Power Supply Solution for Ultrahigh Speed Hyperloop Trains

Abstract

<jats:p>The paper analyses the alternatives for the power supply of a Hyperloop type railway transport. The particular case of the technology of the Spanish company ZELEROS was studied. Based on previous technical specifications related to both the first prototype and a commercial system, different options were analyzed. We selected the use of a linear motor driven by a single power electronic converter, a distribution scheme comprising different sections along the acceleration area of the track, and an energy storage system based on supercapacitors for the energy supply. The power/energy ratio and the cycle capability are the reasons to become a feasible and competitive solution. A preliminary design methodology for the energy storage requirements is presented in the paper. Once the type of linear motor was selected, the power supply scheme was presented, based on a motor-side power electronic converter and a DC/DC converter which connects to the energy storage devices. An additional low power grid-tie converter for the recharge of the energy storage system was also used. Different track sections were defined, connected to the power electronic converter through corresponding switches, being supplied sequentially when the capsule presence is detected along the track. The particular characteristics of this application, with relatively short traction track area, as well as the high energy recuperation ratio due to the low losses, make more suitable the use of energy storage systems as the source of power supply than the direct connection to the grid.</jats:p>

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“…Three energy storage technologies were chosen from among the many available on the market, based on their maturity level and the qualities of high power, low energy, and quick reaction. These energy storage elements are: batteries, supercapacitors, and flywheels [8,9]. In the following section, a new energy storage technology; namely the hydrogen technology, is discussed.…”

The Hyperloop System and Stakeholders: A Review and Future Directions

“…Certain challenges of using battery systems should also be solved, including thermal management, mass saving considerations, power requirements, infrastructure cost, availability of pods, and charging intervals. Apart from the use of batteries, supercapacitors may be considered for power supply, due to their power/energy ratio and cycle capability [48]; however, their adoption is prevented in high power applications. Moreover, the use of hydrogen fuel cells could contribute to reducing the pod weight even more and provide a solution to cool down the system [85,148,149].…”

“…Description of the hyperloop system components is provided in several studies [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Hyperloop studies focus on specific performance topics, such as aerodynamics [15,18,, safety [8,9,16,19,20,44,45], and energy [7,9,14,[16][17][18]23,28,39,44,[46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58], while others focus on different hyperloop technologies, such as in the field of pneumatic tube and tunnel systems…”

CITIES: Ibero-American Research Network for Sustainable, Efficient, and Integrated Smart Cities

“…Some of the most relevant researches and published articles include the energy efficiency studies via computational intelligence for electricity demand forecasting in industrial and residential sectors [9]; IoT developments, such as the proposal of smart bus stops for increasing social inclusiveness and quality of life of elders [10]; electric mobility, such as a power supply solution for electric trains [11]; waste management in modern smart cities [12]; pollution and air quality, such as assessing the effectiveness of low emissions zones [13]; and sustainable mobility in public transportation [14].…”