Decision and control of catenary on-line anti-icing current in autotransformer power supply system

In order to prevent icing on catenaries and ensure trains' normal operation on electrified railways, a circuit model for the autotransformer (AT) power supply system during anti-icing period was built according to the special structure of long and short loops of the AT power supply system. This model was then used to deduce the comprehensive distribution of the anti-icing current and load current in each AT section, and the current that can prevent icing on the whole line was calculated. After analyzing the relationship between the catenary anti-icing current and the terminal voltage of the power supply arm, the anti-icing current value allowed by the voltage of traction electric network was obtained. On this basis, the decision flow of the on-line anti-icing current was proposed, aiming at maintaining the temperature of contact wire. In addition, simulations were carried out for an AT section, and the simulation results were compared with the measured load data. The results show that the anti-icing current of catenary should be 2 times the critical anti-icing current at least, such that the temperature of contact wire can maintain above 0℃ with anti-icing current. ©, 2014, Science Press. All right reserved.