A Phase-shifter for Regulating Circulating Power Flow in a Parallel-feeding AC Traction Power System

Abstract

A parallel-feeding AC traction power system increases the power supply capacity and decreases voltage fluctuations, but the circulating power flow caused by the phase difference between the traction substations prevents the system from being widely used. A circuit analysis shows that the circulating power flow increases almost linearly as the phase difference increases, which adds extra load to the system and results in increased power dissipation and load unbalance. In this paper, we suggest a phase shifter for the parallel-feeding AC traction power system. The phase shifter regulates the phase difference and the circulating power flow by injecting quadrature voltage which can be obtained directly from the Scott-connection transformer in the traction substation. A case study involving the phase shifter applied to the traction power system of a Korean high-speed rail system shows that a three-level phase shifter can prevent circulating power flow while the phase difference between substations increases up to 12 degrees, mitigate the load unbalance, and reduce power dissipation.