METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING THE ELECTRICAL NETWORK OF A RAILWAY NETWORK

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for managing an electrical network of a railway network, comprising a step of receiving a plurality of measured data, the measured data comprising the current intensity and / or a voltage value supplied to and / or received from a current supply means of a railway line of at least one electrical supply substation.

[0002] US 2015 / 0094965 A1 relates to a system comprising a plurality of electrical sources, a transmission network, a plurality of distribution networks and loads connected to the distribution networks.

[0003] US 2014 / 014760 A1 relates to systems and methods for statistically detecting errors in building management systems.

[0004] FR 3 003 209 A1 relates to a railway vehicle comprising a diagnostic device capable of communicating, to the railway infrastructure, data representative of the operating status of electrical equipment.

[0005] US 2014 / 288863 A1 relates to a method and a device for monitoring a high-voltage transmission line, in particular for calculating the permissible current intensity as a function of meteorological parameters.

[0006] JP 6029799 81 relates to a system comprising a voltage calculating apparatus of a direct current for power supply. The voltage calculating apparatus comprises a memory unit 1, a train operation information unit and a unit for calculating the voltage value of a substation. The apparatus is connected to the substation by a wireless connection. The train may have a braking energy recovery mode.

[0007] EP 2 693 598 A1 relates to a system and method for controlling the charging of the batteries of a railway vehicle. A control module makes it possible to measure the current in the catenary.

[0008] For example, KR 101437350 and CN 104578399 respectively disclose an intelligent sensing system for sensing current and voltage in a railway network.

[0009] During operation of a railway electrical network, electrical equipment may slowly degrade or unknown events may destroy or damage the electrical equipment.

[0010] The aim of the application is to propose a method and a system enabling more efficient management of an electrical network of a railway network.

[0011] This aim is achieved, in accordance with the invention, by a method for managing an electrical network of a railway network according to claim 1.

[0012] According to advantageous characteristics: the measured data comprises one or more temperature values ​​associated with at least one electrical equipment and / or one or more rooms of the electrical power substation and / or operation counters of an electrical connection switch associated with at least one electrical equipment of the electrical power substation; and / or the method further comprises the following step: measuring, at the electrical power substation, the measured data and / or one or more temperature values ​​associated with at least one electrical equipment or one or more rooms of the electrical power substation.

[0013] According to another aspect of the invention, this object is achieved by a system according to claim 4.

[0014] According to advantageous characteristics: the measured data comprise one or more temperature values ​​associated with at least one electrical equipment and / or one or more rooms of the electrical power substation and / or operation counters of an electrical connection switch associated with at least one electrical equipment of the electrical power substation; the electrical power substation is capable of measuring measured data, and / or one or more temperature values ​​associated with at least one electrical equipment or one room of the electrical power substation; and / or the system comprises a computer network for communication between the substations.

[0015] Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge from the description given below, with reference to the drawings, which illustrate an exemplary embodiment without any limiting character and in which: there figure 1 is a schematic view of a section of a railway track; figure 2 is a schematic view of a system according to the invention; the figure 3 is a schematic view of a portion of the system according to the invention and the figure 4 shows a flowchart of the method according to the invention.

[0016] There figure 1 schematically shows a section of a railway track 1 on which an electric railway vehicle 3 runs. The railway vehicle 3 is for example a tram, a train, a metro, etc. The railway vehicle 3 can operate in a traction mode, where the railway vehicle 3 consumes electrical energy supplied by a current supply means 5, or in a braking energy recovery mode, in which the railway vehicle 3 generates electrical energy which it transmits to the current supply means 5.

[0017] The current supply means 5 for the vehicle runs along the railway track 1. For example, the current supply means 5 is a catenary or a conductor rail.

[0018] The electrical energy management system of a railway network comprises a plurality of electrical power supply substations 7. The electrical power supply substations 7 are connected on one side to the current supply means 5 and on the other side to a high voltage distribution network 9.

[0019] The electrical supply substations 7 are capable of converting a first electrical current having a transport voltage, for example received from the high-voltage distribution network 9, into a second current having a usage voltage and being capable of circulating on the current supply means 5, or vice versa when the railway vehicle 3 operates in the braking energy recovery mode.

[0020] For this purpose, the electrical power supply substations 7 comprise electrical equipment, for example one or more transformers, one or more inverters, one or more rectifiers, one or more circuit breakers, one or more contactors, and / or one or more disconnectors.

[0021] There figure 2 is a schematic view of the system. The electrical supply substations 7 each comprise one or more current and / or voltage sensors 11 capable of measuring the current and / or voltage supplied to and / or received from the current supply means 5. In one embodiment, the current supplied to the current supply means 5 is the current used by the railway vehicle 3 during traction and the current received from the railway vehicle 3, when the railway vehicle 3 is in a braking energy recovery mode.

[0022] The supply current is, for example, direct current or alternating current.

[0023] Advantageously, the electrical power supply substations 7 also comprise counting sensors capable of counting a number of operations, i.e. of determining an operation counter of an electrical connection switch associated with at least one piece of electrical equipment of the electrical power supply substation 7. The number of operations is for example a number of openings and / or closings of the switch.

[0024] Furthermore, the power supply substations 7 comprise, in one embodiment, one or more temperature sensors 12. The temperature sensor(s) are adapted to sense the temperature of the electrical equipment of the respective power supply substation 7, and / or the temperature of the room(s) of the respective power supply substation 7.

[0025] The sensor(s) are connected to one or more local computing units 13, for example a programmed circuit and / or a processor. Each local computing unit 13 is capable of being connected to a computer network 15. In one embodiment, the computer network 15 is a virtual network.

[0026] The computer network 15 allows communication between each power supply substation 7 and one or more central units 19. A central unit 19 is associated with several power supply substations 7. The central unit or units 19 are arranged at a distance from the power supply substations 7.

[0027] The local computing unit(s) 13 transmit the measured data to the central unit(s) 19. The measured data comprise a current intensity and / or a voltage value supplied to and / or received from the current supply means 5. Furthermore, in one embodiment, the local computing unit(s) 13 transmit one or more temperature values ​​to the central unit(s) 19 as measured data and / or the operation counters. The transmitted measured data are associated with a time value or time-stamped. In other examples, all electrical data from the local computing units 13 of the power supply substations 7 are sent to the central unit 19. In another example, the local computing unit(s) 13 are capable of sending the operating status of one or more electrical equipment, an event, an alarm, etc.In one embodiment, an event is a change in operating state of equipment, for example a circuit breaker changes from the open position to the closed position and / or the temperature of a transformer rises from a normal value to abnormal (too hot)].

[0028] The computer network 15 also enables communication between the power supply substations 7, in particular between the local computing units 13 of the power supply substations 7. For example, a first local computing unit 13 of a first power supply substation 7 needs one or more data from a second local computing unit 13 in a second power supply substation 7, in particular without consulting a central unit 19.

[0029] In one embodiment, the local computing units 13 are capable of controlling the electrical equipment located in the respective power supply substation. For example, the local computing unit(s) 13 are capable of controlling, activating and / or stopping one or more electrical equipment of the power supply substation 7. According to the invention, the local computing units 13 control the electrical equipment(s) in response to a control signal received from one of the central units 19.

[0030] The local computing units 13 do not include any sophisticated local human-machine interface for analyzing or displaying the values ​​of the sensors 11, 12. A human-machine interface is, for example, provided by a computer or portable device 23 which is connected to the computer network 15 to receive this information from the central unit 19.

[0031] The central unit 19 is, for example, a server which is capable of preparing information readable by clients on other computers, for example a computer 21 located on the site of the central unit or by the portable device 23. In one embodiment, the server is capable of generating HTML (hypertext markup language) pages which are readable by a web browser installed on the computer 21 and / or the portable device 23.

[0032] In one embodiment, the central unit 19 is capable of enriching the raw data with algorithms, thresholds, counters, etc. The enriched data is made available by the central unit 19 to the various parties involved, for example to the portable device 23 and / or to the computer 21, as information. The readable information made available to the other computers 21 or portable devices 23 is the current or historical values ​​of the sensors 11, 12 or information based on the current or historical values ​​of the sensors 11, 12.

[0033] Furthermore, the central unit 19 is capable of sending control signals to the local calculation units 13 to control them or to control the electrical equipment(s) of the respective electrical power substation 7, for example in response to a command from a user or a calculation from the received data.

[0034] There figure 3 is a schematic view of a portion of the system according to the invention showing the central unit 19 in more detail. The central unit 19 comprises a first communication module 30 capable of being connected to the local calculation units 13 via the computer network 15. The local calculation units 13 are capable of sending data to the central unit 19 on their own initiative. For example, the local calculation units 13 can send the measured data when a value changes, periodically, and / or at the request of a user.

[0035] The communication module 30 transmits the data measured by the sensors 11, 12 of the power supply substations 7 to a database management module 32. The database management module 32 is capable of storing the measured data in a database 34, of synchronizing with another external database 36 and of making a backup copy of the database 34. In particular, all the digital values, events and alarms of the power supply substations are stored in the database 34. In one embodiment, the site or location of the power supply substation 7 is also associated with the data.

[0036] The graph creation module 42 creates, using the data from the database 34, a graph representing the data. The graph is provided to a server module 44 which provides access to the remote computers 21, 23.

[0037] In one embodiment, the central unit 19 comprises an alarm management module 46 and a mathematical module 48. The alarm management module 46 allows, depending on the state of the alarms and the various actions performed by the operator, to establish different values ​​for each alarm, for example: alarm present not acknowledged, alarm acknowledged, alarm disappeared not acknowledged, and / or alarm masked. The mathematical module 48 develops calculations on the data in the database 34 to create new data or to have a representation of these in the graph such as, for example, a calculation of an hourly average, a cumulative total over a day, a statistic over a year, etc.

[0038] The server module 44 is capable of receiving commands from a remote computer 21, 23, for example to enable data to be filtered by category, for example: date, degree of severity and / or importance; type of equipment; voltage level and / or measurement location.

[0039] For example, in one embodiment, the operator may, using a remote computer, view general electrical power supply diagrams, detailed electrical substation diagrams (power grid connection station; traction substation; auxiliary substation, etc.), and / or computer architecture diagrams as information.

[0040] In one embodiment, the central unit 19 is capable of generating information, for example in the form of dashboards, concerning the general state of the electrical equipment of the railway track 1, the detailed state of the electrical equipment of each substation 7, the general state of the equipment constituting the computer architecture of the system, for example the local calculation unit 13, the detailed state of the automatons of each electrical substation, operating time of the electrical equipment, and / or operating temperatures of the electrical equipment. The state of an electrical equipment includes whether this equipment is on or off.

[0041] The computer architecture of the system comprises the local computing unit(s) 13, the computer network 15, the central unit 19 and the display unit(s), for example one or more computers 21 and 23.

[0042] In one embodiment, the central unit 19 comprises a function 38 for replaying captured data using a replay database 40. For this purpose, the replay function 38 is capable of reading the data from the database 34 to store it in its replay database 40. The function 38 is capable of generating a sequence of the data and providing it to a graph creation module 42.

[0043] The central unit 19 allows data to be replayed, for example step by step, to restart a faulty sequence. This makes a more detailed analysis of failures possible.

[0044] This information allows effective maintenance of the energy system and, in particular, of one or more electrical power substations 7. For example, the central unit 19, in particular the mathematical module 48, is capable of issuing alerts to the maintenance personnel in order to schedule maintenance operations of the electrical equipment, in particular in accordance with the instructions of the manufacturer of the electrical equipment.

[0045] In one embodiment, the user may send control signals to the power substations 7 to control the electrical equipment, through the central unit 19. In another example, the central unit 19 may send control signals to the power substations 7 based on one or more received sensed values.

[0046] In another embodiment, the central unit 19 is capable of generating information, for example in the form of dashboards, concerning, for example, current electrical measurements of current or voltage and minimum, maximum, average, and / or effective values; energy consumption and identification of deviations from a statistical model or a historical average; the power required by the electrical power substation 7, for example in kVA, kW, kVAR, and / or the power factor; the power drawn by the electrical power substation 7, for example the power for traction and / or the power, in particular in kVA, kW, kVAR, and / or the power factor, for the auxiliaries; the power recovered to high voltage and / or the power recovered to direct current for the reversible electrical power substations 7;and / or a performance of the power supply substation 7 (with and without inclusion of auxiliary power supply substations). For example, this information allows a prediction of consumption and typical profiles, the highlighting of anomalies and the optimization of the energy subscription. In another example, the central unit 19 is capable of calculating estimated load profiles, for example daily, monthly or annual, to compare them with current consumption to analyze or anticipate deviations.;

[0047] A reversible power supply substation 7 operates in both directions either by supplying traction power to the railway vehicle 3, or by recovering braking energy from the railway vehicle 3 to restore it upstream, as explained above. An auxiliary power supply substation 7 is a substation that does not supply traction power to the railway vehicle 3, but supplies power to the passenger stations for lighting, ventilation, air conditioning or heating, etc. This information allows effective energy management.

[0048] In another embodiment, the central unit 19 is capable of executing different sequences for switching on the high voltage energy, switching off the high voltage energy, switching on or off the traction energy; switching on or off an electrical section from different operator commands from a remote computer 21, 23.

[0049] For this purpose, the central unit 19, in response to a command from a user or automatically, sends one or more control signals to a local computing unit 13. In response to the reception of this or these control signals, the local computing unit 13 executes the command or commands, for example activates the circuit breaker to energize the electrical power supply substation 7. According to the invention, if the central unit 19 detects during a comparison of an instantaneous current and / or voltage value that an error occurs, it can execute a sequence to put the current supply means 5 into degraded mode.

[0050] These operations allow the electrical infrastructure of a railway to be managed and can be requested by a remote computer 21, 23 via the server module 44. The figure 4 shows a flowchart of the method according to the invention.

[0051] In a step 100, the local computing units 13 receive the measured data from the sensors 11, 12 and send these measured data to the central unit 19. The central unit 19 receives the measured data. The measured data comprise the intensity of a current, a voltage value supplied to and / or received from the current supply means 5, and / or one or more temperature values ​​associated with at least one electrical equipment and / or one or more rooms of the electrical supply substation 7.

[0052] Advantageously, the measured data includes operation counters of an electrical connection switch associated with at least one piece of electrical equipment of the electrical power substation.

[0053] In one embodiment, the measured data are associated with a capture time by the local computing unit 13 and / or by the sensor 11, 12 which is also sent by the respective local computing unit 13 to the central unit 19.

[0054] In a step 102, the central unit 19 stores the measured data in the database 34, the stored measured data being associated with a capture time.

[0055] The central unit 19 then receives, in step 104, one or more instantaneous measured values ​​of the intensity of the current and / or voltage supplied to and / or received from the current supply means 5. In one embodiment, the central unit 19 receives, from one or more local calculation units 13, other instantaneous measured values, for example temperature values ​​associated with at least one electrical equipment and / or one or more rooms of the respective electrical supply substation 7.

[0056] In step 106, the central unit 19 calculates, for example with the mathematical module 48, at least one estimated value of the instantaneous measured value(s), from the stored measured data. For example, the estimated value corresponds to an estimated current intensity or an estimated voltage value for the instant of capture of the instantaneous measured value(s) of the current intensity and / or voltage supplied to and / or received from the current supply means 5.

[0057] Then, in step 108, the instantaneous measured value(s) are compared with the estimated value(s), for example by the central unit 19.

[0058] The central unit 19 activates, in step 110, an alarm, based on the comparison of the instantaneous measured value(s) with the estimated value(s). For example, if the instantaneous measured value(s) have a difference greater than a predetermined value, the central unit 19 activates the alarm. In one embodiment, the alarm indicates maintenance to be performed. According to the invention, the central unit 19 sends a control signal to the power supply substation 7, based on the comparison of the instantaneous measured value(s) with the estimated value(s). Upon receipt of the control signal, the power supply substation 7 controls at least one electrical equipment of the power supply substation 7 based on the control signal.For example, the control signal may command the power substation 7 to energize or stop traction power, energize or de-energize an electrical section, and / or perform other operations.

Claims

1. -Method for managing an electrical network of a railway network, the electrical network comprising at least one central unit (19) and a plurality of electrical supply substations (7), the electrical supply substations being connected to a means (5) for supplying power to one or more railway vehicles (3), the electrical supply substations (7) being able to convert a second electrical current suitable for flowing on the power supply means (5) and having a use voltage in a first electrical current having a transport voltage when the railway vehicle(s) (3) operate in the braking energy recovery mode, the electrical supply substations (7) each comprise one or more sensors (11, 12), the sensor(s) being connected to one or more local computing units (13), the local computing units (13) do not include any local human-machine interface for analysing or displaying the values of the sensors and the local computing units (13) being capable of being connected to a computer network (15), the central unit (19) comprising a communication module (30) capable of being connected to the local computing units (13) via the computer network (15), the method comprising steps consisting in: receiving (100), by the central unit (19), from the local computing unit(s) (13) of the electrical supply substations (7), a plurality of measured data, the measured data comprising the intensity of a current and / or a voltage value supplied to and / or received from the power supply means (5); storing (102), by the central unit (19), measured data, the stored measured data being associated with a capture time; receiving (104), by the central unit (19), one or more instantaneous measured values of the intensity of the current and / or of the voltage supplied to and / or received from the power supply means (5); characterised in that the method furthermore comprises the steps consisting in: calculating (106), by the central unit (19), at least one estimated value of the instantaneous measured value(s), from the stored measured data; comparing (108), at the central unit (19), the instantaneous measured value(s) with the estimated value(s); sending (110), by the central unit (19), a control signal to the electrical supply substation (7), as a function of the comparison of the instantaneous value(s) with the estimated value(s); and upon receiving the control signal, the electrical supply substation (7) controls at least one item of electrical equipment of the electrical supply substation (7) as a function of the control signal, wherein if the central unit (19) detects, during a comparison of an instantaneous current and / or voltage value, that an error has occurred, it executes a sequence to put the power supply means (5) into degraded mode.

2. - Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the measured data comprise one or more temperature values associated with at least one item of electrical equipment and / or with one or more rooms of the electrical supply substation (7), and / or operation counters of an electrical connection switch associated with at least one item of electrical equipment of the electrical supply substation.

3. - Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the method further comprises the following step: measuring, at the electrical supply substation (7), measured data and / or one or more temperature values associated with at least one item of electrical equipment or with one or more rooms of the electrical supply substation (7).

4. - System for managing an electrical network of a railway network, the electrical network comprising at least one central unit (19) and a plurality of electrical supply substations (7), the electrical supply substations being connected to a means (5) for supplying power to one or more railway vehicles (3), the electrical supply substations (7) being able to convert a second electrical current suitable for flowing on the power supply means (5) and having a use voltage in a first electrical current having a transport voltage when the railway vehicle(s) (3) operate in the braking energy recovery mode, the electrical supply substations (7) each comprise one or more sensors (11, 12), the sensor(s) being connected to one or more local computing units (13), the local computing units (13) do not include any local man-machine interface for analysing or displaying the values of the sensors, the system comprising a computer network for the connection between the substations and the central unit, the local computing units (13) being capable of being connected to the computer network (15), the central unit (19) comprising a communication module (30) capable of being connected to the local computing units (13) via the computer network (15), the central unit (19) being capable of: receiving a plurality of measured data from the local computing unit(s) (13) of the power supply substations (7), the measured data comprising the intensity of a current and / or a voltage value provided to and / or received from the power supply means (5); storing the measured data, the stored measured data being associated with a capture time; receiving one or more instantaneous measured values of the current intensity and / or the voltage supplied to and / or received from the power supply means (5); characterised in that the central unit (19) is furthermore capable of: calculating at least one estimated value of the instantaneous measured value(s), from the stored measured data; comparing the instantaneous measured value(s) with the estimated value(s); sending a control signal to the power supply substation (7), according to the comparison of the instantaneous value(s) with the estimated value(s); the electrical supply substation (7) comprising one or more items of electrical equipment, the electrical supply substation (7) being capable, upon reception of the control signal, of controlling at least one of the items of electrical equipment according to the control signal, and in that, if the central unit (19) detects during a comparison of an instantaneous current and / or voltage value that an error occurs, the central unit is capable of executing a sequence to put the power supply means (5) into degraded mode.

5. - System according to claim 5 or 6, characterised in that the measured data comprise one or more temperature values associated with at least one item of electrical equipment and / or with one or more rooms of the electrical supply substation (7) and / or operation counters of an electrical connection switch associated with at least one item of electrical equipment of the electrical supply substation.

6. - System according to claim 4 or 5, characterised in that the electrical supply substation (7) is capable of measuring measured data, and / or one or more temperature values associated with at least one item of electrical equipment or with a room of the electrical supply substation (7).

7. - System according to one of claims 4 to 6, characterised in that the computer network is for communication between the substations.