W ABB 4 |16 review en Charging a bus in 15 seconds 8 A long tradition in electric railways 16 World’s longest rail tunnel 35 Remote service at sea 44 The corporate technical journal Transportation Transportation and its infrastructure form one of the more visible and tangible applications of technology. The front cover shows the portal of the Gotthard base tunnel, which opened this year. The present page shows the TOSA electric bus. Both projects are discussed in articles in the present issue of ABB Review.
2 ABB review 4|16 Contents
6 Cities take charge Transportation Making the case for the electrification of urban public transportation focus 8 Charged in a flash Optimization of batteries for a flash-charged bus
13 Green park Krka national park, Croatia, is the first national park in the world to install ABB Terra 53 fast DC/AC chargers
16 Electrifying history A long tradition in electric railway engineering
25 Weight loss program ABB’s Effilight® traction transformer delivers less weight and losses and needs up to 70 percent less oil
30 Efficiency that climbs mountains Cutting the energy consumption of the Allegra trains
35 Peak power ABB’s ZX0 medium-voltage switchgear and PMA cable protection for the Gotthard Base Tunnel
40 Record breaker ABB to provide power, propulsion and automation for the world’s most advanced port icebreaker
44 Improving remote marine service A concept for the next generation ABB customer and service portal
50 Connect. Collaborate. Outperform Event Automation & Power World returns to Houston in March 2017
51 Loss prophet Simulation Predicting stray losses in power transformers and optimization of tank shielding using FEM
57 Wind protection Switching Low-voltage switching and protection strategies in wind turbines and safety 63 Arc angel Arc flash prevention measures increase safety
67 Switching the subject A look at recent advances in IGCT technologies for high-power electronics
72 Grid4EU Up-time and Laying the groundwork for the development of tomorrow’s electricity grids productivity 79 Cloud robotics Smart robots leverage the Internet of Things, Services and People from edge to cloud
84 A combined future Microgrids with renewable power integration
90 2016 Index Index The year at a glance
Contents 3 Editorial Transportation
Dear Reader, The portion of the world’s population living For example, ABB is also at the forefront in cities is forecast to rise from 54 percent of the digitalization that enables assets and in 2014 to 66 percent by 2050. The relent- systems to share data, perform more effectively less growth of urban centers is bringing with and be serviced and diagnosed remotely. it numerous societal and environmental challenges. Not least among these is that Further areas that the company is perhaps of transportation. With both urban popula- less commonly associated with include marine tions and their affluence on the rise, more transportation, service offerings and the charg- and more vehicles are competing for limited ing of electric vehicles. The latter category road space while contributing to pollution. includes the “flash charging” of electric On a local level, emissions from vehicles can buses. This technology involves automatically Bazmi Husain have a detrimental impact on both human connecting and topping up a bus’s batteries health and quality of life. On a global level, at intermediate points along its route, thereby transportation contributes to about one reducing the weight of batteries and thus quarter of global anthropogenic emissions making the system more economically com- of carbon dioxide. Governments are increas- petitive. Following a successful test opera- ingly recognizing these challenges and tion, ABB recently signed a contract to deliver implementing measures to make transporta- the world’s first commercial “flash-charged” tion greener. bus project to the Swiss city of Geneva.
Besides pollution, transportation is also linked I trust this issue of ABB Review will raise your to congestion. Further to its nuisance aspect, awareness of and kindle your interest in the congestion is an economic liability as people challenges of electric transportation and spend time unproductively and the delivery of highlight ABB’s involvement in its ongoing goods is disrupted. development.
Fortunately, there are many ways to meet these challenges, ranging from hybrid or electric cars to high-capacity metros.
The electrification and energy efficiency aspects of such developments are core Bazmi Husain elements of ABB’s portfolio, but the com- Chief Technology Officer pany’s abilities are far from limited to these. ABB Group
4 ABB review 4|16 Editorial 5 Cities take charge
Making the case TIMOTHY PATEY, RETO FLUECKIGER, ALESSANDRO ZANARINI, JAN POLAND, DAVID SEGBERS, PHILIPPE NOISETTE, BRUCE WARNER – The sustainable for the electrification development of cities is pivotal for the Earth˚s future. The UN forecasts the percentage of people living in cities will rise from 54 percent in 2014 to of urban public 66 percent in 2050, [1]. During the same period, global population is forecast to reach 9.7 billion. And this population will place demands on mobility. transportation Urban transport is already a cause of congestion and pollution today. Only an increased emphasis on sustainability in transport infrastructure can ensure tomorrow’s cities safeguard their ecology, economy, and quality of life.
6 ABB review 4|16 sions standards for particulate matter Using TOSA technology, diesel-powered from 0.648 g/km in 1992 (Euro I) to bus fleets can be replaced with electric 0.018 g/km in 2013 (Euro VI) for transit bus fleets, without the need to install vehicles [6]. This trend has improved air overhead lines. The technology is realiz- quality over the past 20 years, and will able today, as has been demonstrated in continue to do so in the years to come. the city of Geneva. But if public transportation is ever to achieve zero local emissions of particu- TOSA is just one example of what ABB late matter, full electrification of the sys- has to offer. The company provides elec- tem is needed. trification of public transportation systems; both on-board the vehicles and off-board Moving back to the global perspective, at the charging infrastructure. Increased such a drive for full electrification of pub- electrification, in whatever form, is key to lic transportation will at the same time reducing emissions and achieving car- contribute to climate change mitigation bon neutrality in all modes of transporta- (assuming the power grid is powered tion. Many examples of this are present- with a significant portion of renewable ed in the present issue of ABB Review. power in its mix).
This combined drive for carbon neutrality Timothy Patey and clean air becomes increasingly press- Reto Flueckiger ing with advances in urbanization and Jan Poland population as well as traffic challenges. Alessandro Zanarini Rather than building only highways, cit- ABB Corporate Research ies are increasingly developing metros, Baden-Daettwil, Switzerland trams and electric buses. [email protected] [email protected] oday, transportation contrib- TOSA future [email protected] utes nearly one quarter of glob- The city of Geneva, Switzerland, has tak- [email protected]
al CO2 emissions [2]. Climate en a key step towards full electrification T change mitigation is being driv- of their public transportation network. The David Segbers en by treaties including the Kyoto Proto- “TOSA” bus line which is presently being ABB Discrete Automation & Motion col (1997), the Copenhagen Accord delivered is fully electric despite not fea- Turgi, Switzerland (2009), and the Paris Agreement (2016). turing overhead lines. “Flash” or oppor- [email protected] Policy makers have agreed that the aver- tunity charging [7] is used to top up the age global temperature rise should not batteries at intermediate points on the Philippe Noisette exceed 2°C above the average global route, meaning the dead weight of large Bruce Warner temperature of pre-industrial times [3]. batteries can be reduced, saving on both Power Grids It has been postulated that in order to space and weight. Also, charging time is Geneva, Switzerland assure a 50 percent probability of global reduced at the ends of the route, which [email protected] warming below this limit by the end of is especially important during time-con- [email protected] the 21st century, the CO2 emissions be- strained rush-hour operation. The flash tween 2011 and 2050 have to be limited charging is done safely in only 15–20 s, References to 1,100 gigatons [4]. during the time that the bus is stopped [1] World Population Prospects, 2014, United anyway to allow passengers to embark Nations. [2] Transport, Energy and CO : Moving toward The challenge is huge. The potential atmo- and disembark. 2 Sustainability, 2009, International Energy Agency. spheric CO emissions from the combus- 2 [3] United Nations Framework Convention on tion of existing fossil fuel reserves would The absence of overhead lines is not only Climate Change (UNFCC) Report of the Confer- outweigh this limit by a factor of more less visually disruptive, but also saves on ence of the Parties on its Fifteenth Session, held than three [5]. Climate change mitigation installation costs by avoiding extensive in Copenhagen from 7 to 19 December 2009. Part Two: Action taken by the Conference of the policies are urgently required. construction work for the overhead line Parties at its Fifteenth Session. United Nations and allows for more flexible bus opera- Climate Change Conf. Report 43, 2009. On a local level, the desire of many cities tions during road works. It also saves on [4] Meinshausen, M., et al., Greenhouse-gas for cleaner air is also motivating change. maintenance, which accounts for a sig- emission targets for limiting global warming to 2°C. Nature, 2009. 458(7242): p. 1158–1162. The European Union has promoted nificant portion of the costs of traditional [5] McGlade, C. and P. Ekins, The geographical cleaner air in cities by tightening emis- bus operation using overhead line infra- distribution of fossil fuels unused when limiting structure. The TOSA bus and in particu- global warming to 2 [deg]C. Nature, 2015. lar its batteries are discussed in the next 517(7533): p. 187–190. Exhaust emissions of transit buses Title picture article of this edition of ABB Review. [6] , 2015, Electrification of transportation systems contributes EMBARQ. both to clean air in cities and to reducing carbon [7] TOSA (Trolleybus Optimisation Systeme emissions. Alimentation) 2013. 2016.
Cities take charge 7 Charged in a flash
Optimization of batteries for a flash-charged bus
TIMOTHY PATEY, RETO FLUECKIGER, JAN POLAND, DAVID SEGBERS, STEFAN WICKI – With its six trolleybus and four tram lines, transportation in the Swiss city of Geneva already makes extensive use of electric traction. As a further step towards making its public transportation system carbon-neutral, the city has announced it will replace the diesel buses used on line 23 by a battery-powered electric bus fleet.
8 ABB review 4|16 1 TOSA
ABB Review 4/2013 featured an article on the TOSA bus demonstration in the Swiss city of Geneva.
Following a successful conclusion of the demonstration, Geneva’s public transporta- tion operator, TPG, decided to convert its
he world is becoming increas- tions aside, this transmission takes one reduced acceptability of noise and pollu- ingly urban. In 2008, for the first of two forms: Power is either stored tion have led manufacturers and opera- route 23 to the mode. The order for 12 TOSA time in the history of humanity, on the vehicle (usually in the form of tors to think about alternatives to diesel T more than half the planet’s diesel fuel, as on a Taking charge population lived in cities. Cities bring bus) or transmitted with them many challenges, not least of electrically (requir- Recovering energy when which is the efficient organization of ing a continuous Flash charging BRUCE WARNER, OLIVIER AUGÉ, ANDREAS MOGLESTUE – If you thought that charging transportation. To avert gridlock and contact system as the bus brakes helps reduce buses and 13 charging stations was electric vehicles was all about fiddling with charger cables followed by long and unpro- reduce pollution, planners across the on metros, trams wastage. is just the ductive waits, then think again. ABB has (together with partners) developed an electric globe are encouraging the use of public and trolleybuses). bus that not only automatically charges in 15 s, but also provides high transportation transportation. The latter forms of ticket for clean capacity and energy efficiency. The bus connects to an overhead high-power charging transportation are typically seen on heav- for powering buses ➔ 1. Solutions imple- transportation contact when it pulls into a stop and tops up its batteries during the time its passengers Public transportation in cities can take ily used corridors where the significant mented to varying degrees include less confirmed in July 2016. ABB’s scope of are embarking and disembarking. Besides being an attractive means of transportation, numerous forms, but what they all have infrastructural investment is easier to conventional fuels (such as natural gas) the TOSA bus that is presently running in the Swiss city of Geneva also has numerous in common is that they require energy to justify. The former solution is typical for and adopting alternative propulsion con- environmental bonuses. It is silent, entirely emissions free, uses long-life and small be transmitted from a fixed supply to a more lightly patronized corridors where cepts, for example hybrid buses, battery batteries while the visual clutter of overhead lines and pylons that is often a barrier moving vehicle. Some particular solu- lower startup costs permit routes to be buses and trolleybuses. A feature shared to trolleybus acceptance is made a thing of the past. The system is inherently safe created or modified more flexibly. by the latter three is that they use electric because the overhead connectors are only energized when they are engaged, and the motors, permitting energy to be recov- delivery includes converters, motors and the electromagnetic fields associated with inductive charging concepts are avoided. Such This status quo has held its own for ered when the bus brakes, creating an Title picture has been the success of the demonstrator that the concept is now being developed for The TOSA demonstration bus is presently running in many decades, but how much longer opportunity to reduce energy wastage. series production. Let the future begin. public service in Geneva. can it do so? Rising fuel prices and the Recovering energy is not, however,
64 ABB review 4|13 Taking charge 65 charging stations.
2 Bus stop with flash charging station. The bus’ batteries receive a 15 second 600 kW boost while at the stop.
BB was recently awarded or- ders totaling more than $16 million by Geneva’s public A transport operator, Transports Publics Genevois (TPG), to provide flash charging and on-board electric vehicle technology for 12 TOSA (Trolleybus Opti- misation Système Alimentation) fully elec- tric buses ➔ 1. Their operation can save as much as 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year (compared with the existing diesel buses). CC200 ➔ 4 traction ABB will deliver and deploy 13 flash- ABB will deliver and deploy and auxiliary con- charging stations along the route ➔ 2, as verter. The convert- well as three terminal and four depot 13 flash-charging stations er can drive up to feeding stations. The flash-charging con- two traction motors nection technology used will be the along the route, as well as and all the auxiliary world’s fastest: It will take less than one three terminal and four depot consumers of the second to connect the bus to the charg- bus. ing point. The onboard batteries can feeding stations. then be charged by a 600 kW boost last- On a flash-charged ing 15 seconds using time that the bus is bus, the converter at the bus stop anyway. A further four to ABB solutions for the electrification also handles the flash and opportunity five minute charge at the terminus will of public transportation charging at bus stops and the DC fast- enable a full recharge of the batteries. ABB has developed a modular platform charging at the end of the line. On an for the electric drive train of city bus- electric trolleybus, it is supplemented by a es ➔ 3. This caters to all e-bus applica- double-insulated DC-DC input converter.
Title picture tions ranging from the traditional trolley- Adding a battery to this drive train en- Geneva (Switzerland) is to replace a presently diesel bus to DC fast-charged or flash-charged ables the bus to operate free of catenary operated bus line by flash-charged battery buses. battery buses. At the heart of this are lines (overhead lines). In this view the bus is receiving its 15 second top ABB’s highly efficient water-cooled per- up charge at a flash charging station similar to that which will be installed at 13 intermediate stops of manent-magnet traction motors as well route 23. as the extremely compact BORDLINE
Charged in a flash 9 3 Key technology components of the TOSA bus. 4 ABB’s BORDLINE CC200 traction an auxillary converter.
Fully automatic Water-cooled Water-cooled energy transfer battery pack traction converter system
Two-axle drive powered by water-cooled traction motors
5 Physical and chemical degradation mechanisms of graphite within a As every mobile Li-ion battery 1.
phone user knows, Graphene layer SEI Graphite exfoliation, cracking Li+ availability of (gas formation, solvent co-intercalation) Electrolyte decomposition and SEI formation battery power is Donor solvent essential if the SEI conversion, stabilization and growth
device is to fulfil SEI dissolution, precipitation H+ Positive / negative interactions its function. Mn2+
Lithium plating and subsequent corrosion
SEI is the solid electrolyte interphase formed as a consequent of electrolyte decomposition and related side reactions.
Charging matters ple of graphite degradation are shown cal processes of the battery. This approach As every mobile phone users know, in ➔ 5). is semi-empirical, in that it relies partly on availability of battery power is essential if empirical/experimental results. Models the device is to fulfil its function. The A key challenge in battery integration lies based purely on physics are not suitable same applies to an electric bus or tram. in predicting the rate at which the battery as the high number and complexity of However, after a certain time and usage, will degrade. One approach is to test the the various physical and chemical inter- a battery needs to be replaced. A chal- batteries: The batteries are charged and actions are too numerous to run compu- lenge for ABB engineers is to predict discharged under various conditions to tations efficiently. It is more time efficient when this will occur, and to create speci- quantify the decline in capacity and rise to conduct a series of well-designed ex- fications that ensure availability of power in resistance. However, this method periments and use the results to create a through the product and system’s life. alone cannot cover all the use cases of model. The key to building a good model the electric bus. There are too many vari- is to design the right experiments. A model informed by experiments ables, including temperature, state of A battery “dies” because it fails to de- charge, depth of discharge / charge, and Step 1: Design the right experiments liver the power required for the specified current. The time and sheer number of In this phase, the temperatures, depth of timespan. More specifically, the decline experiments required to cover all the use discharge, state of charge, and current in capacity (Ah) and rise in internal resis- cases is simply too high. are varied in a series of battery tests. The tance (Ω) are simultaneous processes that compromise the battery’s ability The solution to estimating battery lifetime to deliver power. This is due to chemi- is to make a model informed by experi- Footnote 1 Vetter, J., et al., Ageing mechanisms in cal and mechanical decomposition of mental results and a fundamental under- lithium-ion batteries. Journal of Power Sources, the materials inside the battery (exam- standing of the key physical and chemi- 2005. 147(1–2): p. 269-281.
10 ABB review 4|16 6 Simple representation of an electrical, thermal, aging model of a Li-ion battery The key to building a good model is
Q, ∆ ∆IR to design the right Electrical experiments. So Load C profile Aging Voltage, (kW) & capacity, and C L e o temperature l s temperature l s t e e (°C) m s over lifetime p e ra re tu tu re ra pe Thermal m l te Cel
Key operation concept is the interplay of variables between models: e.g. change in capacity (∆Q) and internal resistance (∆IR) modify the electrical model, which varies the state of charge (SoC) profile that modifies the aging model.
Step 4: Apply the model 7 Example of a battery load profile for one return trip of a 12km route with 13 flash charging and 2 terminal charging sections Once the model has been generated and verified, it becomes an important tool in 500 scenario analysis. The battery’s tempera- ture, voltage, energy, and peak power all 300 affect how a battery system should be 100 dimensioned. While this process is not Power (kW) -300 the final say in how big a battery should be, modelling informs decision makers and -300 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 designers on how key variations in battery Time (s) size and cooling influence bus performance.
Scenario analysis The following scenario analysis considers operation. These a 25 ton articulated bus with a maximum A key challenge in battery temperatures are passenger capacity of 80 people. There essential for accu- are 13 flash charging stations distributed integration is predicting rate electrical and along the route of 12 km length, providing aging models. a charging power of 600 kW for 20 sec- the rate at which the battery onds. The terminal charging uses 400 kW will degrade. The aging model and takes four to five minutes. A typical is based on the load profile of such a bus is shown in ➔ 7. results of experi- capacity decline and resistance rise are ments, and quantification of the decline Key battery requirements for this electric measured. This will later enable a predic- in capacity and rise in resistance expect- bus include: tion of how certain charge/discharge ed from the many possible charge / dis- – 10 year lifetime events of the battery would impact the charge events. – minimum charge voltage of 600 V (to battery aging over time and use. assure sufficient power is available for The resulting battery model combines the motor and auxiliary systems and Step 2: the electric, thermal, and aging sub- to match the charging infrastructure) Develop an electric, thermal, aging model models. The interplay of these sub-mod- – cell temperature of max. 60 °C (to The internal electrical architecture of a els enables the prediction of the change ensure safe operation, as the electro- Li-ion battery is complex, but electrical in capacity and resistance under a given lyte evaporates above 80 °C) response is approximated with a number load and temperature over time ➔ 6. – charging power of 600 kW for 20s of resistive and capacitive components. (to allow for rapid charges), and Heat and age modify these components, as Step 3: Verify the model 400 kW for 5 minutes informed by the thermal and aging models. Experiments at cell level inform and verify – an energy of 46 kWh (to complete a the model using realistic load profiles. journey in one direction, with backup As electric buses are power applications, This is an iterative process involving fur- power for exceptional circumstances). Joule heating (i2R) is the dominant type ther refinement. of energy loss and dictates the battery Parameters for three configuration sce- cell’s wall and core temperatures during narios are presented in ➔ 8.
Charged in a flash 11 Use of the battery model on these three 8 Overview of three possible battery designs for a 12 km urban route (with flash charging) battery cases is a simple means to dem- Design criteria “Small energy” “Strong cooling” “Large energy” onstrate battery design impact on main-
Cell chemistry LTO LTO LTO taining a reliable system performance at end of life. Further design iterations Max. C-rate permitted (continuous) 6 6 6 would be done to find the optimum solu- Max. C-rate permitted (for 20s) 8 8 8 tion, while mitigating all risks through Cells in series / in parallel 314 / 4 314 / 4 375 / 4 system analysis.
Energy content [kWh] 58 58 69 Furthermore, the battery model informs Minimum voltage [V] 630 630 750 the public transportation operator on the Nominal cont. power [kW] 400 400 480 battery design impact of choosing flash Nominal 20s power [kW] 580 580 690 charging or terminal charging. The bus
Battery weight incl. cooling system [kg] ~1600 ~1600 ~2000 line operators know their cities and its needs, and are in the best position to de- Coolant temperature [°C] 25°C 15°C (active) 25°C cide whether terminal or flash charging is C-rate is the rate at which a battery discharges, with 1 C-rate equal to a complete discharge in most suited. The battery model is a sup- 1 hour, and 10 C-rate 1/10th of 1 h, (ie, 6 minutes). port tool to inform them of the battery design consequences of their system 9 Overview of the model calculation for the three possible battery designs for a 12 km urban choices. route (with flash charging). BOL = beginning of life, EOL = end of life
“Small Energy” “Strong Cooling” “Large Energy”
BOL EOL BOL EOL BOL EOL
EOL - 6 y - 12 y - 10 y
Capacity 100% 83% 100% 80% 100% 80
Resistance 100% 200% 100% 170% 100% 185%
Energy content 58 kWh 48 kWh 58 kWh 46 kWh 69 kWh 55 kWh
Voltage range 690 - 850 V 590 - 850 V 690 - 850 V 630 - 850 V 840 - 1010 V 770 - 1010 V
C-rate terminal (continuous) 5.3 6.2 5.3 6 5.4 5.6
C-rate flash (for 20 s) 8 8.5 8 8.3 6.8 7
Peak core cell temperature 57 °C 86 °C 43 °C 58 °C 44 °C 57 °C
Battery efficiency 90% 80% 90% 85% 92% 86%
The three battery scenarios were ana- For the case of the “strong cooling” bat- lyzed using the thermal, electric and ag- tery, the battery would be fine for termi- ing battery model to forecast the lifetime nal charging only. However the flash and the end of life (EOL) properties. Here charging of 580 kW is beyond the limits the EOL is defined as 80 percent of the of the battery pack. The lower coolant initial capacity or 200 percent of the ini- temperature, however, is sufficient to tial resistance. The results of the model maintain healthy voltage and tempera- analysis shown in ➔ 8. ture ranges throughout the battery’s life- time of 12 years. This is a clear demon- For the case of the “small energy” bat- stration that battery temperature matters Timothy Patey tery, flash charging the battery at 600 kW for system lifetime performance. Reto Flueckiger would not be possible at end of life as it Jan Poland is beyond the power limit of the battery The “large energy” battery is the only one ABB Corporate Research pack (with a C-rate limit of 8). It would of the three considered that could fulfill Baden-Daettwil, Switzerland be able to power the bus for some time both the flash-charging and terminal [email protected] using terminal charging only, but the charging requirements. For flash-charg- [email protected] rise in resistance would be too great ing, the additional cells in series is simply [email protected] (210 percent), resulting in an eventual needed to raise the voltage and lower unsafe temperature (T > 80°C, internal to the current to meet the power require- David Segbers the cell) and as well as minimum voltage ments thronghout the battery’s life. Addi- Stefan Wicki of less than 600 V, which is insufficient to tionally, this configuration (375s4p) would Discrete Automation & Motoion power the motor and auxiliary systems. ensure healthy temperature window for Turgi, Switzerland the entire 10 years of the required bat- [email protected] tery life. [email protected]
12 ABB review 4|16 Green park
Krka National Park, Croatia, is the first national park in the world to install ABB Terra 53 fast DC/AC chargers
ALEKSANDAR RADOSAVLJEVIC, MERSIHA VELIC HAJDARHODZIC, Croatia, the first in Europe and the second in the world, MICHELLE KIENER – Krka National Park, situated in Šibenik- coming online only two days after the Niagara Falls AC plant. Knin county in Croatia, is a world famous natural phenom- To protect its nature and heritage Krka National Park has enon with its seven waterfalls of the Krka River. On the park’s invested in five electric vehicles and four ABB DC electric territory there are many historical and cultural monuments, vehicle fast-charging stations: Terra 53 CJG. The first unit is one of them is the remains of the hydro power plant Jaruga, already installed and it is operating every day at Lozovac, the oldest power generating facility in the world, built in 1895. nearby the town of Šibenik and the hydro plant Jaruga. That was the first alternating current (AC) power system in
Green park 13 1 ABB’s Terra 53 CJG charging station at Lozovac
The stations are set to charge two cars “This is a step forward in nature conserva- at the same time and charging lasts for a tion, and we are particularly proud that the duration of 0.5 to 1.5 hours, depending Public Institution of Krka National Park rka National Park (Krka NP) is on the capacity of the vehicle battery. joined the Green Line project, which pro- home to numerous endemic The ABB chargers are equipped with inter- vides protected areas the opportunity to plants, geomorphological forms net based connected services and allow serve as a model for the introduction and of rocks and animal species users to easily connect to different soft- broader user of electric vehicles. We hope K 2 and covers a total area of 109 km . It is ware systems and payment platforms. The that the project will continue to develop, to challenging to maintain and preserve connectivity also enables remote monitor- allow greater numbers of citizens to be- natural rarities and therefore the park ing, maintenance and functionality add-ons. come direct contributors to environmental managers undertake constant efforts in The working temperature of the charging protection through the purchase of electric order to keep the high level of conserva- stations is from – 35 °C to + 50 °C. vehicles,” stressed Krešimir Šakic´, direc- tion of these natural treasures. One as- tor of the Public Institution of Krka NP. pect of this work has been the initiative Green line to use electric and hybrid plug-in vehi- The initiative is part of the “Green Line” The electric vehicle charging infrastructure cles within the park and to provide fast program, launched by the Ministry of En- is a Terra DC 53 multi-standard 50 kW DC charging stations. The first charging vironmental and Nature Protection and modular station with one, two or three station is already in operation in Lozo- plugs for the rapid vac ➔ 1. The next charging station will be charging of elec- installed as part of the new information The electric vehicle charging tric vehicles. The center at Laškovica above Roški slap flexible design en- and the remaining stations will be strate- infrastructure is a Terra DC 53 ables multi-proto- gically placed at a variety of locations col charging, ie, within the park. multi-standard 50 kW modular CCS, CHAdeMO station with one, two or three and fast charging An even greener park AC standards, to The missions of Krka NP include reduc- plugs for the rapid charging of meet the individual
ing CO2 emissions, as well as reducing needs of each noise, fuel consumption and mainte- electric vehicles. customer. The sta- nance costs. To invite all park visitors to tions are designed be part of the efforts to protect the envi- the Environmental Protection and Energy for super-rapid charging and are ideal for ronment, the charging stations will be Efficiency Fund which is intended for use at petrol stations and in urban city available for all visitors with electric cars. public institutes managing protected areas with high vehicle traffic. areas, national parks and nature parks. Park first Title picture Krka National Park lies within Šibenik-Knin County, The first station came online in Septem- and covers a total area of 109 km² ber 2016 and is particularly special be-
14 ABB review 4|16 2 Krka NP is 18km north of the oldest AC multiphase power station in the world and 100km south of Nikola Tesla’s birthplace
Slovenia
Smiljan
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Krka National Park Czech republic Šibenik Germany Slovakia
Austria France Hungary Switzerland
Slovenia
Italy Bosnia and Herzegovina Italy Croatia Serbia Montenegro
Albania
cause it’s the first ABB fast electric vehicle gine is no distraction to the gentle charging station installed in any national The station is sounds of nature, undisturbed by man- park in the world. In addition, Krka NP is made emissions. one of the first European parks to install special because electric vehicle charging stations. The authors would like to thank the team from Krka it’s the first ABB NP, especially: Krešimir Šakic´, Joško Baljkas and Katia Zˇ upan. The local area has a history of firsts. The fast electric vehicle park is close to the town of Šibenik, which was the first town in the world to charging station have street lights powered by electricity. In 1895 some houses in the town were installed in any electrified and 340 street lights installed, national park in Aleksandar Radosavljevic made possible, of course, by the nearby Mersiha Velic Hajdarhodzic Jaruga hydro-power plant ➔ 2. Yet more the world. ABB EV Charging Infrastructure poignant is that the birthplace of Nikola Zagreb, Croatia Tesla, Smiljan, is only 100km to the north [email protected] of the park. ture and appreciate the work being done [email protected] to conserve a national park, as well as One can only wonder what Tesla’s the wider environment. In Krka NP there Michelle Kiener thoughts would be on seeing these new is no war of the currents. Simply a moti- ABB Review DC installations. But it would be nice to vation to provide sustainable infrastruc- Baden-Daettwil, Switzerland think that he would see the bigger pic- ture, where the quiet hum of an EV en- [email protected]
Green park 15 Historical perspective Electrifying history
A long tradition in electric railway engineering
NORBERT LANG – It may come as a surprise that long before the emer- gence of globalization technical developments in different countries of the western world occurred largely in parallel, despite differences in conditions and mentalities. This is definitely true for the development of railway electrification and vehicles. Depending on whether a country had rich coal deposits or huge hydropower resources, the reasons to electrify railways would have differed. Even so, many notable innova- tions occurred simultaneously yet independently.
16 ABB review 4|16 to supply the mechanical part (ie, body, 1 Early milestones frame and running gear) of practically all Swiss electric locomotives. Brown’s two – 1890: A predecessor company of ABB sons, Charles E. L. and Sidney Brown Sécheron in Geneva supplies the first also worked on equipment for electric electric tramcars in France to the city of locomotives (It was Charles Brown who Clermont-Ferrand. later cofounded BBC.) Together the two – 1892: The world’s first electric rack railway is installed at the Mont-Salève near sons designed the first mainline electric Geneva, using 500 V DC. locomotive for the 40 km Burgdorf–Thun – 1894: Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon (MFO) railway ➔ title picture. This was a freight supplies the first electric tramcars to locomotive with two fixed speeds (17.5 Zurich. – 1896: BBC builds electric tramcars for the and 35 km/h) powered by 40 Hz three- Swiss city of Lugano. The Swedish ABB phase AC. The transmission used straight- predecessor company ASEA, founded in cut gears and had to be shifted during 1883, starts its electric traction business standstill. Two large induction motors with tramcars. – 1898: BBC equips the Stansstaad–Engel- drove the two axles via a jackshaft and berg and Zermatt–Gornergrat mountain coupling rods. The overhead line voltage railways as well as the Jungfraubahn to was limited to a maximum of 750 V by law. the summit of the Jungfraujoch at 3,500 m above sea level. – 1901: ASEA supplies electrified tramcars In 1903, ABB Sécheron’s predecessor to the city of Stockholm. company CIEM (Compagnie de l’Industrie Electrique et Mécanique) electrified the narrow-gauge railway from St-Georges- de-Commiers to La Mure in France using direct current at an exceptionally high head contact wires centered above the voltage (for the time) of 2,400 V using a track could not be approved due to the double overhead contact wire system. high voltage, the contact wire was car- or most manufacturers, the de- Almost simultaneously yet independently, ried laterally on wooden poles. As agreed velopment of electrification tech- Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon (MFO) and BBC before the commencement of the trial, nology started with tramways. In each initiated a landmark electrification F 1890, a predecessor of ABB’s project on the Swiss Federal Railway business in Sécheron, Switzerland, sup- (SBB) network. The electric trac- plied France’s first electric tramcars to Clermont-Ferrand ➔ 1. These were soon MFO: Single-phase alternating current tion vehicle in par- followed by the world’s first electrically Between 1905 and 1909, MFO tested a operated mountain rack railways. In 1898 single-phase 15 kV/15 Hz electrification on ticular, in a way another ABB predecessor, BBC, equipped a section of the former Swiss “National- the most harmonic several mountain railways, including the bahn” railway between Zurich-Seebach world-famous Jungfraubahn climbing to and Wettingen (now part of the Zurich and most beautiful the 3,500 m-high Jungfraujoch, using a suburban network). The first locomotive 40 Hz (later 50 Hz) three-phase system. used was equipped with a rotary con- means of electrical verter and DC traction motors ➔ 3. In and mechanical Although local transport systems and 1905, a second locomotive was add- mountain railways have also undergone ed ➔ 4. This used the same axle arrange- engineering, con- huge technical developments since the ment (B’B’), but the bogies both had a early years, this article will focus on de- 180 kW single-phase series-wound motor sistently presents velopments on standard-gauge mainline fed directly from the transformer’s tap new and very inter- railways. changer. (Tap-changer control was in later years to become the standard con- esting design prob- Electrification with different power trol method for AC locomotives and was systems not to be displaced until the advent of lems to be solved. It is a little-known fact that it was Charles power electronics.) The axles were driven Karl Sachs Brown Sr. (1827–1905), whose name via a speed-reduction gear, jackshaft lives on as one of the B’s in ABB, who and coupling rods. The maximum speed the electrification was removed after founded SLM ➔ 2 in 1871. The company was 60 km/h. The motors used salient completion of the trial and the line reverted produced steam and mountain railway stator poles and phase-shifted field com- to steam operation (it was finally electri- locomotives and for many decades was mutation. This locomotive performed so fied in 1942). However, experiences gained well that the earlier locomotive was adapt- were to have far-reaching consequences. ed accordingly. Between December 1907 Title picture The first mainline electric locomotive for the 40 km and 1909 all regular trains on this line Burgdorf–Thunrailway (1899). were electrically hauled. Because over-
Electrifying history 17 3 MFO experimental locomotive no. 1 with rotary converter and 4 MFO experimental locomotive no. 2 with single-phase DC traction motors traction motors
Walter Boveri 2 Abbreviations of railway and manufacturing companies ASEA Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget, Västeras, Sweden (1983–1987). objected to the In 1988, ASEA merged with BBC to form ABB. operation of utility BBC Brown, Boveri & Cie. AG, Baden, Switzerland (1891–1987) BLS Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon Railway, Spiez, Switzerland and railway grids CIEM Compagnie de l’Industrie Electrique et Mecanique DB Deutsche Bahn AG (German Railways) at different fre- MFO Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon AG (1876–1967). Acquired by BBC. quencies. Among ÖBB Österreichische Bundesbahnen (Austrian Federal Railways) SAAS Société Anonyme des Ateliers de Sécheron, Geneva, Switzerland (1918–1969). others, his inter- Acquired by BBC. SBB Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (Swiss Federal Railways) vention led to the SLM Schweizerische Lokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik, Winterthur, Switzerland (Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works, est. 1871). Acquired by Adtranz in 1998. compromise of SJ Statens Järnvägar (Swedish State Railways, became a public limited company in 2001) 2 using 16 /3 Hz for railways. BBC: Electric power for the controlled using switchable stator poles. Simplon tunnel The low-mounted low-speed motors drove In late 1905, BBC decided to electrify (at the axles via multi-part coupling rods. its own cost and risk) the 20 km single- The locomotives had an hourly rating of track Simplon tunnel under the Alps be- 780 kW and 1,200 kW respectively and a tween Brig (Switzerland) and Iselle (Italy), top speed of 75 km/h. Until all locomo- which was then approaching comple- tives were completed, three locomotives tion. An important argument for electrifi- of a similar design were rented from the cation was the risk that carbon monoxide Valtelina railway. from steam locomotives could present to passengers should a train break down in At the time it was already realized that the long tunnel. However, only six months asynchronous AC motors offered several remained until the tunnel’s inauguration. advantages for traction applications, in- Electrification was carried out using a cluding robustness and simpler mainte- 2 three-phase supply at 16 /3 Hz / 3 kV fed nance due to the absence of a commu- from two dedicated power stations locat- tator. Disadvantages, however, included ed at either end of the tunnel. The same the coarse speed graduation resulting power system was also adopted on the from pole switching and the double-wire Valtelina railway in Northern Italy, the overhead line of the three-phase supply, Brenner and the Giovi lines as well as the which added to the complexity of turn- line along the Italian Riviera. The initial outs. Three-phase motors were thus to fleet comprised two locomotives of type remain relatively rare in traction applica- Ae 3/5 (1’C 1’) ➔ 5 and two Ae 4/4 (0-D-0), tions until recent times when power elec- all using induction motors. Speed was tronic converters were able to alleviate
18 ABB review 4|16 5 BBC three-phase AC locomotive of the Simplon tunnel line, 1906 6 Determining the optimal electrification system
In 1904 the “Schweizerische Studienkommis- sion für den elektrischen Bahnbetrieb” (Swiss Study Commission for Electric Railway Operation) was formed to “study and clarify the technical and financial prerequisites for the introduction of an electric service on Swiss railway lines.” Different railway electrification systems were investigated in detailed studies, taking into account recent experience. Results and findings were published on a regular basis. In 1912, the commission concluded that a single-phase current system using an overhead line with 15 kV and approximately 15 Hz was the preferable system for the electrification of Swiss main lines.
their shortcomings without compromis- In 1910, MFO and SLM jointly supplied a Boveri also suggested equipping loco- ing their strengths. 1,250 kW prototype locomotive to BLS motives with mercury-arc rectifiers, a with a C-C axle arrangement ➔ 7. Follow- technology that had already proven itself In 1908, the SBB took over the installa- ing successful trials, BLS ordered sever- in industrial applications. However, the tion. In 1919 two further locomotives al Be 5/7 (1’E1’) 1,800 kW locomotives, time was not yet ripe for converter tech- were added and the electrification ex- the first of which was delivered in 1913. nology on railway vehicles as the volumi- tended to Sion. A second tunnel bore In 1930, SAAS supplied the first of six nous mercury containers would hardly was completed in 1921. The three-phase Ae 6/8 (1’Co)(Co1’) locomotives using have been able to withstand the tough era on the Simplon ended in 1930 when the proven single-axle quill drive to BLS. operating conditions. the line was converted to the standard These pulled heavy passenger and goods 2 single-phase 15 kV / 16 /3 Hz ➔ 6. trains until well after the second world war. The electrification of the Gotthard line progressed so rapidly that there was vir- Electrification of the Lötschberg railway Electric operation on the Gotthard line tually no time to adequately test the trial With gradients of 2.2 to 2.7 percent and In view of the shortage of coal during the locomotives. Orders had to be placed curve radii of 300 m, the railway from first world war, in 1916 SBB decided to quickly. BBC/SLM supplied 40 passenger Thun via Spiez to Brig operated by BLS electrify the Gotthard railway using the train locomotives (1’B)(B1’), and MFO/SLM and completed in 1913 has a distinct power system that had already proven supplied 50 freight locomotives (1’C)(C1’). mountain railway character. From an early itself on the Lötschberg line. SBB asked Both types were equipped with four the Swiss machine frame-mounted motors driving the axles and electrical in- via a jackshaft and coupling rods. With an AC motors offered several dustry to provide hourly rating of 1,500 and 1,800 kW and prototype locomo- top speeds of 75 and 65 km/h respec- advantages for traction appli- tives with a view tively, these locomotives were able to ful- cations, including robustness to of later winning fill expectations and handle traffic for a long orders. To ensure time to come. In fact, these Gotthard loco- and simpler maintenance the line’s power motives became iconic among Swiss supply, the con- trains. This is particularly true for the 20 m due to the absence of a struction of three long freight version with articulated frames, high-pressure hy- the so-called Crocodiles ➔ 8, which con- commutator. drostorage power tinued in service for nearly 60 years. This plants (Amsteg, type has been copied in various forms in stage, it was intended to operate the Ritom and Barberine) was commenced different countries, and even today it is twin-track Lötschberg tunnel electrically. immediately. still a “must” on every presentable model As early as 1910, BLS decided in favor of railway. the 15 kV / 15 Hz system of the Seebach– BBC’s cofounder Walter Boveri vehe- Wettingen trial. The frequency was later mently objected to the operation of na- Contributions by Sécheron 2 increased to 16 /3 Hz. The BLS thus tional utility and railway grids at different In 1921/22 ABB’s predecessor company, paved the way not only for the later elec- frequencies. Among others, his interven- Sécheron, supplied six Be 4/7 locomo- trification of the Gotthard railway but also tion led to the compromise of using tives (1’Bo 1’) (Bo’) for the Gotthard rail- 2 for the electrification of railways in Ger- 16 /3 Hz (= 50 Hz ➔ 3) for railways. way. They were equipped with four indi- many, Austria and Sweden, all of which vidually driven axles with Westinghouse adopted this system. quill drives ➔ 9. Despite their good run-
Electrifying history 19 Electrification of 7 Trial locomotive for the Lötschberg railway, 1910 the Swedish state railways started before the first world war.
ning characteristics, no further units By 1920, the electrification had been ex- were ordered as SBB was initially wary of tended via Gellivare to Lulea on the Gulf the single-axle drive. For its less moun- of Bothnia. The Norwegian section of the tainous routes, SBB ordered 26 Ae 3/5 line was electrified in 1923. The moun- (1’Co 1’) passenger locomotives with an tains traversed are of medium height, identical quill drive and a top speed of and the gradients of 1.0 to 1.2 percent 90 km/h. Weighing 81 t, these machines are considerably lower than those on were considerably lighter than other Swiss mountain railways. However, the types. Ten similar units with a 2’Co 1’ heavy ore trains placed high demands wheel arrangement (Ae 3/6 III) followed on the locomotives. ASEA supplied the later. These three types were generally electrical equipment for 12 1,200 kW referred to as Sécheron machines and articulated locomotives (1’C)(C1’) with were mainly used in western Switzer- side-rod drive, as well as for two similar land. The last were still in operation in the 600 kW express locomotives (2’ B 2’). early 1980s when they were mostly to be 10,650 kW four-axle locomotives for ex- found on the car transporter trains of the press goods services were later added Gotthard and Lötschberg tunnels. and mainly operated in pairs. In 1925 the 460 km SJ mainline between Stock- ASEA’s activities in the railway sector holm and Gothenburg was electrified, Similarly to Switzerland, electrification of with ASEA supplying the 1,200 kW the Swedish state railways started be- 1’C1’locomotives. fore the first world war. From 1911 until 1914, the 120 km long so-called Malm- Successful single-axle drive banan or “ore line” was electrified. Its After commissioning the electric service main purpose was to transport magne- on the Gotthard line, SBB extended its tite ore from mines in Kiruna to the port of Narvik (Nor- The so-called Crocodile way), a port that remains ice-free all locomotives became iconic year due to the Gulf Stream. Swe- among Swiss trains. den has huge hy- dropower resources. The Porjus hydro- railway electrification onto the plains and power plant supplies the power for this into the Jura mountains. By 1927, con- railway, which is operated with single- tinuous electric operation was possible 2 phase 15 kV at 16 /3 Hz (initially 15 Hz). from Lake Constance in the east to Lake
20 ABB review 4|16 8 SBB Crocodile Ce 6/8 built by MFO for goods transport on the Gotthard line From a design per- spective, a single- phase AC motor is largely identical to a DC motor. However, speed or power control is simpler with DC.
Geneva in the west. BBC/SLM devel- ered axles, a feature inherited from steam oped the Ae 3/6 II (2’Co1’) passenger locomotive design. In 1944, however, locomotives, which incorporated a new BBC/SLM broke with this tradition and single-axle drive. This drive concept, supplied BLS with the first Ae 4/4 named after its inventor Buchli, consisted (Bo’Bo’) high-performance bogie loco- of a double-lever universal-joint arrange- motives with all axles powered. These ment in a single plane that acted be- 3,000 kW machines could reach a top tween the frame-mounted motor and the speed of 120 km/h. From then, on, virtu- sprung driving axle ➔ 10. 114 locomo- ally all railway companies opted for bogie tives of this type entered service on SBB. locomotives. In 1946, SBB received the The design proved so satisfactory that first of 32 Re 4/4 I light express locomo- the initial speed limit of 90 km/h could be tives, followed by 174 of the much more raised to 110 km/h. The type was a huge powerful Re 4/4 II for express trains. The success for Swiss industry and led to latter are still in operation today. With a export orders and license agreements weight of 81 t and a rating of 4,000 kW for similar locomotives for Germany, they can reach 140 km/h. Czechoslovakia, France, Spain and Ja- pan. In total, some 1,000 rail vehicles ASEA also turned to the development of with Buchli drives must have been built. bogie locomotives. The first Bo’Bo’ type Ra was introduced in 1955 ➔ 11. With its Longer and heavier international trains beaded side panels, the “porthole” win- on the Gotthard and Simplon lines soon dows and its round “baby face” the ma- demanded more powerful locomotives. chine reflected American design trends. Developed from the type described Like its Swiss counterparts, it was above and using the same BBC Buchli equipped with two traction motors per drive, 127 Ae 4/7 (2’Do1’) locomotives bogie. Weighing only 60 t, it was capable were built between 1927 and 1934. De- of a top speed of 150 km/h. These loco- spite a well-known Swiss design critic motives proved highly satisfactory and claiming that these machines had a remained in service until the 1980s. In “monkey face,” they remained a charac- 1962, the first type Rb rectifier locomo- teristic feature on SBB lines for several tives were introduced, followed by the decades. Some continued in service until type Rc thyristor locomotives in 1967. the 1990s. The latter were also supplied to Austria (type 1043) and the United States (type Post-war trends: bogie locomotives AEM-7, built under license by General Most locomotives described so far had Motors). combinations of carrying axles and pow-
Electrifying history 21 9 Sécheron type single-axle quill drive 10 Buchli single-axle drive manufactured by Today, ABB has (Sécheron) BBC (BBC 12395) strategic agree- ments with several major players in the rolling stock market and sup- plies state-of the- art components for a wide range of uses. The springing helped decouple the movement The motor shaft attached to the upper cog and of the axle from that of the motor, reducing the axle to the lower. track wear.
From rectifier to converter technology motives have an hourly rating of nearly From a design perspective, a single- 5 MW and have proven themselves ex- phase AC motor is largely identical to a tremely well. One machine was modified DC motor. However, speed or power with thyristor-based converters and suc- control is simpler with DC. While some cessfully tested on the Austrian Sem- countries chose to electrify their mainline mering line. As a result, ÖBB ordered networks with DC using a voltage of 216 locomotives of a similar design (type 1,500 or 3,000 V, others sought to ac- 1044) from ABB in Vienna. quire locomotives with onboard rectifiers converting the AC supply to DC. One of The combination of frequency converters the downsides of DC electrification is and asynchronous motors proved to be that the line voltage must be relatively particularly advantageous. It allowed a low as transformers cannot be used. largely uniform drive concept to be real- This leads to higher conduction losses ized that was essentially independent of requiring more frequent substations. the type of power supplied by the con- Manufacturers thus long sought ways of tact wire. This enabled some standard- combining DC traction with AC electrifi- ization and also made it easier to build cation (see also MFO’s first Seebach- locomotives able to work under different Wettingen locomotive described above). voltages and frequencies for internation- It was not until vacuum-based singe-an- al trains. Furthermore, the use of robust ode mercury tubes (so-called ignitrons or three-phase induction motors saved on excitrons) were developed that rectifier maintenance due to the absence of com- locomotives were built in large numbers mutators while also offering a higher (mostly in the United States and some power density, meaning motors could Eastern Bloc countries). either be made smaller or more powerful. Examples of BBC and ABB locomotives The semiconductor revolution in elec- using this arrangement are the E120 of tronics was to change this, and solid- DB, the Re 4/4 of Bodensee-Toggenburg state components soon found their way and the Sihltal railways (Switzerland), the into locomotives. Between 1965 and Re 450 and Re 460 of SBB and the 1983, BLS purchased 35 Re 4/4, series Re 465 of BLS. 161 locomotives ➔ 12. Instead of using single-phase AC, the traction motors High-speed trains were fed with half-wave rectified and re- Between 1989 and 1992, German rail- actor-smoothed DC. The oil-cooled sol- ways (DB) commissioned 60 ICE (Inter- id-state diode rectifier was fed from the city Express) trains, which were based transformer tap changer. These locomo- on the technology of the E120. ABB was tives had two traction motors per bogie, involved in their development. The trains connected in parallel to reduce the risk consisted of two power cars with con- of slippage on steep inclines. The loco- verter-controlled three-phase induction
22 ABB review 4|16 11 ASEA type Ra bogie locomotive of the Swedish State Railways 12 Re 4/4, series 161 rectifier locomotive of BLS, 1965
1 2
3 3
d = 1,300
7,800 2,200 2,900 4,900 2,900 2,200
15,100
motors and 11 to 14 intermediate pas- (Adtranz). Adtranz also acquired the This article originally appeared in ABB Review 2/2010 senger cars. During a trial run on the Swiss companies SLM and Schindler and was brought up to date by ABB Review staff for the present anniversary. newly completed high-speed line be- Waggon in 1998. In 1999, ABB sold its tween Hamburg and Frankfurt, one of stake in Adtranz to DaimlerChrysler these trains reached a speed of 280 km/h. which later sold its railway sector to Bombardier. Thus today, ABB no longer In 1990, ABB supplied the first of 20 X2000 builds complete locomotives, but contin- tilting high-speed trains to SJ for the ues to supply different high-performance express service between Stockholm and components for demanding traction ap- Gothenburg. They use GTO converters plications. and induction motors and can reach 200 km/h. The type is now also used on Since 2002 ABB has maintained a close other lines in Sweden, enabling reductions strategic cooperation with Stadler Rail. in journey times of up to 30 percent. Stadler is an internationally operating rolling stock manufacturer that emerged Streamlining the railway business from a small Swiss company, which orig- Arguably, no other products of the ma- inally produced diesel and battery-elec- chine or electrical industry were consid- tric tractors for works railways and in- ered as prestigious by the general public dustrial lines. The company is now an Norbert Lang as railway vehicles, and although exports important international supplier of multi- Archivist did occur, administrations generally pre- ple unit passenger trains for both inter- ABB Switzerland ferred to buy from domestic suppliers. city and commuter service. The compa- [email protected] However, this paradigm began to change ny also supplies trams, metros and other in the late 1980s and 1990s. Notably, the types of trains to customers across the Further reading prefabrication of parts allowed consider- world. In recent years ABB has devel- – Bugli, Ralph W. (ed.). (1983) Electrifying able reductions of lead times. Further- oped new components for different over- Experience. A Brief Account of The ASEA Group more, such prefabricated subassemblies head line voltages and frequencies as of Sweden 1883–1983. – Haut, F. J. G. (1972) Die Geschichte der permit final assembly to be carried out well as for diesel-electric traction appli- elektrischen Triebfahrzeuge. Vol. 1. virtually anywhere. For the industry, this cations. ABB supplies the transformers, – Huber-Stockar, E. (1928) Die Elektrifikation der shift – combined with market liberaliza- traction converters, onboard power sup- Schweizer Bundesbahnen. tion – resulted in a transition from com- ply systems and battery chargers used – Machefert-Tassinn, et al. (1980) Histoire de la traction electrique, 2 vols. plete manufacturing for a local market to on Stadler trains. – Sachs, K. (1973) Elektrische Triebfahrzeuge. component delivery for a global market. 3 vols. Today, ABB also has strategic agreements – Schneeberger, H. (1995) Die elektrischen und The ABB railway business today with several other global players in the roll- Dieseltriebfahrzeuge der SBB, Vol. I: Baujahre 1904–1955. Following the merger of ASEA and BBC ing stock market and supplies state-of- – Teich, W. (1987) BBC-Drehstrom-Antriebstechnik to form ABB, the respective transporta- the-art components for a wide range of fur Schienenfahrzeuge, Mannheim. tion system businesses were formed into uses, fulfilling the most stringent demands. – (1988–2016) ABB Review. an independent company within the ABB In the spirit of the company’s founders, – (1924–1987) ASEA Journal (engl. ed.). Group. In 1996, ABB and Daimler Benz ABB remains at the forefront of developing – (1914–1987) BBC Mitteilungen – (1928–1943, 1950–1987) BBC Nachrichten merged their railway activities under the innovative solutions for an ever-developing – (1921–1970) Bulletin Oerlikon. name ABB Daimler-Benz Transportation market. – (1929–1972) Bulletin Secheron
Electrifying history 23 24 ABB review 4|16 Weight loss program
ABB’s Effilight® traction transformer delivers less weight and losses and needs up to 70 percent less oil
TOUFANN CHAUDHURI, MARIE-AZELINE raction transformers take up that the size and location of the installed FAEDY, STEPHANE ISLER, MICHELLE valuable train space and add transformers is carefully considered. Space KIENER – Traveling across Europe by weight to the train, so the moti- in the passenger vehicle must be maxi- train is already faster than by plane right T vation to reduce their size and mized and noise must be at a minimum. now [1], and just last year a Japanese weight is strong. However, the constraints train reached 601 kph (374 mph) on applied by the law of physics are also Proven technology improved a test track, covering 1.77 km in strong. The transformer core must have Effilight was introduced to the market at 10.8 seconds and setting a new world certain dimensions in order to accom the beginning of 2016 ➔ 1 and the pub- record. While speed records make modate the magnetic field. In addition, lic launch was in September 2016 at great headlines and public reading, for weight constraints make traction trans- InnoTrans ➔ Title picture. The key techno- designers and innovators, the weight formers less efficient because the amount logical differentiator between Effilight and of the train is just as important. ABB’s of copper and iron must be limited. On a classic traction transformer is that in a new Effilight traction transformer is traditional trains pulled by locomotives, classic transformer the active part is fully up to 20 percent lighter than a classic the heavy transformer is not necessarily immersed in oil. This means oil volume is traction transformer. It is also up to a disadvantage as it contributes to adhe- far from ideal and the whole assembly is 50 percent more efficient when the sion: the maximum force that the loco- penalized by the large oil tank and the saved weight is reinvested in additional motive can apply core and winding material, therefore to pull a train with- significantly reducing energy costs for out losing adhesion ABB has developed a the operator. ABB’s new Effilight trac- on the rails is limit- tion transformer is up to 20 percent ed by the weight of hybrid transformer concept lighter than a classic traction trans the locomotive. In former. When a celebrity loses weight, modern passenger where there is a small the news travels faster than a new train trains, however, oil tank around the winding, speed record. The remaining challenge there is a tendency for Effilight is for the traction trans toward multiple unit while the core remains former weight loss news to be as widely trains where the known. traction equipment in the air. is not concentrated in the locomotive but distributed along resulting constraints. However, for Effi- the length of the train in the same vehi- light, ABB developed a hybrid transform- cles which passengers travel [2]. This brings er concept where there is a small oil tank Title picture Effilight was launched to the market at InnoTrans, considerable benefits in terms of adhe- around the winding, while the core re- in Germany, in September 2016. sion and acceleration, but also requires mains in the air.
Weight loss program 25 Over a period of 1 ABB’s Effilight hybrid concept traction transformer: roof-mounting version about three years the concept was developed from the idea to the physical testing stage.
Weighty matters Weight is a pivotal concept for traction The biggest chal- transformers. The maximum admissible weight is imposed by the train manufac- lenges that were turer, who in turn must reach the axle load constraint imposed by the railway overcome were infrastructure operators. If the weight is mainly to do with exceeded, the train simply cannot be homologated and therefore cannot run. mechanical inte-
It was the initial desire to reduce the weight gration, dielectric of the equipment which drove the devel- constraints and opment of what was to become Effilight. ABB oil insulation traction transformers magnetic field have a proven lifetime record with more than 40,000 units in operations. Building issues. on this experience ABB researchers started brainstorming how their weight could be reduced. During continued discussions Full type testing, including two shock and research, an idea started to emerge: and vibration tests, were performed, fol- what if only the parts that actually need lowed by environmental testing that was to be immersed in oil, were immersed? carried out over a number of months. A concept for a radical redesign began The prototype transformer was sub to develop. Work started on how to real- jected to frequent daily fast switch-ons ize the idea of separating the active part and warm-ups and performed extremely of the transformer, from the core. well. Thanks to the weight saving, the efficiency of the transformer can also Over a period of about three years the be increased because more copper can concept was developed from the idea to be added to reduce the winding resis- the physical testing stage. Small proto- tance. The losses of the transformer types were built at first and as refine- can be halved while keeping the weight ments took place were scaled up to unchanged. building and testing large prototypes. The biggest challenges that were over- Oil tight come were mainly to do with mechanical Effilight is a typical example of a solution integration, dielectric constraints and or product where once it exists, it sud- magnetic field issues. denly strikes people as an incredibly obvious solution. A classic moment of
26 ABB review 4|16 2 Expanded product view of how the cell is fully sealed and protected from leaks Now that only
winding the windings are 1 plate immersed in oil, for cooling and dielectric purpos- es, the oil volume can be reduced by up to 70 percent when compared to a classic trans- 1 plate former. Effilight tank
3 Effilight study prototype – parameters and savings
Prototype Base transformer Parameters Savings 1.1 MVA – 15 kV 1.1 MVA – 15 kV
Total weight 3150 kg 3450 kg - 9 %
Losses (75°C) 57.2 kW 84.5 kW - 33 %
Oil weight 200 kg 573 kg - 65 %
Length 1944 m 1995 m –
Width 2500 m 2524 m –
Height 851 mm 834 mm –
“of course, how obvious, why did no in reality. A key solution to develop one think of that before?”. The answer was, how is it possible to ensure that the “cell” (enclo- sure of the active Full type testing, including part) is fully sealed and immune from two shock and vibration tests, leaks, when the core is now exter- were performed, followed by nal? The answer environmental testing that was a form of “tank in tank” con- was carried out over a num- cept, where the cell is sealed sep- ber of months. arately within an- other enclosure ➔ 2. is that, as can often be the case, the O-ring gaskets ensure tightness using a technology needed to catch up with the time proven solution. ideas. Once the idea of removing the core from the oil had been conceived, the challenge was how to achieve that
Weight loss program 27 4 Weight and efficiency trade-off 5 Effilight’s benefits
Power 15 kV / 16.7 Hz 25 kV / 50 Hz 4500
1.0 MVA Up to - 20 % – 4300
4100 Standard steel tank efficient 2.0 MVA - 10 to - 15 % - 20 %
3900 3.0 MVA Up to - 10 % - 15 %
3700 SIC 4.0 MVA – Up to - 10 % 3500 Effilight efficient Effilight efficient – low Ucc 5a Average weight benefit
Total weight (kg) Total Standard steel tank A-class 3300
3100 Power 15 kV / 16.7 Hz 25 kV / 50 Hz
2900 1.0 MVA Up to + 50 % – 2700 Effilight light 2.0 MVA + 20 to + 30 % Up to + 50 % 2500 93.0 93.5 94.0 94.5 95.0 95.5 96.0 96.5 97.0 3.0 MVA Up to + 20 % + 20 to + 40 % 89.2 83.0 76.9 70.8 64.7 58.5 52.4 46.3 40.1 34.0
4.0 MVA – Up to + 20 % Efficiency (%) / Total losses (kW)
5b Average efficiency benefit
Now that only the windings are im- ufacturers and easier maintenance for The “active part” mersed in oil, for cooling and dielectric operators. It means that a variety of dif- purposes, the oil volume can be re- ferent equipment can be fitted with the windings and the duced by up to 70 percent when com- same transformer, resulting in reduced pared to a classic transformer. The new training costs by using the same trans- enclosure require approach also brings a reduction of up former across their fleet. no redesign to to 20 percent in weight. The weight sav- ing can then be reinvested in heavier Maintenance and protection functions adapt them for windings using thicker copper wiring are the same for Efflilight and classic that improve the energy efficiency of the transformers, which means an existing different mounting transformer by 50 percent, cutting elec- transformer can be replaced by an Effi- positions, be that trical losses in half ➔ 3. light without affecting existing mainte- nance and protection systems or pro- roof-mounted, A place for everything . . . cesses. For high-power transformers, the amount underframe or in of oil is not as significant as the amount Future on track a machine room. of copper or steel used, which means Today, more than half the world’s trains there are high-power cases where Effi- are powered by ABB traction transform- light does not provide a significant weight ers, and most of the world’s train manu- reduction advantage. The full benefit of Effilight is achieved in the lower power ratings. The reason for this is the filling An existing trans- factor (the ratio between the weight of copper and steel versus the total trans- former can be former weight) tends to decrease when replaced by an power decreases ➔ 4– 5. Effilight without . . . and everything in its place The prototype has been built and tested affecting existing for roof-mounting, however the Effilight traction transformer has been designed to maintenance and be modular. This means that the “active protection systems part” windings and the enclosure require no redesign to adapt them for different or processes. mounting positions, be that roof mounted, underframe or in a machine room ➔ 6 – 7. facturers and rail operators rely on them. Naturally this brings economies of scale Effilight is the latest member of this illus- and repetition advantages for train man- trious family. That Effilight’s design still
28 ABB review 4|16 6 Effilight is suitable for all the different assembly positions
Machine Room Roof mounted Underframe
7 Efficient traction transformers – comparing technology and application
Parameters Classic Effilight®
Lightweight variant ✓
25 kV option ✓ ✓
Wind speed cooling possible ✓
Roof mounted ✓ ✓
Machine room mounted ✓ ✓
Underfloor mounted ✓ ✓
Lifetime 40 years 40 years
Toufann Chaudhuri Marie-Azeline Faedy includes oil insulation, continues the Stephane Isler guarantee expected from an ABB trans- ABB Sécheron SA former of a 40 year lifetime. Achieving Geneva, Switzerland substantial weight reduction through the [email protected] Effilight technology allows ABB to deliver [email protected] to its customers a new degree of free- [email protected] dom which was not previously existing: a choice of weight reduction and energy Michelle Kiener efficiency increases. It is possible to tai- ABB Review lor the solution to specific needs for spe- Baden-Daettwil, Switzerland cific train platforms, allowing for instance [email protected] the weight to be reduced by 10 percent while still increasing the efficiency by 20 to 30 percent. Effilight may currently be a References [1] ”It’s Quicker to Travel by Train Than Plane in young upstart, but its future looks spar- Europe Right Now”, Condé Nast Traveler, 2016. kling. Light it may be, but in terms of life- [Online]. Available: http://www.cntraveler.com/ time, efficiency and delivery, a lightweight stories/2016-04-11/its-quicker-to-travel-by- performer it is not. train-than-plane-in-europe-right-now. [Accessed: 30- Aug- 2016]. [2] M. Claessens et al., “Traction transformation: A power-electronic traction transformer (PETT)” ABB Review 1/2012, pp. 11–17.
Weight loss program 29 Efficiency that climbs mountains
Cutting the energy consumption of the Allegra trains
BEAT GUGGISBERG, THOMAS HUGGENBERGER, HARALD HEPP – Railways are among the most energy efficient forms of transportation available, but that is no reason not to advance their efficiency further. A recent project focusing on the Allegra trains of Switzerland’s RhB (Rhaetische Bahn) has made these already efficient trains even more frugal.
Title picture An Allegra train on the Albula railway, a UNESCO world-heritage site.
30 ABB review 4|16 Efficiency that climbs mountains 31 1 RhB provides a year-round service. © 2016 Eduard Kiener © 2016 Eduard
As is often the case in engineering, the maintaining the DC-link voltage as con- power requirements were dimensioned stant as possible and varying the output to meet the toughest possible condi- current. As the full DC-link voltage is only he railway network of RhB tions under which they were required to actually required at full power, it is viable (Rhaetische Bahn) extends over operate. The greatest traction power is to permit this voltage to sink to lower 384 km in the Alps of south- required, for example, when moving a values when operating at lower power. T eastern Switzerland. The rail- heavy train up a steep slope. For much Optimums were identified for different way serves such popular tourist resorts of the time the units work under less scenarios including power, tractive effort as Davos, Klosters and Sankt Moritz, and demanding conditions (lighter loads, level and variations in catenary voltage. These carries around 10 million passengers per track). Efficiency under such conditions calculations did not consider the con- year. Parts of the system, featuring may thus be suboptimal. A project was verter in isolation, but included losses in breathtaking sequences of twisting tun- launched to investigate and implement the transformer and motors resulting nels and elegant viaducts, are classified ways of improving overall energy efficiency. from converter switching patterns. as UNESCO world heritage sites ➔ title picture. Besides RhB’s function serving Motors Disconnecting traction motors tourism, the system assures local trans- The power delivered by a traction motors When the train is required to operate at portation and carries freight all year round. is the product of the magnetic flux and a high power output, all traction motors In some locations, where roads are regu- the torque-forming current in the stator. are required. For lower power output larly closed due to winter snowfall, the Both of these factors contribute to loss- however, it is more efficient to selectively railway provides the only viable alter es. As the current- native transportation. dependent losses dominate at high A project was launched to Commencing in 2010, RhB began mod- power, the motor ernizing its fleet by introducing a new is typically oper investigate and implement family of multiple unit trains branded ated at the maxi- Allegra. These 20 trains are supplied by mum flux with the ways of improving overall Stadler with compact electrical equip- current being used energy efficiency. ment by ABB including traction trans- to control output. formers and converters ➔ 2. The Allegra However, at smaller units were designed to fulfill highly de- power levels it can actually be more effi- use a reduced number of motors (and manding requirements imposed by the cient to operate at a lower flux. Every the associated inverters) and disconnect tight curves, steep gradients and chal- speed / torque value pair has an optimum the others. lenging climatic conditions ➔ 1 of RhB’s dependent on the motor parameters. network as well as the long and heavy In view of the abundance of curves, trains they are required to pull. DC-link considerations over maintaining a good Normally, when a traction converter var- dynamic behavior of the unit meant that ies its power output, this is achieved by both axles on a bogie should always exert
32 ABB review 4|16 2 One of the Allegra trains was specially painted to mark the 3 The software changes were implemented between September 125th anniversary of ABB in Switzerland. 2014 and September 2015.
the same tractive or brake forces. Opti- more extensively, leaving less room for mized control is thus implemented on a the optimization to yield real gains. The implemented bogie by bogie rather than axle by axle basis. Savings software modifica- The software changes were implement- tions have led to Implementation ed and tested between September 2014 The software implementation concerned and September 2015 ➔ 3. energy savings of both the vehicle-level control system and the PEC (power electronic controller) that The implemented software modifications 950 MWh per year. controls individual bogies and the asso- have led to energy savings of 950 MWh ciated traction converters. per year for all 20 units combined. This accounts for around 2 percent of the Further to the improvement of traction RhB’s overall electricity consumption. A energy usage, the measures taken also tangible sign that the measures are lead- considered effects on the unit’s adhe- ing to greater efficiency can be seen in sion, and optimized this appropriately. the observed reduction of motor temper- ature in operation. DC electrification Most of the RhB system is electrified In addition to the electricity saved, the at 11 kV / 16.7 Hz. However, the 62 km more benign operating conditions for line from Sankt Moritz to Tirano (Bernina components and materials, including line) is electrified at 1,000 V DC. Whereas converters, motors, semiconductors and some Allegra units are designed to op- isolation should extend their operational erate on the AC lines only, others are lives and reliability. equipped for dual-voltage. The measures described in this article largely concern This article is based on “Reduktion des Traktions AC operation. Improvements delivered in energiebedarfs der Allegra-Triebwagen der RhB“ by Markus Meyer, Andreas Heck, German Walch and DC mode are more modest. Under DC Matthias Muri, Schweizer Eisenbahn Revue 2/16. operation, the DC-link voltage cannot be optimized in the manner described as it Beat Guggisberg is directly fed from the catenary. Thomas Huggenberger Harald Hepp Calculations showed that a conversion of ABB Discrete Automation and Motion the DC section to AC would not improve Turgi, Switzerland the energy balance. The steeper gradi- [email protected] ents of the Bernina line (up to 7 percent) [email protected] mean the units are operated at full power [email protected]
Efficiency that climbs mountains 33 34 ABB review 4|16 Peak power
ABB’s ZX0 medium-voltage switchgear and PMA cable protection for the Gotthard Base Tunnel
ANDREAS BEINAT, FELIX INGOLD – Launched in 1993 with preliminary geological test bores, the Gotthard Base Tunnel – the longest rail tunnel in the world – opened in June 2016, a year ahead of schedule. ABB’s contribution to this monumental construction project came in many forms – such as over 800 medium-voltage (MV) switchgear units that power the tunnel infrastructure and the many kilometers of robust PMA cable protection for the lighting system in the tunnel.
Title picture Costing over $10 billion and with two parallel tubes, each of 57 km long, the Gotthard Base Tunnel relies on an intelligent and reliable electrical infrastructure to ensure safe operation.
Peak power 35 1 The tunnel will carry trains only. Shown is the Faido track changeover. AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd. Gotthard AlpTransit © Photo
site in Schattdorf, Switzerland in August that is reliable, low-maintenance, and 2014 by representatives of both Balfour easy to configure and operate. Beatty Rail and ABB. The fact that the ZX0 is gas-insulated fter 20 years of construction, Adapting to on-site conditions brings with it many advantages. It offers the world’s longest railroad Every 325 m along the twin tunnels, the highest level of safety for railway tunnel opened in June 2016. there is a passageway between employees, for example, as all live parts A In addition to increasing freight them ➔ 2. These are also designated as are completely touchproof, which means capacity along the Rotterdam-Basel- escape routes and every other one that inadvertent contact with live parts Genoa corridor, the Gotthard Base Tun- is equipped with nel also includes regular passenger ser- electrical power. vices that significantly cut travel time To deliver this ABB’s MV switchgear sup- between the north and south of Switzer- power, ABB sup- land. Up to 250 trains a day will use the plied ZX0 MV gas- plies power for systems that tunnel when all services are running ➔ 1. insulated switch- include air conditioning, It is a testament to the professional en- gear (GIS), which gineering and efficiency of those in- had to be adapted ventilation, lighting, signaling, volved in the project that the tunnel was to the difficult on- brought into operation a year ahead of site conditions. Rail- communications and safety. the schedule foreseen in 2008. road tunnels come with a myriad of challenges, not least of is impossible and the switchgear can be At that time, ABB was contracted by which is the fine, powdery dust abraded handled safely during installation and Balfour Beatty Rail to provide the MV from the train tracks each time a train commissioning. No gas handling is nec- switchgear needed to power the Gott speeds over them. essary on-site because all MV parts are hard Base Tunnel’s infrastructure. This inside a sealed tank, protected from ex- 50 Hz technology supplies power for ZX0 GIS ternal influence, with no maintenance systems that include air conditioning, Given the importance of switchgear and necessary for the parts inside the tank. ventilation, lighting, signaling, commu- circuit breakers in ensuring the safe and This minimizes accidents and danger to nications and safety. Balfour Beatty Rail flexible operation of the endeavor, ABB human life. belongs to the Transtec consortium, had to make sure its switchgear fitted which was assigned to install the rail the bill under the special conditions The gastight enclosure protects all com- infrastructure by the tunnel builder, Alp- encountered in the tunnel complex. ZX0 ponents against aging, thus reducing Transit Gotthard AG. GIS was the ideal solution for the Gott the total cost of ownership and making hard Base Tunnel as it has a modular the ZX0 a cost-effective solution with a ABB was able to complete this massive and compact structure that delivers and low overall lifetime outlay. order in just six years. The completion distributes energy without interruption of the delivery of 875 units of MV switch- at the highest level of availability. With gear was celebrated at the installation the ZX0, ABB has delivered switchgear
36 ABB review 4|16 2 Inter-tunnel passageway. ZX0 GIS was the ideal solution for the Gotthard Base Tunnel as it is modular and compact. AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd. Gotthard AlpTransit © Photo
Intensive testing work can be switched off individually. Scope of delivery Given the special challenges faced in For ease of use, remote access can be ABB has supplied more than switchgear the Gotthard Base Tunnel, steps were handled using a standard Web browser to the Gotthard Base Tunnel. Among taken to enhance the ZX0’s integrity. For – operators can log on to the feeder ter- other things, the company also supplied example, ABB designed the ZX0’s ac- minal from any place at any time, with the power supply and drive systems for companying local control cubicle in ac- the appropriate security precautions. the strongest ventilation system in the cordance with the IP65 protection rating world, with a power rating of 15.6 MW. and also made it dust-tight and resis- The SMS feature in the new REF542plus The entire ventilation control system tant to water jets. The design was also release offers operators even more free- itself – comprising activation and con- able to withstand the pressure varia- dom of movement. If the REF542plus trol units for the fans and the tunnel tions caused by passing trains. registers an event, it can send a notifi- sensors, as well as fire location detec- cation via text message (SMS) to the tion – was also supplied by ABB. A sce- With the inter-tunnel passageways also operator’s mobile phone. The operator nario manager provides the correspond- being used as escape routes, there can then log on via the Internet to the ing control of the airways for a variety of were much stricter requirements for switchgear, access the REF542plus, re- predefined events. arc-fault protection and arc resistance motely analyze the than is the case even for restricted-ac- fault and determine cess areas. The ZX0, therefore, includes how to correct it. All live parts are completely a special pressure relief system to elimi- nate all risk to human safety. To reduce the oc- touchproof, which means that currence of faults Suitable monitoring in a power distri- inadvertent contact with live To protect, control, measure and moni- bution network, it is parts is impossible and the tor the network throughout the entire necessary to ana- tunnel system, ABB provided 500 units lyze how often faults switchgear can be handled of the REF542plus feeder terminal. The happen. For this, REF542plus ensures a stable, uninter- the REF542plus safely. rupted energy supply by quickly locating uses GPS (global any fault and immediately transmitting positioning system) in an innovative Meeting high reliability demands the fault type and location information way. Instead of using GPS as a geoloca- All of the tunnel equipment described to the tunnel control system. tion tool, the REF542plus takes advan- above is wholly dependent upon a reli- tage of the precise time signal provided able power supply. However, within The feeder terminal also offers remote by GPS to continuously synchronize its such long and deep tunnels, exceptional services, providing access to stored own embedded clock. Faults are time- climatic conditions prevail. Air tempera- programs and protection data via Ether- stamped with a sub-millisecond preci- tures can exceed 40 °C while regular net LAN. The REF542plus can execute sion and forwarded to a central location medium-pressure washdown proce- remote protection in a multistage way for analysis. These time stamps help to dures contribute to a relative humidity of so that any faulty parts within the net- evaluate the causes of faults. up to 70 percent. Moreover, excellent
Peak power 37 3 PMA cable protection 4 450 emergency exit lighting systems are equipped with ABB’s PMA cable protection.
fire-safety characteristics are essential Polyamide protection Alpiq Burkhalter for all products used in tunnel infra- High-grade, specially formulated poly- structure applications. However, many amide has excellent resistance to ultra- Bahntechnik need- products currently available on the mar- violet (UV) rays and weathering, and ket are unable to meet the very high offers good impact strength. Polyamide ed a flexible, easy- safety and reliability standards required. products have outstanding fire-safety to-install, com- characteristics regarding low flammabil- Alpiq Burkhalter Bahntechnik AG, a ity, smoke/gas emission and toxicity in pletely closed partner in the Transtec Gotthard con- the event of a fire, all of which are espe- sortium, consulted PMA (a member of cially important for this tunnel project. cable-protection the ABB Group and one of the market solution that could leaders for high-specification cable pro- At first, smaller installations under tection) regarding a complete, high- bridges and in tunnels were fitted with also withstand the specification, end-to-end cable protec- PMA products for extensive testing. The tion system with excellent fire-safety results were so convincing that Alpiq tunnel environ- characteristics (flammability, smoke Burkhalter Bahntechnik chose PMA ment. density and toxicity) and high ingress products for this world-famous project. protection (IP68 and IP69K) to with- stand the medium-pressure cleaning ABB was asked to deliver 21 km of process. VAMLT conduit along with over 21,000
Although Alpiq Burkhalter Bahn- ABB designed the ZX0’s technik had used ABB’s PMA cable accompanying local control protection sys- tems for tunnel cubicle in accordance with projects before, the IP65 protection rating and the Gotthard Base Tunnel project pre- also made it dust-tight and sented new chal- lenges and the resistant to water jets. company needed a flexible, easy-to-install, completely BVNZ strain relief fittings and BFH-0 closed cable-protection solution that conduit fixation clamps for the lighting could withstand the tunnel environment. system in the 57 km long railway tun- nels. More than 10,000 emergency guidance lights and 450 emergency exit
38 ABB review 4|16 5 BVNZ strain relief fittings and VAMLT conduits 6 Emergency light cable protection
light systems were subsequently equipped with ABB’s PMA cable protec- PMA polyamide- tion products ➔ 3–6. based cable pro- A strong tunnel system PMA polyamide-based cable protection tection systems systems possess high mechanical possess high me- strength characteristics such as com- pression strength and resistance to chanical strength high-energy impact, combined with high flexibility. They are corrosion free with combined with high ingress protection against water high flexibility. They and dust – important in the Gotthard Base Tunnel. They demonstrate high re- are corrosion free sistance to numerous environmental in- fluences such as chemicals (particularly with high ingress cleaning agents) and UV, are immune to protection against attack by rodents and have a broad op- erating temperature range. ABB’s PMA water and dust. cable protection systems have a long lifetime and come with the assurance of dedicated customer service.
The scope of this world-renowned proj- ect presented unique technological Andreas Beinat challenges and as such represents an ABB Medium Voltage Products excellent global reference for ABB’s Baden, Switzerland products. [email protected]
Felix Ingold ABB Electrification Products Uster, Switzerland [email protected]
Further reading R. Jenni et al., “Switzerland by rail: Supplying traction power for the country’s major railway initiatives,” ABB Review 2/2010, pp. 31–34.
Peak power 39 Record breaker
ABB to provide power, propulsion and automation for the world’s most advanced port icebreaker
ANTHONY BYATT – To make sure the maximum amount of power possible can be derived from marine engines such as those used in icebreakers, they are fitted with turbochargers. ABB has a wide range of turbocharger solutions for marine craft and are now to supply the new Power 2 800-M turbocharger for the most advanced port icebreaker ever built, which is currently in planning for construc- tion by the Vyborg Shipyard in Russia.
Title picture ABB’s Power2 turbocharging solution provides the power icebreakers need.
40 ABB review 4|16 Record breaker 41 All these additional features mean that an icebreaker is much heavier than a normal ocean-going ship of similar size.
Moreover, due to the immense strength and often unpredictable nature of ice, icebreakers are equipped to deal with a plethora of potential dangers. For example, pressurized air and heated water jets may be forced out of the ship under the ice to help break it or ballast water may be pumped rapidly around the vessel to rock it a further assisting ice breaking.
Clearly, icebreakers have to have power- ful engines.
To make sure the maximum amount of power possible can be derived from the marine engines such as those used in icebreakers, they are fitted with tur- bochargers. ABB has a wide range of turbocharger solutions for marine craft and are now to supply turbochargers for the most advanced port icebreaker ever built, which is currently in planning hen John Franklin searched for construction by the Vyborg Ship- for the North-West Pas- yard in Russia. ABB will also provide sage in the mid-1800s, the power and automation capabilities W he could scarcely have for the vessel. imagined by just how much polar sea ice would retreat in the following 150 years. The main engine will be fitted with Now, large ocean-going ships regularly Power2 800-M, the most advanced ply sea routes along the north of Canada two-stage turbocharging system in the and Russia. These shipping lanes almost industry, enabling highest efficiency tur- halve the time it takes to voyage between bocharging performance. the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans and the routes are remaining ice free for ever- Power2 800-M longer periods, thus lengthening the Power2 is ABB’s dedicated two-stage shipping season. turbocharging system. Power2 800-M, the second generation of Power2, is the With this increased shipping presence comes the increased need for icebreak- ers. Due to the nature of the job they do, The main engine icebreakers have to be of solid construc- tion: Thick ice is not often broken by will be fitted with ramming it, but by lifting the ship above the ice and breaking it from above. Lift- Power2 800-M, the ing an icebreaker is no easy matter as most advanced icebreakers have very heavy and robust strengthening cross-members to protect two-stage turbo- the vessel against the pressure of pack ice ➔ 1. Further, an icebreaker’s hull dif- charging system in fers from a normal hull in thickness, the industry. shape and material: The bow, stern and waterline are reinforced with thick steel specially chosen for its low-temperature most compact turbocharger solution of performance and the hull’s shape is de- its kind. Space is at a premium in a ship’s signed to assist the ship to rise above the engine room and with this in mind, ABB ice before falling and breaking through it. designed the turbocharging system to
42 ABB review 4|16 1 Icebreakers have to have powerful engines and be of a robust construction
take up minimal space: This two-stage The Power2 800-M responds to the need turbocharging system is 20 percent more for new marine engine technology to offer Power2 800-M is compact than conventional two-stage consistency of performance across con- turbocharging solutions. Space saving ventional and newer marine fuel options. the most compact is especially critical in an icebreaker as This application will demonstrate the ad- the extremely strong hull construction vances in efficiency and power density turbocharger of its of the vessel leaves less internal space now available for four-stroke engines kind. than would be available on an equivalent, that operate over a wide range of load regular ship. profiles and that face added demands from various bodies who regulate emis- The Power2 800-M’s extractable cartridge sions. Once the icebreaker is constructed, enables service to be completed in just commissioned and operating in iced-up two steps instead of the previous six, port waters, the capabilities of the Power2 making maintenance easy and reducing 800-M will prove to be invaluable in pro- downtime and service costs. viding the power to keep waters ice-free for shipping. On the icebreaker’s engine, the Power2 800-M will enhance fuel efficiency and flex- ibility of operations. With up to 60 percent less NOx emissions, the Power2 800-M also substantially cuts discharges to the atmosphere – an important aspect for operation in the pure Arctic environment.
With a low-pressure and high-pressure stage, the Power2 800-M provides higher air pressure ratios – up to 12 from eight in the previous generation. A sin- gle-stage turbocharger can operate at Anthony Byatt around 65 to 70 percent efficiency; External author Power2 800-M exceeds 75 percent effi- ciency and is the only system currently ABB contact for further details: available across the large-engine indus- Magdalena Okopska try with this capability. [email protected]
Record breaker 43 Improving remote marine service
A concept for the next generation ABB customer and service portal
MARIA RALPH, VERONIKA DOMOVA, PETRA BJÖRNDAL, ELINA Revolution by World Economic Forum founder Klaus VARTIAINEN, GORANKA ZORIC, RICHARD WINDISCHHOFER, Schwab [1] and is closely related to Zuboff’s three laws [2] CHRISHOPHER GANZ – The level of remote automation, which are 1) everything that can be automated will be remote monitoring, and remote control have continuously automated, 2) everything that can be informated is infor- increased over the decades in key industries. Military, power mated (the process of digitizing information) and 3) every utilities, nuclear, rail, port authorities, highway authorities, digital application that can be used for monitoring and emergency services, mining, oil and gas, aviation, and control will be used for monitoring and control. ABB is space industries are heavy users of remote technologies building on this operational concept to develop smarter and operational centers to manage their operations, fleets solutions that more effectively support its remotely con- of assets and emergency services. This industry trend nected marine customers. confirms what has been recently coined the 4th Industrial
44 ABB review 4|16 ABB is building on this operational concept to develop smarter solutions that more effective- ly support its re- motely connected marine customers.
raditionally, diagnosing and neers with quick and easy access to troubleshooting problems for ABB engineers are colleagues worldwide, enhancing how marine customers have been able to support customer data is visualized to ensure en- T activities ABB engineers have gineers have a complete picture of the done in person at customer sites. How- problem and ensuring relevant material ever, with the introduction of advanced many customers at is at each engineer’s fingertips. To this sensors, cloud services and satellite the same time end, ABB Marine has developed a cloud- communication technology, the service based fleet portal. This portal provides and support tools of remote diagnostics since they may not engineers working remotely with a more and troubleshooting – which have been effective way to analyze the important sporadic for the past decade – are now need to travel to information necessary to diagnose and becoming a common work practice. the site. troubleshoot customer issues. It provides ABB engineers are now in a position to the most critical information required to offer marine customers more timely issue obtain an overview of an individual situ- resolution due in large part to the ability process as well. In fact, when a problem ation as well as a fleet of assets, helping to remotely connect to customer equip- occurs, a virtual team of all required ex- them establish context and, in turn, the ment onboard and collect data from sen- perts is quickly formed to share relevant possibility of more timely resolutions of sors installed onsite. As a result, ABB information and rectify the situation. This customers’ cases. engineers are able to support not just allows marine customers to get back one customer but many customers at online more quickly than in the past. Customer and supplier needs the same time since they may not need Within any type of service support role, to travel to the site. The customer’s tech- With this approach to remotely sup- time is a critical factor. Being able to di- nical staff are involved in the resolution port customers, both changes in work agnose and efficiently resolve issues with practices and an improvement of the customers’ equipment is the primary fo- tools supporting engineers are required. cus for ABB support engineers. As such,
Title picture Just some of the changes needed for the tools used to support them need to Remote connectivity from shore to ship. effective support are: providing engi- be as effective as possible.
Improving remote marine service 45 The customer’s 1 The Dashboard tool technical staff are involved in the resolution process as well.
2 The Map tool
Designing effective support solutions re- 2) There is no easy way for technical quires an in-depth understanding of how crew members to easily and quickly support engineers work. Interviewing transfer context information such and observational approaches are used as video or images to the remote to gain valuable insights into real work support engineer handling the practices and to assess goals, needs case. and concerns. In turn, this information 3) There is also no easy way for the provides the key design considerations remote support engineer to give for the creation of the new HMI (human- suggestions to the technical crew machine interaction) solution. The pro- located onboard. totype developed took into account the – Information is distributed. Not all following key outcomes of the interviews information for diagnosing and and observations: troubleshooting a problem is in one – Establishing the context for trouble- easily accessible location. Engineers shooting: therefore spend a lot of time search- 1) In order to understand all pos- ing for relevant material. sible solutions, remote support – Locating and coordinating with a local engineers need to gather as much field engineer, who is both adequately relevant information as possible qualified and who is in close physical about the problem. proximity to the customer`s vessel, to go onsite for a hardware fix can be challenging.
46 ABB review 4|16 3 Fleet details The tool provides reset information including locations for local support centers, port loca- tions and airports.
4 Fleet details drilled down
Design concepts The Map tool provides users with an Based on these identified needs, a new interactive map that enables users to prototype of a fleet and service coordi- pan and zoom as well as filter informa- nation portal was developed, comprised tion ➔ 2. Vessel locations are shown and of four main components: Dashboard, individual vessels are color-coded to in- Map, Fleet details and Analytics. The dicate those vessels with issues (ie, has prototype was developed using con- active alarms) in red. This enables the temporary web technologies such as engineers to stay informed about the HTML5, JavaScript, Angular JS, D3.js, current state of all vessels they are re- bootstrap, CSS, Google Maps open API. sponsible for monitoring at any one time. Zooming into the vessel enables the en- The Dashboard tool enables engineers to gineer to see a more detailed map view customize their view according to what with the ship’s planned route outlined. information is important for them based Additional information is also provided on their role ➔ 1. The information on the when zoomed into a specific vessel in- dashboard can be rearranged to suit the cluding locations for local support cen- user with information being added or ters (ie, where local field engineers may deleted as they require for their work. be available), port locations, airports, as Engineers can also filter information dis- well as a night/daytime visualization to played in this view according to a certain indicate under what time of the day the customer or vessel. vessel is operating.
Improving remote marine service 47 Being able to diag- 5 The Analytics tool nose and efficiently resolve issues with customers’ equip- ment is the primary focus for ABB sup- port engineers.
The Fleet tool provides engineers with associated with that vessel. Providing more detailed information about the ves- a way to effectively identify issues with sels under their watch. Vessels can be customers’ vessels, as well as compe- grouped (filtered or sorted) into certain tent support for understanding the prob- categories that can be filtered further, lem at hand, enables engineers to use such as vessels with active alarms. Se- their advanced skill set to resolve cus- lecting a vessel from this list takes the tomer issues in a timely manner. engineer to a more detailed information page about that vessel with a breakdown Wave problems goodbye of data such as systems onboard, equip- ABB’s solution provides remote service ment maintenance history, planned route support engineers with information in a Maria Ralph and spare parts onboard ➔ 3, 4. more intuitive and easy to understand Veronika Domova format, supporting them in their deci- Petra Björndal Finally, the Analytics tool provides en- sion-making. The solution further dem- Elina Vartiainen gineers with a customizable workspace onstrates ABB’s commitment to produc- Goranka Zoric whereby they can arrange the layout ing high quality solutions targeting key ABB Corporate Research of information in a way that works best domains and to improving processes for Västerås, Sweden for them. Engineers can add or remove industry-leading service. [email protected] information, and can annotate data on- [email protected] screen. This workspace can also be [email protected] used to collaborate with other remote [email protected] service engineers to get further assis- goranka.zoric @se.abb.com tance on cases. The analytics concept provides engineers with a way to dig Richard Windischhofer deeper into data, using pattern matching ABB Marine and Ports and data tagging to find commonalities Billingstad, Norway and relationships between key signals. [email protected] This capability allows them to make bet- ter data comparisons and therefore more Christopher Ganz informed decisions ➔ 5. ABB Group Technology Management Zurich, Switzerland Production management benefits [email protected] The prototype developed provides re- mote service support engineers with an overall awareness of the state of the References [1] K. Schwab. (January 14, 2016). The Fourth vessels they are monitoring and support- Industrial Revolution: what it means, how ing. Providing these engineers with the to respond [Online]. Available: right information in an intuitive and easy https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/ to understand format enables them to the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means- and-how-to-respond/ more effectively and quickly understand [2] In the Age of the Smart Machine: The Future of the current vessel’s state and any issues Work and Power (1988), Shoshana Zuboff
48 ABB review 4|16 Automation & Power World 2017 Connect. Collaborate. Outperform.
March 13-16, 2017 | George R. Brown Convention Center | Houston, Texas
Save the date and plan to join thousands of industry professionals at the premier automation and power education and technology event. Conference registration is free for ABB customers and industry professionals. For more information visit us at www.abb.com/apw Connect. Collaborate. Outperform.
Automation & Power World returns to Houston in March 2017
STEPHANIE JONES – Since 2009, utomation & Power World offers The Technology & Solution Center will ABB Automation & Power World has four days of training, networking house the largest portfolio of ABB prod- brought together professionals from opportunities and the chance ucts, solutions and services in North the utility, industry, and transportation A to see firsthand the widest America. Visitors will have hands-on ac- and infrastructure sectors for the range of technologies available from one cess to the latest power and automation company’s premier educational and company in one location ➔ 1. Together software and technology. Plus, ABB ex- collaboration event in North America. with thousands of customer attendees, perts will be available to explain what is In 2017, the event will return to the ABB technical experts, industry leaders, on display, answer questions and share George R. Brown Convention Center in ABB management and business partners their insights. Houston, Texas, on March 13–16. will take a focused look at how all stake- holders can succeed together in a chang- The conference also features multiple ing business environment. collaboration opportunities. From hosted peer-to-peer roundtable discussions to Attendees can choose from hundreds of industry-specific plenary sessions to daily educational workshops, daily keynotes by networking events, attendees can meet industry leaders, panel discussions and peers in their own industry as well as hands-on training courses to create a those with similar responsibilities in other customized learning experience. Work- industries to exchange information on shops focus on topics to help achieve what has worked – and what has not – business goals, and are presented by when facing comparable issues. technical experts, end users and indus- try specialists. Not only is the Automation & Power World experience priceless, so is event registration. There is no conference fee 1 The chance to see first-hand the widest range of technologies available from ABB for ABB customers and other industry in one location professionals to attend. So mark your calendars for March 13–16, 2017, and visit the event website for full event details and to register: http://new.abb.com/apw.
Stephanie Jones ABB Inc. Houston, TX, United States [email protected]
50 ABB review 4|16 Loss prophet
Predicting stray losses in power transformers and optimization of tank shielding using FEM
JANUSZ DUC, BERTRAND POULIN, MIGUEL AGUIRRE, PEDRO GUTIERREZ – Optimization of tank shielding is a challenging aspect of design because of the need to reduce stray losses generated in the metallic parts of power transformers exposed to magnetic fields. The simulation methods now available allow the evaluation of more explorative designs that would otherwise not have been considered. FEM methodology is applied to calculate losses and temperature distribution, and several configurations of transformer shielding were considered during the research. The benefit of applying computer simulations is not only limited to cost and time savings for a single transformer unit, but also results in a better understanding of the physical processes occurring during operation. The results obtained from 3-D simulations were in close agreement with measured values. This experience, reinforced by increased trust in the applied methodology, can be applied by ABB in the design of future devices.
Loss prophet 51 FEM is a sophisti- 1 Simulation model of transformer (tank walls are not shown) cated tool widely used to solve engi- neering problems.
ower transformers are impor- Electromagnetic simulations tant components of an elec- FEM is a sophisticated tool widely used trical network [1]. The reliable to solve engineering problems. It is uti- P and energy-efficient operation lized in new product development as well of transformers has a considerable eco- as in existing product refinement to verify nomic impact on transmission and dis- a proposed design and adapt it to the tribution systems [2] and great effort is client’s specifications [5]. The method re- spent to make the design optimal [3]. quires the creation of a discretized model of an apparatus with adequate material In the case of transformers, increasing properties. efficiency often means reducing losses. Load losses in transformers occur in Simulation software resolves basic elec- conductors and magnetic parts. In wind- tromagnetic field distribution by solving ings and bus bars there are two compo- Maxwell’s equations in a finite region of nents of the losses: resistive and eddy- space with appropriate boundary condi- current. Metallic parts of transformers tions. Simulations described in this arti- exposed to magnetic fields, such as the cle were performed using a commercially tank and core clamping structures, also available FEM software package. produce stray losses [4]. Skin effect The procedure described here is com- The thickness of steel plates is much monly used by engineers in ABB facto- larger than the depth to which mag- ries manufacturing large oil-immersed netic fields will penetrate them. In order power transformers. to properly represent the small penetra- tion of the magnetic field in a numerical Practical solutions can be efficiently de- model, a huge number of small elements termined using the finite element method must be used in the vicinity of a surface (FEM). The simula- tion parameters are statistically fit- FEM requires the creation ted based on doz- ens of tested units of a discretized model of an of small, medium and large power apparatus with adequate transformers pro- material properties. duced around the world by ABB. A material library dedicated to such cal of each component made of magnetic culations was developed by ABB scien- material. This requires computational tists using laboratory measurements. power far exceeding the capabilities of Title picture The methodology gives the highest accu- modern workstations. 502 MVA transformer completely ready and racy, compared to other tools and ana- assembled (tank, bushings, conservator and cooling system) in the test room of the lytical methods available for stray losses ABB factory in Córdoba, Spain. estimation.
52 ABB review 4|16 2 Magnetic shielding of the tank from HV side for the original design of investigated transformer Surface impedance boundary condition enables calcula- tions of stray loss- es in transformers, using a significantly reduced number of finite elements.
3 Simulation model of transformer (tank walls are shown)
A solution to this limitation has been imple- for this research. The results concern the mented in many FEM software packages. In unit’s stray losses and temperature dis- a first approximation, it can be stated that tribution. For simulation purposes, a sim- all eddy currents, and therefore losses, are plified 3-D model was created including generated close to the surface of the mag- only the major components of the trans- netic conductive materials. Therefore, the former. The model includes a core, wind- phenomenon can be treated as a boundary ings, flitch plates, clamps, a tank and condition rather than a volume calculation. magnetic shields on high- (HV) and low- voltage (LV) walls ➔ 1. Surface impedance boundary condition Surface impedance boundary condition Magnetic shielding (SIBC) is a particular case of a general When loaded with full current, transformer approximate boundary condition relating windings produce high amounts of stray to electromagnetic quantities at a con- flux and losses, which translate into tem- ductor/dielectric interface. It enables cal- perature rises in metallic parts. To avoid culations of stray losses in transformers, overheating, magnetic shunts are mount- using a significantly reduced number of ed on the tank walls ➔ 2. Shunts are fer- finite elements [6]. romagnetic laminated steel elements that guide the flux emanating from the trans- Surface impedance boundary conditions former winding ends and work as shields. were assigned to magnetic and conduct- ing components of the transformer such In this particular case, the tank has three as flitch plates, tank and clamps. embossments on the HV wall ➔ 3 to make room for the three HV bushings. Electromagnetic simulations of power Only the optimization procedure for the transformers shunts on the HV wall is considered here A MVA three-phase 380/110/13.8 kV auto because no hot spots are detected from transformer, produced by ABB, was used the LV side ➔ 4.
Loss prophet 53 During the project, 4 Temperature distribution for tank LV wall for the original model of investigated transformer coupled magneto- Shaded Plot thermal simulations Temperature MAX were performed. This type of calcu- lation is very useful MIN for the analysis of electrical machines such as transform- 5 Stray losses for the original design of investigated transformer ers and motors. Element Relative losses [%]
Core 41.1
Clamps 19.1
Flitch plates 4.2
Tank (HV wall) 25.6 (16.2)
Shunts 10.0
Total 100.0
Stray loss calculations for bottom oil temperature, the highest Preliminary calculations were carried out value for top oil temperature). The tem- for a single frequency of 60 Hz, including perature of the air was defined as con- the initial design of the shielding ➔ 2. The stant over the tank’s height, with uniform percentage distribution of the stray loss- distribution. es can be seen in ➔ 5. The losses generated in the The highest temperatures tank HV wall are about 16 percent of obtained for the initial design the total stray loss- es in the construc- are observed in the regions tional components below the embossments in obtained for the presented model. the HV wall.
Temperature distribution calculations The highest temperatures obtained for During the project, coupled magneto- the initial design are observed in the re- thermal simulations were performed. gions below the embossments in the HV This type of calculation is very useful for wall ➔ 6. The results obtained show that the analysis of electrical machines such these regions should be shielded as the as transformers and motors. temperature rises exceed the permis- sible limit. However, the maximum values For the evaluation of component tem- of temperature distribution for the LV wall perature, appropriate values of convec- are acceptable ➔ 4. tive heat transfer coefficients between components and their environment must Optimization of tank shielding be defined for each surface of interest in The optimization of magnetic shielding the model. A linear distribution of the oil was a process guided by experienced temperature was assumed for the inter- engineers. Several possible arrange- nal surfaces of the tank (the lowest value ments of the shunts were calculated in
54 ABB review 4|16 6 Temperature distribution for tank HV wall for the original design of investigated transformer Total stray losses
Shaded Plot were decreased Temperature by 11.3 percent. MAX The losses in the shunts them- selves were also MIN reduced by about 24 percent.
7 Magnetic shielding of the tank from HV side for the optimal design of investigated transformer
8 Stray losses for the optimal design of investigated transformer
Element Relative losses [%]
Core 41.2
Clamps 18.9
Flitch plates 3.6
Tank (HV wall) 17.4 (7.8)
Shunts 7.6
Total 88.7
order to select the version that would The results obtained for the final design protect the wall best, while keeping of the magnetic shielding are presented losses to a minimum. The vertical shunts in ➔ 8 (total stray losses obtained for the original design were assumed to be 100 per cent). Total stray losses were decreased The temperature by 11.3 percent. The highest reduction is observed in the HV wall (52 percent). The rise test confirmed losses in the shunts themselves were also the tank tempera- reduced by about 24 percent. tures predicted by The design changes have a significant impact on the temperature obtained in 3-D analysis. the transformer tank. As illustrated in ➔ 9, the highest temperatures are located near were shortened and horizontal shunts the vertical edges of the embossments were introduced to protect regions where near the top of the tank. Previously ob- hotspots were predicted ➔ 7. served hotspots were eliminated.
Loss prophet 55 Electromagnetic 9 Temperature distribution for tank HV wall for the optimal model of investigated transformer simulations of Shaded Plot power transformers Temperature MAX have proven to be a very powerful tool applicable in MIN the development and design stages.
Test results During the final acceptance tests, the load losses came out within 1 percent of the losses estimated by the internal ABB tool. Final measured stray losses (the difference between measured load losses and estimated winding losses) were 5 percent above those calculated Janusz Duc by FEM analysis. ABB Corporate Research Cracow, Poland The temperature rise test confirmed the [email protected] tank temperatures predicted by 3-D anal- ysis. No excessive gasses in the oil were Bertrand Poulin reported as a result of the test, indicating ABB Transformers no local overheating inside the tank. Varennes, Canada [email protected] Power to the simulator Electromagnetic simulations of power Miguel Aguirre transformers have proven to be a very Pedro Gutierrez powerful tool applicable in the develop- ABB Transformers ment and design stages. Different al- Cordoba, Spain ternative shielding solutions could be [email protected] compared using FEM software and ap- [email protected] propriate numerical models. Stray losses were predicted accurately, well within the uncertainty of measurements. References [1] S. Magdaleno-Adame, et al., “Hot spots mitigation on tank wall of a power transformer The applied methodology of tank shunts using electromagnetic shields,” in Proceedings optimization is practical, inexpensive and ICEM, pp. 2235–2238, 2014. easy to follow. [2] J. Turowski, “Zjawiska elektrodynamiczne w ciałach ferromagnetycznych,” in Elektrodynami- ka techniczna, 3rd ed. Warszawa, Poland, Magneto-thermal coupled analysis pro- pp. 375, 2014. vides important information on the elec- [3] N. Takahashi, et al., “Optimal design of tank tromagnetic and thermal behavior of shield model of transformer,” IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 1089–1093, transformers. 2000. [4] D. Szary, et al., “Picture perfect. Electro To conclude, a design engineer would magnetic simulations of transformers,” have probably never dared to use this ABB Review 3/2013, pp. 39–43. [5] K. Preis, et al., “Thermal – electromagnetic shielding configuration without the in- coupling in the finite-element simulation of sight obtained from 3-D simulations. power transformer,” IEEE Transactions on Therefore, such an approach brings mul- Magnetics, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 999–1002, 2006. tiple benefits in terms of the opportunity [6] Y. Higuchi and M. Koizumi, “Integral equation method with surface impedance model for to run simulation tests of different solu- 3-D eddy current analysis in transformers,” tions and result in improved designs with IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, vol. 36, no. 4, lower stray losses and greater efficiency. pp. 774–779, 2000.
56 ABB review 4|16 Wind protection
Low-voltage switching ANTONIO FIDIGATTI, PAOLO BARONCELLI, MARCO CARMINATI, ENRICO RAGAINI – Wind turbines come in different designs, each with its own and protection strate- electrical behavior that needs a unique approach when it comes to switching and protection. A review of the three most common turbine gies in wind turbines designs reveals the important factors to be taken into consideration in the choice of switching and protection components.
Wind protection 57 1 Simplified diagram of wind turbine with a FSIG
Star-delta contactors
Capacitor battery Softstarter
Connection
Gearbox
Low-voltage/ medium-voltage Brake Asynchronous generator transformer
Pitch drive Rotor Wind turbine control bearing
Power production continuity components are operating in overload Power production continuity requires conditions. The aging effects of this high reliability during the entire lifetime of operational environment as well as the the wind turbine. The difficulty of physi- effects of frequent switching, salt air, cal intervention makes high reliability humidity, pollution, etc., must be taken ore than 150,000 wind tur- even more desirable. A good strategy into account in lifetime calculations. bines are currently installed here is to use components for their main worldwide. Over 90 percent function only (eg, circuit breakers for Compactness M of these generate electrical protection, contactors for switching, Further mechanical constraints are linked power at low voltages (≤ 1,000 V). etc.) rather than trying to squeeze sec- to the requirements for compactness ondary functions from them. Generous and low weight because of the limited Challenges for wind turbine tolerances are also protection and control obligatory. The electrical protection and control sys- Protection systems must work tems that are so critical to keeping wind Fault-disconnect turbines running safely present conflict- behavior in a wide range of electrical ing requirements related to conversion The need to guar- conditions while at the same efficiency, production continuity, fault antee linear behav- disconnect, climatic and mechanical ior even during net- time correctly and quickly constraints, compactness and the need work disturbances to reduce the effects of faults in the tight has led to the defi- discriminating between space inside the nacelle. nition of grid codes, compliance with normal and fault conditions. Conversion efficiency which is mandato- Wind speed and direction can change ry. In many cases, the control of reactive space available in the nacelle and the rapidly or the wind can drop altogether power flow under standard service con- need to minimize mechanical stresses on so the turbine’s mechanical and electri- ditions as well as under disturbed condi- the structure. These factors necessitate cal configuration must be capable of tions requires a high number of opera- trade-offs with the overdimensioning re- rapid adaption. This causes frequent op- tions by the connection devices of quired for high efficiency and service eration of control actuators (eg, for pitch capacitor banks and filters. continuity. adjustment), which, in turn, produces re- peated connection and disconnection of Climatic and mechanical constraints Faults in the nacelle the power circuit, with the attendant risk The environmental stresses suffered by a Faults in the nacelle are a particularly of component overheating. wind turbine can be severe: Vibrations critical issue: The protection and control can be of several millimeters’ amplitude system, besides preventing and limiting and thermal conditions can range from the catastrophic effects of faults in the Title picture below – 25 °C when heating and de-icing reduced space available, should ensure A critical factor in any wind turbine is the choice of switching and protection devices. How does turbine functions are switched off during inactiv- electrical transients do not damage the design influence this choice? ity to + 50 °C when power-dissipating valuable mechanical system (which rep-
58 ABB review 4|16 2 Requirements for switching/protection devices with FSIG A good strategy Main power circuit Main auxiliary circuit Load current (A) ≤ 1,800 ≤ 320 is to use compo- Voltage (V) ≤ 690 ≤ 690 Frequency (Hz) 50-60 50-60 nents for their Prospective short-circuit current (kA) ≤ 35 @ 690 V Induction motor or Type of load classification according to [2] Resistive main function transformer Presence of inrush current No Yes only rather than Life time (years) 20 20 trying to squeeze Number of mechanical operations with electrical isolation 100-1,000 < 1,000 from the voltage sources (maintenance or out of service) secondary func-
Number of generator-to-network or reconfiguration connect/ disconnect mechanical operations (or electrical operations 10,000-100,000 Not applicable tions from them. at low current)
< 100 (trips or < 100 (trips or Number of electrical operations emergency stop) emergency stop)
Protection against overload and short circuit Yes Yes
Circuit breaker plus Optimum solution Circuit breaker contactor
resents about 80 percent of the turbine − An asynchronous generator directly cost). This translates into several require- connected to the grid: fixed-speed ments that sometimes conflict with each induction generator (FSIG) other, such as: − An asynchronous generator with its − Avoid unwanted tripping but also rotor excited at a variable frequency, dangerous overvoltages. directly connected to the grid: doubly- − Operate rapidly to reduce mechanical fed induction generator (DFIG) stress and strain on the drivetrain, as − A permanent magnet synchronous (or well as fire risk. asynchronous) generator connected − Detect the small short-circuit current to the grid through a full-scale contribution from the generator. frequency converter (FSFC) − Correctly identify the faulty feeders on the auxiliary circuits after a noncritical Fixed-speed induction generator electrical fault in order to increase In the FSIG configuration, with a brush- power generation availability. less asynchronous generator directly − Limit the fault energy (and trip fast at connected to the grid, only very limited low current) in order to protect weak deviations from the synchronism speed components like the brushing system. are possible. Reactive power is, there- − Isolate faulty sections safely. fore, delivered by capacitor banks, the − Isolate safely during maintenance, switching of which is relatively frequent [1]. while providing the energy required by The start-up phases of the generator are the auxiliary systems. managed by a softstarter equipped with parallel-connected contactors, which are The key characteristics, then, for the closed once the steady state has been control and protection components are, reached. Star-delta connection to the in order of importance: winding(s) of the generator is generally − high switching reliability employed for the proper management of − reduced maintenance different wind regimes. Also, the genera- − compactness and reduced weight tor can have multiple poles to extend the − cost working range ➔ 1–2. This electrical con- figuration is simple and highly efficient, but: These four requirements are often in- – The reduced production speed range compatible with each other and trade-off is unsuitable for variable wind areas. choices regarding protection and switch- − A long-time overload condition has to ing have to be made. Optimal strategies be withstood, so the main circuit in this trade-off can be explored by ex- components have to be oversized. amining the three main wind turbine − The contactor-based step control on technologies: the capacitors could produce over- voltage effects; in many such cases
Wind protection 59 The aging effects 3 Simplified diagram of wind turbine with a DFIG of the operational Connection environment as well as the effects of frequent switch- Asynchronous generator ing, salt air, humid- with slip rings Gearbox ity, pollution, etc., Start-up Low-voltage/ circuit medium-voltage Brake transformer must be taken into Frequency converter AC DC account in lifetime Pitch Rotor drive DC AC calculations. bearing
Converter control
Wind turbine control
interaction with the softstarter could power to support the grid. In some cas- be problematic. es, star-delta connection to the genera- − The system is unable to follow fast grid tor is used for the proper management of perturbations without disconnection. different wind regimes with rotor current values optimized in term of slip-ring and Therefore, this configuration is only suit- brushing system life. The advantages able for small- to medium-sized wind tur- compared with constant speed turbines bine sizes that are installed on a network are: with a low wind energy produc- tion penetration The protection and control (< 5 percent). system should ensure electri- Doubly-fed cal transients do not damage induction generator the valuable mechanical sys- This configura- tion employs a tem – which represents about slip-ring induc- tion generator, 80 percent of the turbine cost. the rotor circuit of which is powered at a variable fre- − Variable-speed operation increases quency ➔ 3–4. Wider variations in the ro- kilowatt-hour production. tation speed of the system are possible − Utilization of a small converter, sized compared with the FSIG approach since at up to one-third of the nominal the excitation frequency of the rotor al- power, allows reactive power to be lows displacements from the synchro- supplied to the grid in normal and nism speed to be compensated for [1]. abnormal conditions with a good Generally, the excitation circuit, where voltage and power factor control. power can flow in both directions (Euro- − Total system efficiency is high. pean approach), is sized at 20 to 30 per- cent of the rating of the main circuit. The On the other hand, some disadvantages converter is used to control the genera- have to be considered: tor speed and power factor, allowing a − The direct connection between the wider speed range for power production grid and the generator transfers as well as the ability to feed reactive network perturbations to the mechan-
60 ABB review 4|16 4 Requirements for switching and protection devices with DFIG
Main power circuit Main excitation circuit Start-up circuit
Load current (A) ≤ 4,000 ≤ 630 ≤ 5 Voltage (V) ≤ 1,000 ≤ 690 ≤ 690 Frequency (Hz) 50-60 50-60 50-60
Prospective short-circuit current (kA) ≤ 30 @ 1,000 V ≤ 50 @ 690 V ≤ 50 @ 690 V © Andreas Varro © Andreas Type of load classification according to [2] Resistive Induction motor Induction motor
Presence of inrush current No No Yes Life time (years) 20 20 20
Number of mechanical operations (or electrical operations at low current) with electrical isolation from the voltage sources 100-1,000 < 1,000 Not applicable (maintenance or out of service)
Number of generator-to-network or reconfiguration connect/ disconnect mechanical operations (or electrical operations at low 10,000-100,000 1,000-10,000 Not applicable current) with electrical isolation from the voltage sources
Number of electrical operations < 100 (trips or emergency stop) < 100 (trips or emergency stop) < 10,000 (excitation circuit insertion)
Protection against overload and short circuit Yes Yes Yes
Circuit breaker if < 1 operation/ Circuit breaker coordinated with Optimum solution day or circuit breaker plus contactor in parallel with the Circuit breaker plus contactor contactor if more* start-up circuit
* The speed of wind turbine generators is more often in the lower range than in the rated range, resulting in frequent switching on and off at typically 2,000-5,000 cycles per year (depending on wind turbine generator type), which makes contactors the best technical solution
ical drive chain, reducing the ability of In the FSFC configuration, circuit break- the system to stay connected. ers are often employed for multiple pur- Equipment has to − The slip-ring brush rotor is a high- poses: maintenance weak point. − To safely disconnect and isolate for be compact and normal operation or maintenance. Full-scale frequency converter − To protect: In a fault involving the light because of With an FSFC design, rotation speed inverter or the sections between the space constraints may vary over a wide range because fre- generator and the inverter (eg, cable quency variations can be compensated connection section), the circuit and the need to for by a drive placed between generator breaker is the only device able to and network [1]. In the full converter con- detect safely the short circuit and minimize mechani- cept, the converter decouples the gen- disconnect from the power source. cal stresses on the erator and the mechanical drivetrain from This requires protection releases (trip the grid ➔ 5–6. All the generated power units) specifically designed for structure. flows through the converter to the grid. variable-frequency operation that can The converter provides generator torque work in the specified environmental and speed control. There are three main conditions. full converter concepts: high-speed, me- − The circuit breaker provides generator dium-speed and low-speed. These use disconnection redundancy. use different gearbox and generator so- lutions. The advantages of an FSFC Breaking news design compared to constant-speed tur- A choice of switching and protection bines are: components appropriate to a particular − There is no direct electrical connec- wind turbine design is essential for tion between generator and grid. This smooth operation and the minimization reduces mechanical shocks on the of the effects of faults. turbine during grid faults and increas- es grid code compliance. The protection of wind turbines and oth- − A full speed range is enabled with er renewable generators is an area of in- increased annual power yield. tense research and development in − Full control of active power is pos- which ABB is heavily involved. In recent sible, with full reactive power produc- years, ABB has released a series of solu- tion. tions that protect plants with variable fre- quency in the wind, mini-hydroelectric, wave and traction power sectors – a prominent example of which is the Tmax
Wind protection 61 VF and Emax VF circuit breakers that can 5 Simplified diagram of wind turbine with FSFC operate in the range from 1 to 200 Hz.
Converter control The major benefits of this new range of Variable frequency Constant frequency AC DC circuit breakers for variable frequency applications are: Compatibility with all DC AC types of generators – even in overspeed conditions – thanks to the high rated voltage of the circuit breakers (up to 1,000 V); standardization of switchboard Frequency Low-voltage/ converter design, regardless of the end market; medium-voltage transformer Brake and optimization of stock management thanks to dual IEC/UL circuit breaker marking. This new family of trip units, to- gether with optimized current sensors, Pitch drive Gearbox ensures high-precision protection over an extended frequency range. Whilst im- Rotor bearing Wind turbine control proved arcing chamber and contacts guarantee high breaking capacity over the whole frequency range, the dimen- sions are the same as standard circuit 6 Requirements for switching/protection devices with FSFC breakers.
Main power circuit Main power circuit on the variable- Main auxiliary circuit Developments in protection and switch- on the grid side frequency side ing devices are ongoing – for example, to harness the power of the Internet and 5,000 or n x 5,000 or n x Load current (A) ≤ ≤ 250 700-1,600 700-1,600 ≤ the cloud to allow remote optimized power control at any time and from any-
Voltage (V) ≤ 1,000 ≤ 690 ≤ 690 where.
Frequency (Hz) 1-16, 30-80, 40-140 50-60 50-60 This article is based on the following IEEE paper: A. Fidigatti, P. Baroncelli, M. Carminati and E. Ragaini, “Selection of low voltage switching and protection Prospective short-circuit current (kA) ≤ 15 @ 1,000 V* ≤ 50 @ 690 V devices in wind power generators,” Industry Applica-
Type of load classification tions Society Annual Meeting (IAS), © 2011 IEEE, Resistive Resistive Induction motor according to [2] Orlando, FL, 2011, pp. 1–5.
Presence of inrush current No No Yes
Life time (years) 20 20 20
Number of mechanical operations (or electrical operations at low current) with 100-1,000 < 1,000 < 1,000 electrical isolation from the voltage sources (maintenance or out of service)
Number of generator-to-network or Not available (in Antonio Fidigatti reconfiguration connect/disconnect 1,000 - 100,000 general, the generator mechanical operations (or electrical (according to the Not applicable Paolo Baroncelli remains connected to operations at low current) with electrical control strategies) the drive) Marco Carminati isolation from the voltage sources Enrico Ragaini
< 100 (trips or < 100 (trips or < 100 (trips or ABB Electrification Products Number of electrical operations emergency stop) emergency stop) emergency stop) Bergamo, Italy [email protected] Protection against overload or short Yes Yes Yes [email protected] circuit [email protected] [email protected] Circuit breaker if protection is required for connection cables Circuit breaker if < 1 or inverter switch. operation/day or Optimum solution Circuit breaker Switch disconnector circuit breaker plus References and external contactor if more [1] Wind Power Plants, ABB Technical Application protection system is Paper No. 13, document number present. 1SDC007112G0201 in the ABB Library. [2] Low-voltage switchgear and control gear
* Depending on the power and the configuration of the plant – Part 1: General rules, IEC Standard 60947-1, 2014.
62 ABB review 4|16 Arc angel
Arc flash prevention measures increase safety
PAVLO TKACHENKO, ANDREAS VON LAKO – An arc flash is Guard System™ that has been protecting people and one of the most serious incidents that can occur in an electrical equipment from dangerous electrical arcs for electrical installation. Arc-flash temperatures can reach over 35 years. The TVOC-2-48 now makes the Arc Guard 20,000 ºC and the energy and shrapnel produced in the System available for equipment in the 24 to 48 V DC arc blast can cause death, injury and serious damage. range. In addition to Arc Guard, rigorous testing accord- Normal short-circuit measures are too slow to protect ing to the guidelines contained in the IEC 61641 Technical against arcing events like this. ABB has released a new Report further ensures the safety of ABB electrical version of its well-established 110 to 240 V AC/DC Arc cabinets under conditions of internal arcing.
Arc angel 63 1 Usual short-circuit protection methods are much too slow to prevent arcing events
Overload protection
Short-circuit protection
with time delay
Instantaneous
> 1 s short-circuit protection Time (s) 50 - 200 ms
15 ms
With arc Without arc Current (A)
by a factor of 67,000:1 when changing ago, developed its Arc Guard System – from a solid to a vapor (water: 40,000:1) a product that significantly reduces the and the molten metal and shrapnel pro- damage resulting from an arcing acci- duced by the arc can reach velocities of dent by quickly disconnecting the 1,600 km/h. An intense, high-energy ra- switchgear, with the help of the installed diation with a temperature of up to breaker, after an arcing fault. The latest 20,000 C is produced that is capable of ABB Arc Guard System TVOC-2-48 ex- vaporizing nearby materials. This radia- tends the operating regime of the prod- tion can also be absorbed by metal ob- uct from 110 to 240 V AC/DC to the jects worn by people in the vicinity, heat- 24 to 48 V DC range. ing the objects and causing severe burns to the wearer. Arc Guard employs light sensors that de- hough rare, an arc flash is an tect the start of the arc flash ➔ 2. On de- extremely serious and dramatic A full 65 percent of switchgear arc flash tection, a signal is sent directly to the event. An arc flash is the heat incidents occur with an operator working breaker trip mechanism. The total time T and light produced by an arc on the equipment. from detection to trip signal being sent is caused by a fault in electrical equipment. less than 1 ms and, with a modern break- Most arc flashes arise from human error Because fatalities and serious injury are er, the entire disconnect sequence can – eg, conducting materials inadvertently often classified as burn victims by hospi- be reduced to under 50 ms. left in assemblies during manufacture, in- tals, statistics on stallation or maintenance; faults in mate- arc flash casu- rials or workmanship; failure to put mea- alties are hard to Arc Guard employs light sures in place to exclude the entry of come by. How- small animals such as mice, snakes, ever, even one sensors that detect the start etc.; use of an incorrect assembly for the arc flashincident of the arc flash and send a application, resulting in overheating and, is one too many. subsequently, an internal arcing fault; in- signal via a fiber optic cable appropriate operating conditions; incor- In incidents that rect operation; or lack of maintenance. lead to arc flash, directly to the breaker trip the usual meth- mechanism. Arc flashes can produce earsplitting ods of short-cir- noises that surpass 160 dB; the United cuit protection is States OSHA (Occupational Safety and inadequate. This is because the arc itself Fiber optic communication is used not Health Administration) limit is 115 dB for acts as a resistor that limits the overcur- only for its speed but also because it is a maximum of 15 mins. Copper expands rent. This, in many cases, will lead to such immune to the EMI that may be present, a delay that by the time the load protec- especially in the event of an electrical Title picture tion kicks in, it is far too late ➔ 1. fault. This also means that cables can be ABB’s Arc Guard System TVOC-2-48 extends arc retrofitted without concern about cross- flash protection to the 24 to 48 V DC range. Arc Guard talk or electrical conductivity safety issues. Electrical cabinet safety is further enhanced by following the guidelines contained the IEC 61641 ABB has long recognized the hazards of Technical Report. arcing accidents and, nearly 40 years
64 ABB review 4|16 2 The system can be equipped with maximum of 30 sensors per main unit The new ABB Arc Guard System TVOC-2-48 ex- tends the operat- ing regime of the product from 110 to 240 V AC/DC to the 24 to 48 V DC range.
Up to 10 light sensors can be connected of low-voltage switchgear and control- to one Arc Guard System TVOC-2. Also, gear assemblies. The main objective of two extension units with additional 10 these standards is to achieve safe oper- sensors each can be connected and ation under normal operating conditions TVOC-2 units can share current sensing as well as under abnormal operating information. Sensors are calibrated to conditions, eg, occurrence of overvolt- have equal light sensitivity and their posi- age, overload or short-circuit currents. tioning is not critical as their fish-eye lens However, no requirements are set out design can observe a large angle. Over- dealing with the case of an arc fault in- all, the system is very easy to install. side the assembly.
To avoid false tripping due to camera flashes or sunlight, the arc monitor can ABB has long since be combined with a current sensor and set to activate only when an overcurrent recognized the is also registered. hazards of arcing The Arc Guard System ensures the safety accidents and, of personnel even when the cabinet door is open and a functional safety SIL-2 nearly 40 years classification makes the TVOC-2 one of ago, developed its the most reliable arc mitigation products available on the market. Arc Guard System.
Because they reduce downtime cost and damage, some insurance companies Instead, manufacturers turn for guidance recommend the use of such systems to IEC Technical Report 61641, officially and may take this into account when set- titled, “Enclosed low-voltage switchgear ting premiums. Also, many countries leg- and controlgear assemblies – Guide for islate for protection against arcing acci- testing under conditions of arcing due to dents and regulations such as The Low internal fault.” This is not a standard, but Voltage Directive of the European Union a technical report and is not a compul- stipulate that measures to prevent dam- sory test. The criteria it uses to assess age by excessive heat, caused by arc the protection afforded by the assembly flashes, for example, are to be taken. are: 1. During an arcing event, correctly System pro E power secured doors and covers do not The IEC 61439 series of standards sets open and remain effectively in place, out rules and requirements for interface and provide a minimum level of characteristics, service conditions, con- protection in accordance with the struction, performance and verification requirements of IP1X of IEC 60529.
Arc angel 65 IEC TR 61641, ABB’s System pro E pow- Fiber optic communication is used not er has arcing class B classification, ie, under arcing conditions, criteria 1 to 6 only for its speed, but also because it is are fulfilled. The addition of the TVOC-2 immune to the EMI that may be present, Arc Guard allows all criteria up to and in- cluding 7 to be achieved. especially in the event of an electrical Arc flashes pose a serious hazard to per- fault. sonnel and equipment in electrical instal- lations. However, using a well-designed and well-tested switchboard solution such as the ABB System pro E power, and a fast and effective arc mitigation product such as the Arc Guard System, the danger of arc flash can be reduced to a minimum. This criterion minimizes the risk of 6. The assembly is capable of confining severe injury to persons by impact the arc to the defined area where it from doors, covers, etc. and ensures was initiated, and there is no propa- a minimum level of protection for gation of the arc to other areas within persons against accidental contact the assembly. Effects of hot gases with hazardous live parts. and sooting on adjacent units other 2. No parts of the assembly are ejected than the unit under test are accept- that have a mass of more than 60 g able, as long as only cleaning is except those that are dislodged and necessary. fall between the assembly and the 7. After the clearing of the fault, or after indicators. This minimizes the risk to isolation or disassembly of the persons from ejecta. affected functional units in the defined area, emergency operation of the remaining assembly is possible. This By using the is verified by a dielectric test accord- ing to IEC 61439-2:2011, 10.9.2, but ABB System pro with a test voltage of 1.5 times the E power switch- rated operational voltage for 1 min. Bending or bowing of doors and board solution and covers of the unit under test and adjacent units is acceptable providing the Arc Guard the unit can be readily restored to a minimum level of protection in System, the danger accordance with IPXXB of IEC 60529. of arc flash can With the exception of the tested zone as declared by the manufacturer, all be reduced to a other units should remain fully operable both mechanically and minimum. electrically and remain essentially in the same condition as before the test. 3. Arcing does not cause holes to develop in the external parts of the Personnel protection is achieved when enclosure below 2 m, at the sides the criteria 1 to 5, above, are fulfilled; declared to be accessible, as a result personnel and assembly protection is of burning or other effects. This mini- achieved when criteria 1 to 6 are fulfilled; mizes the risk of severe injury to per- and personnel and assembly protection sons by direct burning from the arc. with limited operation capability is Pavlo Tkachenko 4. The indicators do not ignite (indica- achieved when criteria 1 to 7 are fulfilled. ABB Electrification Products tors ignited as a result of paint or Bergamo, Italy stickers burning are excluded from System pro E power is ABB’s main distri- [email protected] this assessment). bution switchboard solution. With rated 5. The protective circuit for the acces- current up to 6,300 A and short-circuit Andreas von Lako sible part of the enclosure is still current up to 120 kA, System pro E pow- ABB Electrification Products effective in accordance with er complies with the test requirements Västerås, Sweden IEC 61439-2. IEC TR 61641. In the official language of [email protected]
66 ABB review 4|16 Mirror effect
Switching the subject
UMAMAHESWARA VEMULAPATI, MUNAF RAHIMO, MARTIN ARNOLD, TOBIAS A look at recent WIKSTRÖM, JAN VOBECKY, BJÖRN BACKLUND, THOMAS STIASNY – In the advances in mid-1990s, ABB introduced a new member of the power electronics family – the integrated-gate commutated thyristor (IGCT). Like the gate IGCT technologies turn-off thyristor (GTO) from which it evolved, the IGCT is a fully control- lable semiconductor switch that can handle the high currents and for high-power voltages prevalent in high-power electronics applications. The IGCT has a better performance than the GTO regarding turn-off time, size, the electronics degree of integration, power density, etc. and this superiority has helped it become the device of choice for industrial medium-voltage drives (MVDs). It has also found use in many other applications such as wind-power conversion, STATCOMs and interties. IGCT technology development has made rapid progress over the past decade.
Switching the subject 67 1 IGCT device
Cathode Cathode Gate n+ n+ p
n –
n p+
Anode
1a Schematic cross-section of an asymmetric 1b Top view of a 91 mm IGCT wafer IGCT
creases have come from achieving lower losses and/or higher operating tempera- tures, chiefly enabled by an increased device safe operation area (SOA) that allows higher turn-off current. Absolute power has been increased by enlarging the state-of-the-art 91 mm diameter wa- fer to 150 mm and integration concepts 1c The IGCT wafer in a hermetic package and that provide full functionality with a single with its integrated gate unit wafer device instead of employing two devices (IGCT and diode).
n many ways, an IGCT is similar to a parallel diode to conduct currents in Increased margins: high-power technology GTO. Like the GTO, the IGCT is ba- the reverse direction. Asymmetric The main limiting factor in conventional sically a switch that is turned on and IGCTs have the highest power level IGCTs relates to the maximum control- I off by a gate signal. However, IGCTs for a given wafer size. lable turn-off current capability and not have advantages over GTOs: They can − RC-IGCTs have a diode integrated losses or thermal constraints. Therefore, withstand higher rates of voltage rise (so into the same GCT wafer to conduct the introduction of the high-power tech- no snubber circuit is needed); conduc- currents in the reverse direction, but nology (HPT) platform [2] has been hailed tion losses are lower; turn-off times are this uses wafer area that could as a major step forward in improving IGCT faster and more controllable; cell size on otherwise be the silicon wafer is smaller; and the solid used for gate connection used by IGCTs results in switching The hermetic press-pack lower inductance. Furthermore, the IGCT function drive circuit is integrated into the pack- capacity. design of the IGCT has for years age [1] ➔ 1. − Symmetrical IGCTs are proven its reliability in the field. In the past couple of decades, IGCTs inherently have become ubiquitous in high-power able to block reverse voltages, but SOA performance while providing an en- electronics and are now available in volt- conduct currents only in the forward abling platform for future development. age ratings ranging from 4.5 kV to 6.5 kV direction. and in three main types: asymmetric, An HPT-IGCT gives an increase in the reverse-conducting (RC-IGCT) and sym- The hermetic press-pack design of the maximum turn-off current of up to 40 per- metric or reverse-blocking (RB-IGCT). IGCT has for years proven its reliability in cent at 125 °C. HPT-IGCTs incorporate − Asymmetric IGCTs cannot block the field with respect to power semicon- an advanced corrugated p-base design reverse voltages of more than a few ductor device protection and load cycling – compared with a standard uniform tens of volts. Consequently, they are capability. Consisting of a few layers of p-base junction – that ensures controlled used where such a voltage would well-designed materials there are no is- and uniform dynamic avalanche operation never occur – for example, in a sues with solder voids or bond liftoff, as is with better homogeneity over the diame- switching power supply – or are experienced by other technologies. ter of the wafer during device turn-off ➔ 3. equipped with an appropriate anti- The HPT has been proven for IGCT prod- IGCT performance trends ucts with voltage ratings of up to 6.5 kV. In the past ten years, IGCT technology In tests, 91 mm, 4.5 kV HPT-IGCTs have Title picture has seen major advances, especially turned off currents in excess of 5 kA, with- The invention of IGCTs has changed the rules in the power electronics landscape. Pictured is an regarding lower conduction losses and standing extreme conditions with a large ABB IGCT with gate unit. higher power densities ➔ 2. Power in- stray inductance.
68 ABB review 4|16 2 IGCT development trends for achieving lower losses and/or higher 3 Experimental results of the HPT-IGCT maximum controllable power handling capabilities turn-off current capability against a standard IGCT
8
VDC = 2,8 kV, Ls = 300 nH Larger area Integration 7 Cathode diode Gate Gate + Corrugated p-base GCT n 6 p Absolute 150 mm RC-IGCT BGCT n – Increasing device power RB-IGCT 10 kV IGCT Density + Reduced losses 5 n p Increased margins – (safe operation area) n
Maximum turn-off current (kA) Maximum turn-off current 4 HPT-IGCT
Improved thermal Standard IGCT High-temperature IGCT Low-loss IGCT (~1 V on-state) Low-voltage IGCT (2.5 kV-3.3 kV) 3 Concept variants of GCT HPT/HPT+ IGCT 0 50 100 150 Temperature (ºC)
4 91 mm, 10 kV IGCT and its measured turn-off waveforms at 3.3 kA, 5.5 kV and 125 °C In the past ten 8 years, IGCT tech- 7 nology has seen 6 Voltage
5 major advances, Current
4 especially regard- 3 ing lower conduc- Voltage (kV) Current (kA) (kV) Current Voltage 2 tion losses and 1
0 higher power 0 2 4 6 8 10 Time (µs) densities.
Integration: RB-IGCT Integration: high voltage ratings (10 kV IGCT) can be a valid option and the HPT-IGCT In some cases – such as with a solid-state It would be possible to make a three- can be improved to accommodate this. DC breaker, in AC applications or in cur- level inverter without series connection Accordingly, the corrugated p-base dop- rent source inverters (CSIs) – a symmetri- for line voltages of 6 to 6.9 kV if IGCTs ing profile was further optimized to al- cal blocking switching device is required. with a voltage rating in the range of low a full SOA in the whole temperature Although this could be accomplished by 8.5 to 10 kV were available. Such a range up to 140 °C. Also, the internal in- using an asymmetric IGCT connected device offers simple mechanical design, terfaces, such as the metallization on the in series with a fast diode, the preferred less control complexity and high reliabili- wafer, were improved to reach a higher solution is a symmetric IGCT in a single ty compared with the series connection thermomechanical wear resistance. The wafer. Since the required performance and of two 4.5 or 5.5 kV devices for line volt- verification of these improvements has some modes of operation are different ages of 6 to 6.9 kV. To prove the feasibil- started and the first results look promis- from other IGCTs, device design optimi- ity of this approach, devices rated at ing. Also, this so-called HPT+ technology zation is needed to achieve the reverse- 10 kV have been manufactured using the has a clearly improved technology curve blocking performance along with low HPT platform and the concept has been compared with HPT-IGCT due to its opti- losses and robust switching performance. shown to work [4] ➔ 4. mized corrugated p-base design [5]. Both 6.5 kV RB-IGCTs for CSI applica- tions and 2.5 kV RB-IGCTs for bi-direc- Improved thermal performance: Reduced conduction losses: tional DC breaker applications have been high-temperature IGCT (HPT+) toward a 1 V on-state, 3.3 kV IGCT developed. A 91 mm, 2.5 kV RB-IGCT, for One way to increase the output power In recent years, there has been a clear example, has been demonstrated with an of an existing converter design is to in- trend toward using multilevel topologies on-state voltage drop as low as 0.9 V at crease the temperature rating of the in many power electronics applications. rated current (1 kA) at 125 °C and a maxi- power semiconductor device used. For Such products often operate at fairly low mum controllable turn-off current capabil- continuous operation, however, the cool- switching frequencies but at the same ity up to 6.8 kA at 1.6 kV, 125 °C [3]. ing system capabilities may limit this in- time require high current-carrying capa- crease. For intermittent high-power op- bilities and/or high efficiency. Due to its eration, though, a temperature increase inherent low-conduction-loss thyristor
Switching the subject 69 5 IGCT anodic engineering
Cathode Cathode Gate 40 n+ n+ p 6.5 kV IGCT @ 1.5 kA, 3.6 kV 35 4.5 kV IGCT @ 2.0 kA, 2.8 kV
n – 3.3 kV IGCT @ 2.5 kA, 1.8 kV 30 n 2.5 kV IGCT @ 3.0 kA, 1.3 kV
p+ 25 Anode
20
5a IGCT structure (I) Eoff
15
Anode engineering 10 Carrier density Very slow
slow 5 standard p Concentration + n Fast + n p 0 n – 1,0 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,4 1,5 Cathode Anode VT (V)
5b IGCT doping and anode engineering carrier 5c Technology curves of different voltage class 91 mm IGCTs at 125 °C achieved through anode profiles along the section a’–a engineering
properties and hard-switched functional- first 150 mm, 4.5 kV RC-IGCT prototypes Power increases ity, the IGCT is predestined for these ap- based on HPT+ technology have recent- plications. Therefore, further optimization ly been manufactured. With these devic- have come from is required to achieve very low on-state es, it will be possible to make three-level voltages (~1 V) through anode engineer- inverters up to about 20 MW without the achieving lower ing while maintaining good overall perfor- need for series or parallel connection of losses and/or high- mance ➔ 5. power semiconductor devices [8] ➔ 6.
er operating tem- Since there is a certain amount of free- Future trend: Full integration with dom in selecting the device voltage for bi-mode gate-commutated thyristor peratures, chiefly a multilevel system, a number of simu- The conventional RC-IGCT enables better enabled by an lations and experiments have been component integration in terms of pro- performed for a wide range of voltage cess and reduced parts count at the sys- increased device classes to see what performance can tem level, and therefore improved reli- be achieved [6]. The available results are ability. As explained above, in an RC-IGCT SOA that allows summarized in ➔ 5 and give input to the the GCT and diode are integrated into higher turn-off designers of multilevel converters to see a single wafer, but they are fully sepa how the systems can be optimized with rated from each other as shown in ➔ 2. current. respect to the minimum total inverter Consequently, in the RC-IGCT, the utili- losses for a given topology, voltage rat- zation of the silicon area is limited in the ing and current rating. GCT region when operating in GCT mode and in the diode region when operating Furthermore, first prototype samples of in the diode mode. Therefore, a new fully 3.3 kV RC-IGCTs were manufactured to integrated device concept (interdigitated verify the simulation results. Three differ- integration) was developed that resulted ent anode injection trials were carried in the bi-mode gate-commutated thyris- out (A1, A2 and A3) to ensure the poten- tor (BGCT), which integrates IGCT and tial of 3.3 kV RC-IGCTs to achieve very diode into a single structure while utiliz- low conduction losses even at higher cur- ing the same silicon volume in both GCT rents with reasonable switching losses [7]. and diode modes [9] ➔ 7. Each segment acts either as GCT cathode or diode Larger area: 150 mm RC-IGCT anode. The quest for ever-greater power ratings makes larger silicon diameters inevitable. This interdigitated integration results not Compared with the previous technology, only in better usage of the diode and HPT has an improved scalability that GCT areas but also better thermal distri- enables the design of devices beyond bution, softer reverse recovery and lower the standard 91 mm wafer size. The leakage current compared with conven-
70 ABB review 4|16 6 150 mm, 4.5 kV RC-IGCT and its measured turn-off waveforms at 9.5 kA, 2.8 kV and 125 °C
10
9
8
7 Umamaheswara Vemulapati
6 ABB Corporate Research Baden-Dättwil, Switzerland 5 [email protected]
4
Voltage (kV) Current (kA) (kV) Current Voltage Munaf Rahimo 3 Tobias Wikström Voltage
2 Jan Vobecky Current
Björn Backlund 1 Thomas Stiasny 0 ABB Semiconductors 2 2 4 6 8 10 Time (µs) Lenzburg, Switzerland [email protected] [email protected] 7 Schematic cross-section of the BGCT and fabricated 38 mm and 91 mm, 4.5 kV BGCT [email protected] prototypes [email protected] [email protected] Separation region Gate
GCT cathode Diode anode Martin Arnold – former ABB employee n+ n+ n+ n+ n+ n+ n+ p p p p p
References n – [1] Klaka, S., et al., “The Integrated Gate Commutated Thyristor: A new high efficiency, n high power switch for series or snubberless p+ n+ p+ n+ p+ operation,” Proceedings PCIM Europe, GCT anode Diode cathode Nürnberg, 1997. [2] Wikström, T., et al., “The Corrugated P-Base IGCT – a New Benchmark for Large Area SQA Scaling,” Proceedings ISPSD, Jeju, Korea, GCT 2007, pp. 29–32. segments [3] Vemulapati, U., et al., “Reverse blocking IGCT Gate optimised for 1 kV DC bi-directional solid state Diode segments circuit breaker,” IET Power Electronics, Vol. 8, Issue. 12, 2015, pp. 2308–2314. [4] Nistor, I., et al., “10 kV HPT IGCT rated at 38 mm, BGCT top view 91 mm, BGCT top view 3200A, a new milestone in high power semiconductors,” Proceedings PCIM Europe, Stuttgart, Germany, 2010, pp. 467–471. [5] Arnold, M., et al., “High temperature operation of HPT+ IGCTs,” Proceedings PCIM Europe, prototypes [10] and the results confirm Nürnberg, Germany, 2011. the potential advantages of the BGCT [6] Rahimo, M., et al., “Optimization of High-Volt- The introduction of age IGCTs towards 1V On-State Losses,” over conventional RC-IGCT. Proceedings PCIM Europe, Nürnberg, the HPT platform Germany, 2013, pp. 613–620. This review of recently introduced IGCT [7] Vemulapati, U., et al., “3.3 kV RC-IGCTs has been hailed as technologies with improved performance optimized for multilevel topologies,” Proceed- ings PCIM Europe, Nürnberg, Germany, 2014, and functionalities provides only a glimpse a major step for- pp. 362–69. of the promising field of IGCT technology. [8] Wikström, T., et al., “The 150 mm RC IGCT: ward in improving Power electronics systems designers face a device for the highest power requirements,” an exciting future of further device im- Proceedings ISPSD, Waikoloa, HI, 2014, pp. 91–94. IGCT SOA perfor- provements, with the prospect of devic- [9] Vemulapati, et al., “The concept of Bi-mode mance. es with even higher operational tempera- Gate-Commutated Thyristor – a new type of tures, even better reverse blocking and reverse-conducting IGCT,” Proceedings reverse conducting functionalities, lower ISPSD, Bruges, 2012, pp. 29–32. tional RC-IGCTs. The BGCT concept has losses delivered by a 1 V on-state, a wider [10] Stiasny, T., et al., “Experimental results of a large area (91 mm) 4.5 kV ‘Bi-mode Gate been demonstrated experimentally with range of voltage ratings and larger areas Commutated Thyristor’ (BGCT),” Proc. PCIM 38 mm, 4.5 kV as well as 91 mm, 4.5 kV up to 150 mm and beyond. Europe, Nürnberg, Germany, 2016.
Switching the subject 71 Grid4EU
Laying the groundwork for the development of tomorrow’s electricity grids
GUNNAR BJÖRKMAN, PETER NOGLIK, ERIK HAMRIN, JIRI Running from November 2011 to January 2016, the project NEDOMLEL – Grid4EU was an innovative, smart grids project adopted a systematic approach to testing, in real size, some proposed by a group of six European distribution system innovative concepts and technologies. It aimed to highlight operators (DSOs) and carried out in close partnership with and help overcome some of the barriers – whether they be a set of electricity retailers, manufacturers and research technical, economic, societal, environmental or regulatory organizations. – to smart grids deployment.
72 ABB review 4|16 1 Project participants
with wide replication and scalability po- − In Europe, the technical, economical, tential” and its ultimate goal was to test societal and regulatory contexts for the potential for smart grids in Europe distribution grids vary significantly from and lay the foundations for large-scale country to country. roll-out of smart grid technology. The following provides a technical descrip- During the project, each of the six DSOs tion of the three demonstrators in which worked with partners to evaluate the real- ABB was involved. In addition, three other rowing penetration of renew- life performance of different smart grid tech- demonstrators were undertaken – under ables across Europe’s distri- nologies in a variety of climates, grid topolo- the leadership of Iberdrola, ENEL and bution grid over the past few gies, population densities and regulatory ERDF – in which other technological aspects G decades has led to growing conditions but also to assess issues like were implemented. In addition, the proj- challenges in maintaining the stability scalability, replicability and cost benefits. ect included a number of general work and reliability of the grid. Looking ahead, packages where issues like scalability, the European Commission (EC) has a The project adopted a systemic approach replicability and cost benefits were inves- goal to meet at least 40 percent of the to test, in real life and size, how DSOs tigated. For more information on these, continent’s demand for electrical power can dynamically with renewables by 2030. To achieve this manage elec- ambitious target, DSOs will need to tricity supply and The EC brought together make major changes to the way they run demand. Such their networks. control is cru- six major DSOs along with cial for the inte- 21 specialist technology firms Recognizing this, the EC brought togeth- gration of large er six major DSOs along with 21 special- amounts of re- and academic partners under ist technology firms and academic part- newable energy ners under the Grid4EU project. It was and empowers the Grid4EU project. the largest smart grid project funded by consumers to the EC to date and one in which ABB become active participants in their ener- and details of the ABB demonstrations and played a major role as an equipment pro- gy choices. Ultimately, tested solutions the general work packages, please refer vider and system developer. Grid4EU is should increase the network’s efficiency, to the Grid4EU website (www.grid4eu.eu) shorthand for a “large-scale demonstra- reliability, flexibility, and resilience ➔ 1. and the Grid4EU Final Report. tion of advanced smart grid solutions The project was structured to take into Demonstrator 1 account the following limitations: The principle behind Demonstrator 1 was Title picture − Existing networks consist of long-life that by increasing automation on the medium- The Grid4EU project helped the participants better understand the challenges associated with the assets and equipment that cannot be voltage (MV) network, the grid will be able future evolution of the European power grid. removed or easily upgraded. to reconfigure itself to optimize operations.
Grid4EU 73 The project adopt- 2 Project topography ed a systemic approach to test, in real life and size, how system opera- tors can dynami- cally manage elec- Switching module tricity supply and Control center demand. Local communication Loads (household, industry ...)
Decentralized energy resources (DER)
Demonstrator 1 was led by RWE In this demonstration, ABB was respon- Deutschland AG with the support of ABB sible for developing the secondary equip- and the Technical University of Dortmund ment and providing a secured communi- (TU Dortmund). The objectives were: cation. As a basic component, the remote − To improve automation on the MV grid terminal unit (RTU) RTU540 family was while enabling growth of distributed used, supported by the measurement energy resources (DERs) units 560CVD11 and 560CVD03 ➔ 3. − To achieve higher reliability on the grid through faster recovery from outages These modules were built into several while avoiding overloads and main- types of secondary substation, beginning taining voltage stability with a new compact station over a walk- − To reduce network losses in station using special cabinets contain- ing the switchgear ➔ 4. The corresponding Demonstrator 1 was located in Reken, a lean control center, in the primary substa- small city in North Rhine-Westphalia that tions, consists of five RTU560CMU05s in was selected because the renewable en- a rack configuration. ergy generation there already exceeds the maximum load by around 20 percent, The software for the MMS was devel- with further growth in renewables ex- oped – with support from ABB – by the pected. Also, there was very little moni- TU Dortmund. To be as flexible as pos- toring or automation already in place. sible, the whole software was pro- Together, these aspects made Reken grammed using a programmable logic typical of the issues faced by many grid controller (PLC). One important aspect of operators across Europe. the development was that the functional- ity had to be tested before first tests The basic idea of the project was to extend were carried out in the field. Therefore, a the automation level of the MV networks “hardware-in-the-loop” simulation was based on an autonomously acting multi- established containing the same number module system (MMS). In this scheme, of modules as in the field and connected decentralized modules provide measured to a complete grid simulation. values and a forecast of the load situa- tion for the next few hours. Some of First results showed that the MMS can these modules are equipped with switch- delay the expansion of the Reken grid for ing gear. The central module, in primary a minimum of three to four years, and re- substations, collects all needed data and duce the losses by 28 percent. Due to generates switching actions to move the these positive results, RWE is consider- sectioning point to fulfill the objectives. ing a second installation of the MMS. The possibility of autonomous switching allows dynamic topology reconfiguration, which is a new concept of operation ➔ 2.
74 ABB review 4|16 3 Standard RTU module First results showed that the MMS can delay the expansion of the Reken grid for a minimum of three to four years, and reduce the losses by 28 percent.
Demonstrator 2 identifying the functionality that was of The main focus of Demonstrator 2, led highest interest to them ➔ 5. Among by Vattenfall, was to improve the moni- these functions, the outage detection toring of a low-voltage (LV) network. To function that provides data on the status do this, the solution uses the ABB of stations, groups and even the individ- MicroSCADA Pro platform with the ABB ual phases of the groups in a substation, DMS600 and the ABB SYS600 Historian. is notable ➔ 6. Functionality to compare This software stack collects and displays energy billed with energy supplied and a data from RTUs located in secondary basic framework for power quality data substations as well as from smart meters evaluation is also provided. on customer premises. With Demonstrator 2, the partners proved Combining this information, the system that it is possible to develop and deliver can provide functionalities such as power cost-efficient tools for LV network moni- quality reporting, outage detection, and toring. The cost/benefit analysis per- evaluation of technical and non-technical formed by the DSO shows that the sys- losses. The system also has the possibil- tem actively helps reduce the system ity to include customer meter notifica- average interruption duration index (SAIDI) tions in the DMS600, making it possible values for the DSO by 5 to 12 percent. for operators to get instant information about incidents at customer sites. The The findings of Demonstrator 2 will form RTUs communicate with built-in GPRS a basis for ABB’s involvement in the up- modems and use the IEC 60870-5-104 coming smart grid project, Upgrid, and protocol to send data to the control center. will contribute to ABB’s grid automation portfolio in Sweden. During the demonstration, over 100 sta- tions were retrofitted with ABB’s RTU Demonstrator 5 cabinets. They have been designed to be Demonstrator 5, led by Cˇ EZ Distribuce robust, cheap and easy to install. In this of the Czech Republic, was designed context, “easy” means that one type of and implemented to demonstrate the cabinet is made to fit a range of different management of island operation, power types of substations. A range of com- quality measurement and failures on MV pact RTU cabinets was specially de- and LV grids. Demonstrator 5 also ex- signed as part of the project. amined the influence of electric vehicle charging on a distribution network. This For an operator monitoring LV networks, was achieved mainly by the installation it is important that all information pre- of remote-controlled devices, introduc- sented is meaningful and easy to grasp. tion of infrastructure enabling fast com- In Demonstrator 2, the operators of the munication and modifications in the DSO were involved in the process of SCADA (supervisory control and data
Grid4EU 75 4 Different types of substation and the master RTU
4a New intelligent compact substation 4b Dedicated cabinet solution containing new switchgear and “intelligence” added to existing substation
4c Replacement of existing switchgear in a walk-in substation 4d Master RTU in the primary substation
acquisition) system to support automat- The implemented functionality results in With Demonstrator ed operation. Balancing power supply the smallest possible number of custom- and power consumption during island ers being impacted by failures. Ideally, the 2, the partners operation and switching to/from island new functionality will eliminate power out- operation was performed by an auto- ages completely and significantly reduce proved that it is mated system. the time needed for fault localization and possible to develop isolation. The reduction in time required Automated MV failure management mini- for fault localization and isolation, accord- and deliver cost- mizes impact on customers by using new ing to simulation tests based on 18 months equipment installed in distribution trans- of fault data, amounted to 85 percent. efficient tools for formers (DTs), namely six units in Vrchlabí LV network moni- equipped with circuit breakers, RTUs Islanding functionality was selected as and IEDs (disconnection points). Other “non- a solution for areas prone to failures toring. disconnection” DTs are equipped with because of climatic or geographical load-break switches, RTUs and fault cur- conditions. Islanding was tested at the rent indicators on MV outgoing feeders. 10 kV level and, after network unifica- MV-level automation required implemen- tion, also on the 35 kV MV network in tation of communication routes and logic the urban area of Vrchlabí. The power in the local SCADA. In total, 27 newly supply during island operation was pro- reconstructed DTs were equipped with vided by a CHP (combined heat and components to enable Demonstration 5 power) unit of 1.56 MW capacity in- functionalities. stalled within the island area. The aim of island operation was to test the capabil- ity of a predefined network to discon- nect from the surrounding MV grid in the
76 ABB review 4|16 5 The event interface allows the operator to navigate through meter 6 The DMS600 view of individual customer meters, with one event alarms and sort events indicated by a red dot
case of failure on the higher voltage of the participating DSOs stated that level and to maintain balanced opera- “this is the time to be brave and make tion in the island. Preconditions for a investments in the smart grid. The major successful island operation are: con- challenges for us are the economics nection of sufficient power generation, and the attitude of the personnel in- adaptation of protection settings, exis- volved. However, these challenges will tence of a communication infrastructure be overcome and the investments will and deployment of automation equip- and must start.” ment. The equipment must then be able to undertake three tasks: The work was characterized by very − Disconnect the predefined (island) good cooperation between the DSOs area and the other players. This might have − Balance power production and been one of the goals of the EC when consumption in the island during the initiating Grid4EU. For ABB, the invest- failure duration ments made in the smart grid domain − Reconnect the islanded area to the and relations created within the project standard MV grid will bring increased business volumes. ABB has already seen follow-up orders Island operation was proven by two suc- directly connected to its participation in cessful functional tests, the first of which the project. took place in June 2014 at the 10 kV voltage level and the second in June This work is cofunded by the European Commission Gunnar Björkman under the 7th Framework Program (FP7) in the 2015 at the 35 kV voltage level (after re- Former ABB employee and framework of the Grid4EU project (grant agreement construction of the grid and voltage uni- No ENER/FP7/268206). ABB Grid4EU coordinator fication within Vrchlabí). Peter Noglik The Grid4EU project has shown, in real- ABB Corporate Research life installations, that smart grid technol- Ladenburg, Germany ogy is available and can function under [email protected] many different grid and climatic condi- tions throughout Europe. Moreover, the Erik Hamrin project focused not only on new smart ABB Grid Automation grid functionalities but also on larger- Västerås, Sweden scale deployment. However, the project [email protected] has also shown that many challenges around scalability, replicability and cost Jiri Nedomlel benefits remain to be solved. In the pan- ABB Grid Automation el discussion at the final event in Paris Trutnov, Czech Republic in January 2016, the general managers [email protected]
Grid4EU 77 78 ABB review 4|16 Cloud robotics
Smart robots leverage the Internet of Things, Services and People from edge to cloud
HONGYU PEI-BREIVOLD, KRISTIAN SANDSTRÖM, LARISA RIZVANOVIC, MARKO LEHTO- LA, SAAD AZHAR, ROGER KULLÄNG, MAGNUS LARSSON – Few doubt that, in the near future, robotics will fundamentally change production systems and dramatically increase their level of automation. To bring this transformation about, the human effort required to set up automated tasks needs to be greatly reduced. In other words, robots will have to figure out for themselves how to solve problems and adapt to dynamic environments. This step forward can be made by exploiting the Internet of Things, Services and People (IoTSP). The IoTSP facilitates the creation of new technology and novel business models that make large-scale data propagation, stream analytics and machine learning a reality.
Title picture The IoTSP will enable robots to be used in a much wider variety of tasks than is currently the case.
Cloud robotics 79 1 Industrial IoT from edge to cloud
Business intelligence Machine learning Stream analytics Data analytics Data storage
The importance of IoT and cloud computation in data centers, future re- technologies quirements on robot intelligence can With commercial Internet of Things (IoT) most likely be met without any increase and cloud technologies, it is currently pos- in the cost or physical size of controllers. sible to transport large amounts of sensor t is predicted that the use of robotics data and other information from devices Motivation example in manufacturing and automation will to data centers. Within the data center, The ways in which the IoTSP can help increase significantly in the near future stream analytics can be used to process improve operational performance in ro- I and that this growth will drive a major the device information in real time for fil- botic production scenarios can be illus- expansion of the industrial robot market tering, selection and aggregation. trated by considering an example: In a [1]. These expectations are predicated on small-part assembly cell, two robots are industrial robots finding their way into The processed information can be fed working collaboratively. Small parts many more automation scenarios than is into different cloud services such as busi- come in on two separate feeders. The currently the case. ness intelligence (BI) tools that turn raw robots pick parts from their respective data into tables and graphs – giving in- feeders, assemble them and put the as- Today, industrial robots can tirelessly re- stant insight into production situations. sembly on a conveyor belt. An operator peat complex tasks with high precision – The information for example, welding, painting, automobile can also be used production and certain types of assembly. by machine-learn- There are many manufacturing However, there are many other manufac- ing packages to turing or assembly scenarios that would make predictions or assembly scenarios that benefit from robotic automation but that – for process opti- are challenging to automate. This can be mization or predic- would benefit from robotic due to, for example, short production runs tive maintenance, automation, but that are or environments that are not well enough for example. Many controlled. In many of these cases, hu- such highly scal- challenging to automate. mans currently play an important role. If able and cost- the use of robots is to be extended to effective services that can analyze large or a production manager can use a mo- these challenging scenarios, robots have quantities of data in data centers are bile device to monitor the production to become more flexible, easier to program already available. status and obtain information about the and more autonomous. Further, at the devices in the production cell at any time same time as robots need to more intelli- It is, of course, imperative that such and from any location. Device predictive gently use information provided by hu- analysis is done safely, securely and with KPIs (key performance indicators) can mans and the environment, robots also full data integrity. Also, reliability and also be checked so that maintenance need to channel information to humans in availability levels must be maintained. decisions can be made. a more intelligent way. They can do this by analyzing known information, extracting By increasing robot capabilities using IoT In the case of a sudden disturbance – knowledge from it and making that knowl- and cloud technologies, and by locating such as one feeder slowing down due to edge easily accessible also to non-experts. most storage, analysis and large-scale an assembly part supply problem – infor-
80 ABB review 4|16 2 A scalable collaboration platform: system architecture
Engineering layer Cloud (visualizaton/analytics) layer
Event hubs Stream analytics RobotStudio Azure IoT
IoT layer Configuration interface AMQP, HTTP
RESTful RESTful Collaborative agent Cloud agent interface interface
Publish/subscribe interface
Automation layer RESTful Global data space interface Working object Publish/subscribe interface
Feeder
of the robot control system. A further re- If the use of robots quirement is a set of intelligent robot ser- vice features that can be deployed using is to be extended IoT technologies to improve operational performance on the factory floor. One to more challeng- way to make this constellation of require- ing scenarios, ro- ments a reality is to: – Enable data sharing among connect- bots have to be- ed robots and other devices within a production cell come more flexible, – Host real-time robot applications that easier to program require very low and predictable laten- cy at the network edge or in the robot and more autono- controllers. – Connect to a remote data center for mous. large-scale BI and data analytic capabilities mation is exchanged between the robots, feeders and conveyor belt, which all In this way, additional cloud-based ser- adapt their rate of operation to accommo- vice solutions can be offered to custom- date the new circumstances. The opera- ers, eg, easy access to, and visualization tor is notified of the situation via his mo- of, production data in the cloud. More- bile device. If operational performance is over, by utilizing cloud infrastructures within a certain tolerance, he may decide that can provide elastic computation not to interrupt the production process. resources and storage, new intelligent Or, in the case of a faulty feeder, he may robot services centralized on BI and data check the KPIs of the devices and find out analytics can be developed ➔ 1. Exam- that a service technician is shortly due to ples of these are machine learning and replace some parts on that feeder. This advanced analysis of large datasets of may mean the system can be run in its robot information collected during oper- current state until the service occurs, ation life cycles. meaning a possibly costly immediate pro- duction shutdown can be avoided. End-to-end concept and technical solution Solution strategy To realize the solution strategy just de- The scenario just described involves scribed, ABB has designed a scalable industrial robotics control, networks of collaboration platform that enables infor- sensors and actuators that demand real- mation sharing between connected in- time and predictable temporal behavior dustrial robots, other industrial devices in
Cloud robotics 81 Using IoT technol- 3 The platform makes it easy to configure robotic setups ogy to connect things, services and people will change the everyday life of users and enable intelligent industrial operations.
a production cell and people ➔ 2. The teract with robots and other devices platform, when it becomes a final prod- through a lightweight RESTful interface, uct, will offer ease of use with respect to which is provided by a collaborative configuration, eg, discovery of robots, agent in the IoT layer. RESTful interfaces connecting robots for collaboration and are based on REST (representational service provision ➔ 3. state transfer) – a Web architecture that takes up less bandwidth than other In the platform’s automation layer, real- equivalent architectures and that simpli- time data exchange between robots fies connection of diverse clients. The is enabled through publish-subscribe collaborative agent can be deployed on middleware technology, eg, the data any device (including the robot control- distribution service (DDS) framework. ler) on which the published/subscribe One device publishes information on framework can be installed. The RESTful a topic and other interested devices interface is also employed by the differ- can subscribe to receive it. Sub- scriber devices IoTSP is providing a new way do not need to know where in- of realizing business agility and formation comes from as con- a faster pace of innovation. text data is also provided to tell the subscriber devices ent mobile devices that are used for pro- what to do with the information. duction cell monitoring, as well as by a cloud agent. The cloud agent, deployed The devices exchange information on a robot controller or some other de- through a virtual global data space. The vice in the production cell, uses AMQP robots and the feeder mentioned in the (advanced message queuing protocol) example above could, for instance, ex- and HTTP as an interface to send data to change information (current position, or interact with the cloud layer. speed, etc.) through this global data space. The proposed cloud layer in the architec- ture enables increased service opportu- Not all devices in a production cell may nities by connecting the devices in the be suitable for participation in a publish/ production cell, or the production cell subscribe framework. This can be due itself, to the cloud. For this particular to, for example, accessibility limitations robot collaboration platform, Microsoft of third-party devices or finite computing Azure IoT Suite [2] is used, which offers power. Such devices can, however, in- a broad range of capabilities – eg, data
82 ABB review 4|16 The proposed cloud layer in the archi tecture enables increased service oppor- tunities by connecting the devices in the production cell, or the production cell itself, to the cloud.
collection from devices, stream analyt- smart tags that allow, via wireless com- ics, machine learning, storage and data munication, the transmission of certain presentation. In particular, ABB has ex- types of information – for example, CAD ploited Azure IoT Suite to provide a pro- drawings, item description and handling duction data visualization and monitoring instructions – to robots and operators. service. The solution consists of an IoT The dissemination of such information client, an event hub (which acts as an could, for example, allow the adjustment event ingester), stream analyt- ics and Power By using IoT and cloud technolo- BI (a self-ser- vice BI solu- gies, future requirements on robot Hongyu Pei-Breivold tion). The cloud intelligence can most likely be met Kristian Sandström agent sends Larisa Rizvanovic robot data to without any increase in the cost Marko Lehtola the event hub. Saad Azhar The stream or physical size of controllers. ABB Corporate Research analytics ser- Västerås, Sweden vice consumes that data and enables of robot grasp planning with the available [email protected] stream processing logic (in a simple grippers when there are changes in the [email protected] SQL-like language) to be run. The results types of small parts. At present, this is an [email protected] of this processing are sent to Power BI, offline and manual task. [email protected] which carries out the monitoring and [email protected] visualization of the production data. The key idea of IoTSP is to obtain infor- mation about devices and the environ- Roger Kulläng In the engineering layer, two types of ap- ment, analyze data from the physical and Magnus Larsson plications are distinguished: Web-based virtual world for optimized operations, ABB Robotics simplified configuration applications and and provide enhanced services to users. Västerås, Sweden RobotStudio-based applications for ad- By delivering new end-customer soft- [email protected] vanced configuration of the robots and ware services and experiences that are [email protected] the rest of the production. based on information extracted from multiple connected devices, IoTSP is Grasping the future providing a new way of realizing business References [1] Modern Materials Handling staff, Industrial Using IoT technology to connect things, agility and a faster pace of innovation. robotics market expected to reach $41 billion services and people will change the ev- By 2020, Available: http://www.mmh.com/ eryday life of users and enable intelligent article/industrial_robotics_market_expected_to_ industrial operations. Imagine that the reach_41_billion_by_20202 [2] Microsoft Azure IoT Suite, https://www. small parts in the example scenario de- microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/internet-of- scribed earlier have attached to them things/azure-iot-suite.aspx
Cloud robotics 83 A combined future
Microgrids with renewable power integration
CRAIG BLIZARD, ZOHEIR RABIA – Photovoltaic-diesel (PVD) hybrid solu- tions represent a key market segment that is discernibly influenced by the reduction in the manufacturing costs of the photovoltaics (PVs). In response to recent PV module price drops and diesel price increases over time, PV diesel hybrid solutions are beginning to gain acceptance around the world as an economically attractive alternative to grid extension and mini-grid systems that operate solely on diesel.
84 ABB review 4|16 he high cost of and strong re- grids. Worldwide there are tens of giga- either connected to the main power grid liance on diesel fuel in coun- watts (GW) worth of power in isolated or in “island” mode where they neither tries belonging to Sub-Saha- diesel-based microgrids that would lend draw power from the main grid nor sup- T ran Africa, Latin America and themselves to be retrofitted through the ply power to it. Microgrids are a gen- Southeast Asia, as well as their geo- integration of renewable energy tech- eral classification of small, self-sufficient graphic remoteness, insular distribution nologies such as the PVD. This existing power networks that serve consumers. and topography are key factors that make PVD solutions ideal for customers The microgrid con- in these locations. Using the knowledge and cept is not new and yet its com- The ABB PVD solution, which includes benefits of the microgrid plus mercial signifi- the PVD automation and solar inverters, cance today is only can be setup as an additional source of system, PVD 1.0 has been now becoming ap- energy in these locations thereby maxi- designed with a focus on parent. During the mizing fuel savings and reducing running age of industrial- time costs. The current low prices of PV cost effectiveness as well as ization, centralized systems are an added bonus that result grids that served in a quick return on investment. engineering simplicity. a large number of consumers from a The PVD energy solution provides cus- diesel mini-grid market represents an single primary power source made more tomers with a compelling alternative to enormous economic potential for years economic sense than did microgrids. the sole use of diesel-powered mini- to come. It was not feasible for most municipali- ties, colleges, or other such entities to Microgrids build and manage their own small power Title picture Microgrids refer to distributed energy plants and distribution networks. Micro ABB’s photovoltaic-diesel hybrid system is ideal for reliable power generation in remote geographic resources and loads that can be oper- grids weren’t a cost-effective solution locations. ated in a controlled, coordinated way for everyday energy needs. Reliance on
A combined future 85 Peak solar pen- 1 Conceptualized hybrid plant design for municipallites and commercial industries MGC690-G Generator 1 etrations of around G
30 – 50 percent Generator 2 are typically G
achievable, corre- R5485 Generator n sponding to net Modbus RTU G Ethernet renewable energy and fuel offsets of PV Inverter 1 PV Inverter m Industrial Power Load up to 15 percent MGC690-P during a year. R5485 Modbus RTU
City Power Load
power sources such as diesel genera- quality and security, while ensuring ideal tors was deemed suitable during mission renewable energy utilization. critical situations such as during energy disruptions. Today however, microgrids ABB’s PVD is the newest addition to the that focus on the integration and effec- microgrid automation product palette. tive management of renewable energy PVD has been created by ABB specifi- resources are gaining significance. Their cally for the automation of hybrid plant potential as a sensible commercial so- solutions comprising solar PV and fos- lution to everyday power needs can be sil fuel generators. Using the knowledge beneficial under many different circum- and benefits of the Microgrid Plus sys- stances. tem, PVD has been designed with a focus on cost effectiveness as well as ABB microgrid expertise engineering simplicity. This design phi- ABB is an expert on microgrids, hav- losophy has resulted in a reduction in the ing accumulated more than 25 years of number of components and drastically knowledge and experience and having simplified the project delivery model. successfully executed more than 30 proj- ects. ABB’s commitment to microgrids Because minimizing costs is at the fore- has been demonstrated through ongoing front of PVD design, the end user can research and development, investment deploy a complete automation solution and product innovation. This work has out of the box. Pre-engineered libraries been applied to the field of plant automa- and minimal site commissioning costs tion for conventional and modern power as well as a low component count mean generation technologies, as well as pow- that no specialized skills are required er system technologies such as grid-sta- and additional engineering development bilization and energy storage systems. costs are unnecessary.
Photovoltaic diesel In terms of performance, PVD has been ABB’s microgrid plus product line is a designed with medium penetration re- dedicated automation platform designed newable technologies in mind. Peak to manage power generation systems solar penetrations of around 30 – 50 characterized by different combinations percent are typically achievable. This of conventional and renewable energy corresponds to net renewable energy technologies such as diesel, gas, geo- and fuel offsets of up to 15 percent dur- thermal, hydro, wind, solar and energy ing a year, a clear performance benefit. storage systems. Microgrids can be effec- tively managed through the incorporation In addition, the PVD offers a consistent of the Microgrid Plus product line. The deployment method and setup for control result is the ultimate balance of power systems ranging from one to 16 genera-
86 ABB review 4|16 2 ABB’s Trio string inverter is shown. 3 ABB’s PVS 800 central inverters are shown.
in both solar panel systems connected to ABB central inverters the grid and hybrid systems – operating For multi-megawatt plants especially in along the entire solar value chain. the mining and heavy industry segment, central inverters are highly rated by both ABB string inverters system integrators and end-users who The TRIO 20.0 and 27.6 are part of the require high performance solar inverters tors and one to 32 inverters in order to ac- TRIO family of inverters that represent for utility-scale PV power plants and a commodate various plant configurations the most efficient solution for both com- maximum return on investment over the in a simple and effective manner thereby mercial PV applications and large-scale life cycle of a power plant. meeting an array of customer needs ➔ 1. ground-mounted PV plant energy har- vesting solutions ➔ 2. These string in- The PVS 800 central inverter consists ABB inverters verters are ideally suited for small and of proven components and has a long Both string inverters and central invert- medium industries, hotels and resorts track record of performance excellence ers can be used in a PVD application and warehouses and commercial build- for both demanding applications and and ABB has developed products to ings located in remote areas. harsh environments ➔ 3. Equipped with manage solar generators. Two types of extensive electrical and mechanical pro- ABB inverters have been combined with Furthermore, the TRIO’s high depend- tection, the inverters are engineered to the PVD: the three-phase string inverter ability, thanks to the natural convection provide a long and reliable service life of cooling and IP65 environmental protec- at least 20 years. tion rating, make it resistant to extreme Equipped with environmental conditions and therefore In addition, ABB central inverters provide ideal for external use. high total performance based on high extensive electrical efficiency, low auxiliary power consump- In addition to proven reliability, high effi- tion, verified reliability and ABB’s expe- and mechanical ciency (up to 98.2 percent) and broad in- rienced worldwide service organization. protection, central put voltage range, the TRIO inverters are The inverters are available from 100 kW advantageous for the aforementioned up to 1,000 kW, and are optimized for inverters are engi- locations due to their design configura- use in multi-megawatt PV power plants. tion flexibility, which allows them to fit neered to provide in a variety of solar park layouts. TRIO PVD package solution a long and reliable inverters also offer two independent PVD consists of dedicated controllers maximum power point trackers (MPPT), packaged as a complete kit solution de- service life of at which guarantee optimal energy output signed to facilitate integration into new from two sub-arrays, characterized by and previously developed industrial in- least 20 years. different orientations. Furthermore, this stallations ➔ 4. The controllers have been inverter solution offers customers rapid classified according to two distinct func- (TRIO) for string inverters and inverters of installation due to the presence of an tions, firstly the G (or generator) control- the PVS class for central inverters. Both easily detachable wiring box. ler responsible for automation of fossil inverters have been tested and verified fuel generators and the P (or PV) con- on interface maps with PVD. As of today TRIO inverters with a comu- troller responsible for managing the PV lative power rating of approximately 4 GW generation. These inverters have been selected from have been shipped all over the world, the full range of products and services making these inverters a valuable tool to For the purposes of site configuration that ABB offers for the generation, trans- drive energy needs for customers in iso- and commissioning duties, a dedicated mission and distribution of solar energy – lated communities. tool is included as a key component of
A combined future 87 4 ABB’s control system network is a complete automation solution. 5 Packaged key components ensure optimal automation.
PV diesel configuration tool
Ethernet network
MGC690-G MGC690-P RS 485 network A Modbus RTU
RS 485 network Modbus RTU
3rd party generator 3rd party generator 3rd party generator RS 485 network B Controller N Controller 2 Controller 1 Modbus RTU
Generator controllers Solar inverters
the package ➔ 5. The tool allows the user ABB’s PVD solution with the PVD con- to carry out basic functions such as set- ABB’s PVD system troller and choice of string or central so- ting parameters and making controller lar inverters provides a reliable, efficient mode changes. In addition, the user can utilizes MGC690 and cost-effective alternative to mini- implement high-level, real-time system grids and grid extensions that operate status checks and view key performance controllers, which solely on fossil fuels. The engineered indicators, without the need to install a consist of control design and flexibility of configuration dedicated Supervisory Control and Data make these two different power solution Acquisition (SCADA) package. Nonethe- hardware and soft- products highly suitable for small to mid- less if the customer requires a SCADA size industries, geographically isolated system, the PVD can be easily tailored ware designed to areas or in utility-scale power plants. The with a SCADA solution to the customer’s be robust and reli- MGC690 and the PVD provide consum- needs. ers with the benefits of rapid, accurate able and meet the and uninterrupted control of their mi- At its core, the PVD solution utilizes crogrid systems enabling a stable and MGC690 controllers, which consist of stringent require- reliable power supply. This in combina- control hardware and software designed ments of total tion with the low price of photovoltaics, to be robust and reliable and to meet the fuel savings and low running time costs stringent requirements of total plant au- plant automation. of implementing a PVD solution lead to a tomation. Microgrid systems based on quick return on investment and value for MGC690 feature high-density DIN-rail customers. packaging, a flexible system architec- The MGC690 controller’s industrial grade ture, high performance, real-time control, embedded system architecture allows and fast Ethernet-based network com- the PVD solution to execute the entire munications. plant automation logic rapidly, in under 100 ms. The low power consumption To facilitate device-to-device commu- coupled with the extended operating Craig Blizard nications within PVD, messages be- temperature range enables the MGC690 ABB Power Grids and Grid Automation tween the generator and PV controllers to be installed in sealed enclosures with- Product Group Microgrids & Distributed Generation, are transmitted via a dedicated 100 MB out the need for fans, louvers, air filters Business Unit Ethernet connection. This configuration or other forced cooling equipment. This Genova, Italy alleviates the need to interact with or in- eliminates maintenance requirements [email protected] terrupt existing site communication infra- associated with cooling systems and structure. Downstream communications significantly reduces operating costs as- Zoheir Rabia between the controllers and the field are sociated with control system equipment, ABB Discrete Automation and Motion serviced by dedicated Modbus RTU links which is particularly advantageous for Terranuova Bracciolini, Italy pre-terminated into the controller. microgrid customers. [email protected]
88 ABB review 4|16 Editorial Board
Bazmi Husain Chief Technology Officer Group R&D and Technology
Ron Popper Head of Corporate Responsibility
Christoph Sieder Head of Corporate Communications
Ernst Scholtz R&D Strategy Manager Group R&D and Technology
Andreas Moglestue Chief Editor, ABB Review [email protected]
Publisher ABB Review is published by ABB Group R&D and Technology. Preview 1|17
ABB Switzerland Ltd. ABB Review Segelhofstrasse 1K Innovation CH-5405 Baden-Daettwil Switzerland [email protected] A technological breakthrough has its greatest impact when it enables people to do things they could not do previously, or permits them to ABB Review is published four times a year in English, French, German and Spanish. improve the efficiency of what they already do. This can mean they ABB Review is free of charge to those with an achieve the same or a better result with greater ease, fewer resources, interest in ABB’s technology and objectives. For a subscription, please contact your nearest lower costs or while improving the safety or environmental footprint or ABB representative or subscribe online at flow of information. www.abb.com/abbreview The first issue of ABB Review in 2017 will be dedicated to the com- Partial reprints or reproductions are permitted pany’s recent and ongoing innovations – breakthroughs that will subject to full acknowledgement. Complete reprints improve the operations, ease, environmental balance or safety of the require the publisher’s written consent. businesses of its customers. Topics covered range from a leakage Publisher and copyright ©2016 detector for pipelines to wireless sensors for home automation, and ABB Switzerland Ltd. from a new eco-friendly alternative to SF for gas-insulated switchgear Baden/Switzerland 6 to a new series of robots. Printer Read about these stories and more in ABB Review 1/17. Vorarlberger Verlagsanstalt GmbH AT-6850 Dornbirn/Austria
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Preview 89 ABB review 1|16 ABB review 2|16 Innovation Food and beverage
W W ABB 1 |16 ABB 2 |16 review en review en A sea of innovations 6 Serving the industry à la carte 6 Rural electrification transformed 12 Feeding data to grow productivity 9 Test-driving drives 30 Food-safe components 20 3-D visualization 49 The corporate The flavor of consistency 37 The corporate technical journal technical journal
Innovation Food & beverage
W
6 Innovation highlights 6 A healthy choice ABB’s top innovations for 2016 ABB’s close relationship with the food and beverage 12 Small wonder industry is getting closer Station service voltage transformers for small power 9 When bytes meet bites requirements What the Internet of Things, Services and People 18 A flexible friend means for the food and beverage industry ABB’s flexible tank concept for transformers mitigates 14 Mix and MES rupture risk An ABB manufacturing execution system raises 23 Protect and survive productivity for DSM Nutritional Products Fault protection analysis in low-voltage DC microgrids 17 Assembling flavors with photovoltaic generators Industry 4.0 based on IoTSP enables Automation 30 Test drive Builder to rapidly virtualize discrete production process- ABB’s new test laboratory lets customers optimize es and machinery in the food industry and beyond motor/drive combinations 20 A safe investment 34 Driving force Food-safe components in washdown applications Rare-earth-free electric motors with ultrahigh 24 Palletizing for the palate efficiencies deliver sustainable and reliable solutions Selecting ABB’s IRB 460 robot stacks up 41 Twist off 28 An ingredient called innovation Damping torsional oscillations at the intersection of Innovations for the food and beverage industry variable-speed drives and elastic mechanical systems 30 Fish tale 49 Visionary ABB maintenance and operational services for Marine 3-D visualization enhances production operations Harvest 53 Pulp mill optimization no longer pulp fiction 34 Recipe for success Producing high-quality pulp consistently with advanced Simultaneous mass flow rate and density measurement process control for the food and beverage industry 60 Alarming discoveries 37 Same again? Improving operator effectiveness through alarm Consistent flavor is essential in any distilling or brewing life-cycle support operation 65 From paper to digital 40 The whey forward A research project for extracting object-oriented Reliable and accurate instrumentation for the dairy descriptions of piping and instrumentation diagrams industry 70 Our readers have spoken 45 Food power Presenting the results of our readership survey ABB’s rugged UPS PowerLine DPA ensures food and beverage production facilities keep running 50 Stirred, not shaken Ultralow harmonic drives keep harmful harmonics out of food and beverages 52 125 years ABB celebrates 125 years in Switzerland 55 Power semiconductors The past and present of power semiconductors at ABB 61 Integrating IT and OT Leveraging operational technology integration with Decathlon Services 68 AirPlusTM
An alternative to SF6 as an insulation and switching medium in electrical switchgear 73 Putting a damper on resonance Advanced control methods guarantee stable operation of grid-connected low-voltage converters
90 ABB review 4|16 ABB review 3|16 ABB review 4|16 Two anniversaries Transportation
W W ABB 3 |16 ABB 4 |16 review en review en 125 years in Switzerland 7 Charging a bus in 15 seconds 8 100 years of Corporate Research 13 A long tradition in electric railways 16 Landmark achievements that changed the world 16 World’s longest rail tunnel 35 Looking to the future 55 The corporate Remote service at sea 44 The corporate technical journal technical journal Transportation
Two anniversaries
7 125 years and a centennial 6 Cities take charge ABB celebrates 125 years’ existence in Switzerland Making the case for the electrification of urban public and 100 years of corporate research transportation 13 Brainforce one 8 Charged in a flash 100 years of ABB’s first Corporate Research Center Optimization of batteries for a flash-charged bus 16 Driving ideas 13 Green park Electric motors represent a field rich in ABB Krka national park, Croatia, is the first national park in innovation the world to install ABB Terra 53 fast DC/AC chargers 17 Digital variable speed drives 16 Electrifying history 19 Softstarters A long tradition in electric railway engineering 21 The leading edge of motor development 25 Weight loss program 23 A direct link ABB’s Effilight® traction transformer delivers less weight HVDC technology for better power transmission and losses and needs up to 70 percent less oil 24 Efficient power transfer with HVDC Light® 30 Efficiency that climbs mountains 27 Ultrafast disconnector for hybrid HVDC circuit breaker Cutting the energy consumption of the Allegra trains 29 Sophisticated HVDC extruded cable technology 35 Peak power 31 Transforming and changing ABB’s ZX0 medium-voltage switchgear and PMA cable Transformer insulation science and innovative tap protection for the Gotthard Base Tunnel changers for high-power applications 40 Record breaker 32 Vacuum-based OLTCs ABB to provide power, propulsion and automation for 35 Fundamental research in UHVDC the world’s most advanced port icebreaker converter transformers 44 Improving remote marine service 38 Microgrids A concept for the next generation ABB customer and How microgrids can cut costs, emissions and service portal enhance reliability 50 Connect. Collaborate. Outperform 41 Robot bio Automation & Power World returns to Houston in The life and times of the electrical industrial robot March 2017 45 A stirring history 51 Loss prophet Sustained innovation sums up the history of ABB’s Predicting stray losses in power transformers and electromagnetic products optimization of tank shielding using FEM 49 Sense of ore 57 Wind protection Mining 2.0 – Automation solutions for the mining Low-voltage switching and protection strategies industry in wind turbines 55 A new compact HVDC solution for offshore wind 63 Arc angel HVDC offshore wind compact solution with half the Arc flash prevention measures increase safety weight and AC platforms eliminated 67 Switching the subject 57 Local savings A look at recent advances in IGCT technologies for Energy storage leads the way for accessible solar in high-power electronics the home 72 Grid4EU 62 Unlocking value in storage systems Laying the groundwork for the development of A large-scale case study of a battery/diesel grid- tomorrow’s electricity grids connected microgrid 79 Cloud robotics Smart robots leverage the Internet of Things, Services and People from edge to cloud 84 A combined future Microgrids with renewable power integration 90 2016 Index The year at a glance
Index 91 Affix address label here
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Deep beneath the Swiss Alps, the world’s longest tunnel, stretching 57 km, is nearing comple- tion. By the end of this year, the Gotthard base tunnel will be traversed daily by 260 freight and 65 passenger trains at speeds of up to 250 km/h, dramatically shortening journey times through the Alps. To help make this engineering feat possible, ABB experts developed custom infrastructure, energy-efficient power distribution, and the largest fresh-air ventilation system ever built.