Design and operation of a DC/DC converter to integrate energy storage into a railway traction system

The use of Energy Storage Systems (ESSs) can improve the energy efficiency of railway systems assisting the traction system and recovering regenerative braking energy. In this paper, a medium frequency modular converter using SiC MOSFETs is analyzed to interface the ESS with a 1500 Vdc catenary and the load.The use of SiC MOSFETs allows the increase of the switching frequency and the reduction of the size, volume and weight of the transformer. A modular topology can provide redundancy, fault tolerance and enables system scalability. The maximum power and switching frequency of one module is estimated using commercially available semiconductors.