Abstract
In a method for supplying an electrical load of a vehicle with electrical energy by auxiliary converters connected in parallel on the alternating-voltage side, a current flow between the auxiliary converters and a grounded N conductor of an energy supply network is interrupted in the presence a ground fault. The auxiliary converters connected in parallel on the alternating-voltage side are operated with fundamental-wave and pulse synchronicity. An energy supply system of a vehicle, in particular of a rail vehicle, performs this method, with the energy supply system including at least two auxiliary converters arranged in parallel, an energy supply network for supplying electrical loads, at least one switch for interrupting a current flow between the auxiliary converters and the energy supply network.
Claims
1.-10. (canceled)
11. A method for supplying an electrical load of a vehicle with electrical energy, comprising: interrupting a flow of current between auxiliary converters, switched in parallel on an AC voltage side, and a grounded N conductor of, an energy supply network in the event of a short circuit to ground; and operating the auxiliary converters with fundamental wave and pulse synchronicity.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the short circuit to ground occurs in a energy supply network intended for the supply of electrical loads.
13. The method of claim 11, wherein the vehicle involves a rail vehicle, with the auxiliary converters feeding an on-board network of the rail vehicle.
14. The method of claim 11, wherein the flow of current is interrupted by opening a switch.
15. The method of claim 11, further comprising, in the event of the short circuit to ground, switching off at least two of the auxiliary converters, opening a switch for interrupting the flow of current between the at least two auxiliary converters and the energy supply network, switching on one of the at least two auxiliary converters, synchronizing the other one of the at least two auxiliary converters with the one of the at least two auxiliary converters as the one of the at least two auxiliary converters is switched on, and closing the switch, once absence of the short circuit to ground has been established.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the other one of the at least two auxiliary converters is synchronized with respect to frequency and voltage level.
17. An energy supply system of a vehicle, comprising: at least two auxiliary converters arranged in parallel; an energy supply network configured to supply an electrical load; and a switch configured to interrupt a flow of current between a one of the at least two auxiliary converters and the energy supply network.
18. The energy supply system of claim 17 for use in a rail vehicle.
19. The energy supply system of claim 17, further comprising at least one short circuit to ground monitoring facility.
20. The energy supply system of claim 17, wherein the switch is arranged in the auxiliary converter.
21. The energy supply system of claim 17, wherein the energy supply system has a three-phase energy supply network and a single-phase energy supply network which are connected galvanically to one another.
22. The energy supply system of claim 21, wherein the galvanic connection is implemented via the auxiliary converters.
Description
[0032] The invention is described and explained in greater detail below with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the figures, in which:
[0033] FIG. 1 shows a first basic circuit diagram of an inventive on-board network of a vehicle,
[0034] FIG. 2 shows a further basic circuit diagram of an inventive on-board network with a separate single-phase energy supply network,
[0035] FIG. 3 shows a further basic circuit diagram of an inventive on-board network with a switch,
[0036] FIG. 4 shows a further basic circuit diagram of an inventive on-board network with a two-pole switch,
[0037] FIGS. 5 to 8 show exemplary embodiments of an energy supply system with auxiliary converters arranged in parallel and a three-phase AC vehicle power supply line.
[0038] FIG. 1 shows an auxiliary converter 1 that supplies an electrical load 3 with electrical energy. For simplification only one auxiliary converter 1 of the parallel-switched auxiliary converters 1 of the vehicle is shown. In this arrangement a three-phase electrical load 31 is connected to the three-phase energy supply network 21. The single-phase load 32 is connected to the single-phase energy supply network 22. The N conductor N of the single-phase energy supply network 22 is connected to ground potential. In the exemplary embodiment shown here the auxiliary converter 1 makes the three phases L1, L2, L3 available at its outputs to supply the three-phase energy supply network 21. The N conductor N of the single-phase energy supply network 22 forms a further output. The phase L of the single-phase energy supply network is formed by an electrically-conductive connection to the phase L1 of the three-phase energy supply network 21. As an alternative it is also possible to form the phase L of the single-phase energy supply network 22 from the phase L2 or the phase L3 or the three-phase energy supply network 21. The overall energy supply network 2 comprises the three-phase energy supply network 21 and the single-phase energy supply network 22. A vehicle, especially a rail vehicle, has a plurality of electrical loads 3, both three-phase electrical loads 31 and also single-phase electrical loads 32, wherein in the diagram in FIG. 1, for the sake of simplification, only one three-phase electrical load 31 and only one single-phase electrical load 32 respectively are shown.
[0039] FIG. 2 shows an alternate embodiment in which the phase L of the single-phase energy supply network 22 is also provided directly at the output of the auxiliary converter 1. In this exemplary embodiment too, for the sake of simplification, only one auxiliary converter 1 of the AC-voltage-side parallel-switched 3AC auxiliary converters 1 of the vehicle is shown. In this case the potential of the phase L can be identical to a potential of the phases L1, L2, L3 of the three-phase energy supply network 21 or can be independent thereof. The advantage of this arrangement lies in the fact that the potential of the phase L of the single-phase energy supply network 22 is created directly in the auxiliary converter 1 and is therefore able to be controlled or regulated by the auxiliary converter 1. The auxiliary converter 1 can create the phase L of the single-phase energy supply network 22 for example by connection to an output that is provided for feeding the three phases L1, L2, L3 of the three-phase energy supply network 21. Also a switching over of the phase L between the phases L1, L2, L3 has proved useful. In addition the flow of current between the single-phase energy supply network 22 and the auxiliary converter 1 can be interrupted easily, e.g. by means of a switch not shown here. To avoid repetitions in relation to matching components of the system, the reader is referred to FIG. 1 and also to the reference characters given in said figure.
[0040] FIG. 3 shows a further exemplary embodiment of an on-board network of a vehicle in accordance with FIG. 2, wherein a switch 4 to interrupt the flow of current between auxiliary converter 1 and energy supply network 2 is connected between auxiliary converter 1 and the energy supply network 2. To avoid repetitions in relation to matching components of the system the reader is referred to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 and also to the reference characters given in said figures. In this exemplary embodiment too, for the sake of simplification, only one auxiliary converter 1 of the AC-voltage-side parallel-switched 3AC auxiliary converters 1 of the vehicle is shown. The interruption takes place is this exemplary embodiment with a grounded N conductor N. The N conductor shown here is assigned to the single-phase energy supply network 22. It has additionally proved advantageous for the three-phase energy supply network to have an N conductor. In this case a separate N conductor can be involved or the N conductor of the single-phase energy supply network 22 can be used. Then single-phase loads 32 can be connected between a phase L1, L2, L3 of the three-phase energy supply network 21 and an N conductor. In such cases it has proved especially advantageous also to provide this connection between auxiliary converter 1 and grounded N conductor of the three-phase energy supply network 21 with a switch 4, which interrupts the flow of current between auxiliary converter 1 and N conductor N of the three-phase energy supply network 21. In such cases the switch 4 can be arranged in the supply line between auxiliary converter 1 and energy supply network 2. A useful alternative consists of arranging the switch 4 for interrupting the current between auxiliary converter 1 and energy supply network 2 in the auxiliary converter 1. In this case the switch 4 can then be activated directly by the control/regulator of the auxiliary converter 1.
[0041] FIG. 4 shows a further exemplary embodiment of an on-board network for a vehicle, in which the switch is designed as a two-pole switch. This switch 4 has the task, in the event of a short circuit to ground, as well as interrupting the current between auxiliary converter 1 and N conductor of the energy supply network 2, of also interrupting the phase L of the single-phase energy supply network. This enables it to be insured that, in the case of a short circuit to ground, the single-phase energy supply network 22 is switched to no voltage. The danger for persons, especially for maintenance personnel, of coming into contact with a dangerous voltage, is significantly reduced by this. To avoid repetitions in relation to matching components of the system the reader is referred to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 and also to the reference characters given in said figures. In this exemplary embodiment too, for the sake of simplification, only one auxiliary converter 1 of the AC-voltage-side parallel-switched 3AC auxiliary converters 1 of the vehicle is shown.
[0042] FIG. 5 shows an exemplary embodiment of an energy supply system with a number of auxiliary converters 11 and 12 arranged in parallel. In this embodiment the parallel-switchable 3AC auxiliary converters simultaneously switch the phase L1, L2, L3 of the three-phase energy supply network 21. This three-phase energy supply network 21 is embodied as a three-phase vehicle power supply line. In addition single-phase energy supply networks 22 also exist, wherein each of these single-phase energy supply networks 22 is fed via an auxiliary converter 11, 12. The parallel switching of the auxiliary converters 11, 12 insures that, even if one or more of the auxiliary converters 11, 12 fails, the three-phase energy supply network 21 is supplied reliably with electrical energy. In order, in the event of a fault in an auxiliary converter 11, 12, to be able to disconnect said converter from the three-phase energy supply network 21, switches 4 are provided in the auxiliary converters 11, 12. These switches 4 make possible an isolation from the energy supply network 2 of the outputs provided for feeding the energy supply network 2. In addition the switches 4 allow the interruption of a flow of current between auxiliary converter and N conductor of the energy supply system 5. This insures that the inventive method is able to be carried out with the aid of the energy supply system 5. The auxiliary converters 11, 12, as well as the switches 4, have a bridge circuit 101 with power semiconductors 104, DC link capacitors 102 and a filter 103. The circuit for obtaining energy from a catenary wire or a diesel generator has been omitted for reasons of clarity. The bridge circuit 101 has power semiconductors 104 that are arranged in a bridge circuit. In this circuit each power semiconductor 104 comprises a semiconductor switch and a diode switched antiparallel thereto. The DC link capacitor 102 serves to smooth the DC link voltage. From this DC link voltage, with the aid of the bridge circuit with power semiconductors 104, a voltage is created at the output of the auxiliary converter 11, 12 with a voltage level that can be regulated and a frequency or phase position that can be regulated. The filter 103 serves to filter out undesired harmonics. With its help it is possible to create a sufficiently accurate sinusoidal curve of the output voltage of the auxiliary converter 11, 12. In the event of a short circuit to ground in the three-phase energy supply network 21 the switches 4 that are connected to the single-phase energy supply network 22 are opened. By this it is insured that the short circuit to ground cannot result in any short circuit currents within the auxiliary converters 11, 12. In addition it is insured that the electrical loads necessary for the operation of the vehicle, especially rail vehicle, can be supplied reliably with energy. A short-duration failure of the three-phase energy supply network 21 does not have any negative effect in this case on the availability of the vehicle. Formulated in another way, even the short-duration failure of the three-phase energy supply network 21 has no effect on the operation of the vehicle.
[0043] FIG. 6 shows a further exemplary embodiment of an energy supply system 5 for a vehicle. To avoid repetitions in relation to matching components of the system, the reader is referred to FIG. 5 and also to the reference characters given therein. This exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 6 differs from that of FIG. 5 by the bridge circuit 101 with power semiconductors 104 within the auxiliary converter 11, 12. In this figure the output of the auxiliary converter 11, 12, which is used for connection to the N conductor of the energy supply network 2, is not connected to the mid point of the DC link capacitors 102 connected in series but to a further bridge branch of a bridge circuit 101 with power semiconductors 104. With this circuit it is possible to create a voltage at the output of the auxiliary converter 1 that has fewer harmonics. This arrangement allows the filter 103 to be constructed smaller and at lower cost. At the same time the quality of the output voltage of the auxiliary converter 1 is further enhanced. This is shown by the voltage at the output corresponding to a sinusoidal shape.
[0044] FIG. 7 shows a further exemplary embodiment of an inventive energy supply system 5. To avoid repetitions in relation to matching components of the system, the reader is referred to FIGS. 5 and 6 and also to the reference characters given therein. This exemplary embodiment dispenses with a single-phase energy supply network 22. A three-phase energy supply network 21, which is embodied as a three-phase vehicle supply line, is fed from the auxiliary converters 11, 12. In addition a grounded N conductor is connected to the auxiliary converter 11, 12. By the omission of the single-phase energy supply network, this energy supply system 5 can be manufactured at lower cost. In this energy supply system 5 single-phase loads 32, which are not shown in this figure for the sake of clarity, are connected to one of the phases L1, L2 and L3 the three-phase energy supply network 21 and the N conductor N. In the event of a short circuit to ground the flow of current between auxiliary converter 11, 12 and N conductor N is interrupted. This is done via the switch 4, which is arranged at the output of the auxiliary converter 11, 12 and establishes the connected to the N conductor. It has proved advantageous if, for this configuration, the single-phase loads 22 are safeguarded by a protection facility such that, on interruption of the flow of current between N conductor and auxiliary converter 1, the corresponding voltage-carrying phase is isolated from the single-phase load.
[0045] FIG. 8 shows a further exemplary embodiment of an energy supply system 5. This essentially corresponds to the form of embodiment in accordance with FIG. 7, however the output of the auxiliary converter 11, 12, which is provided for a connection to the N conductor, is connected electrically-conductively to the a fourth phase of a bridge circuit 101 with power semiconductors 104. To avoid repetitions in relation to matching components of the system, the reader is referred to FIGS. 5 to 7 and also to the reference characters given therein. By contrast with the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 7, in which this output is connected within the auxiliary converter 11, 12 to two DC link capacitors 102 switched in series, the quality of the voltage at the outputs of the auxiliary converter 11, 12, which are provided for connection to the phases L1, L2 and L3 of the three-phase energy supply network 21 can be further enhanced by the bridge circuit 101 with power semiconductors 104 being expanded by a bridge branch, to which the connection to the N conductor N is connected. This means that the deviation of these voltages from an ideal sinusoidal shape is smaller. This makes it possible to embody the filter 103 of the auxiliary converter 11, 12 more simply and thereby lighter and at lower cost. With this arrangement too single-phase loads 32 are supplied from one of the phases L1, L2 or L3 of the three-phase energy supply network 21 and from the N conductor. To insure correct operation, to safeguard the protection of personnel and to protect the connected single-phase loads, it has proved advantageous if, on interruption of the flow of current between the N conductor of the energy supply network 2 and the auxiliary converter 11, 12, the connection between the phase that is responsible for the supply of the single-phase load 32 and the single-phase load 32 is interrupted.
[0046] Although the invention has been illustrated and described in greater detail by the preferred exemplary embodiments, the invention is not restricted solely to the disclosed examples and other variations can be derived herefrom by the person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of protection of the invention.
