCB switching-on overvoltage, as the traction current's phase angle is relevant to the amplitude-frequency characteristics of the VCB switching-off overvoltage. Inrush current as a noteworthy element is related to the traction transformer's remanence. The automatic phase-switching technique is utilised to suppress both operational overvoltage and inrush current, as the optimal combination of VCB switching-on and switching-off phases considering the balance between overvoltage and inrush current is achieved based on the particle swarm algorithm.