Possibilities of Sustainable Utilization of Braking the Energy of Electric Rolling Stock

Abstract—This article considers a technique for improving the energy efficiency of a traction electric drive by accumulating and further utilizing a part of the braking energy dissipated in the brake resistors of a modern rolling stock due to the lack of consumers in the catenary system. High-capacity capacitors (supercapacitors) are proposed for use as electricity storage units. The power circuit of connecting supercapacitors to the electric drive circuit is proposed. The simulation model is developed that allows finding the main energy parameters of the proposed technique. The main strength of the proposed simulation model is that it utilizes the data obtained from the movement of an existing electric rolling stock without supercapacitors and recorded in text form: current consumed from the catenary system, catenary system voltage at the point of current pickup, and current through braking resistors. The investigations have revealed the possibility of cutting down the amount of energy spent on accelerating the rolling stock. The presence of an energy storage unit onboard will allow minimizing the harmful effect of the traction electric drive on the catenary system by reducing the output voltage at regenerative braking.