Conservation of Electrical Energy for Automated Transportation Systems

摘要

This paper presents alternative design approaches and challenges related to methodsrnfor the conservation of electrical energy for Transportation Systems. The propulsionrndesigns of traditional transportation systems did not originally include energyrnconservation as part of their basic design philosophy. These propulsion systems werernnot designed to conserve electrical power consumption by recapturing the energyrnstored in the train's moving mass. Therefore the energy consumed from the electricrnutility during accelerations and stored in the moving mass of the trains in the form ofrnkinetic energy was simply dissipated as heat by either friction or electrical resistancernbraking during decelerations.rnThe current generation of propulsion systems are being designed with the capabilityrnto re-capture the train's kinetic energy and convert it back into electrical energy. Thisrnrecovered electrical energy can then be made available for use by the train's auxiliaryrnelectrical systems, other trains, stored for later reuse, or transferred back into thernelectric utility power feeds. The end result of this reuse of energy is reduced electricrnutility costs, and reduced brake system maintenance costs as well as a decrease in thernamount of harmful chemicals released into the environment in the form of brake dust.