Power Electronics Technologies for Locomotives

Locomotives represent a challenging application for high-power electronics in terms of power, voltage-level and operating conditions. The driving forces are the development of semiconductor devices, the corresponding circuit topologies and the resulting drive properties. The transition from GTO to IGBT allowed building more compact converters with a more flexible power rating. This for example made the integration of the auxiliary converter an effective solution. The development of 6.5 kV IGBTs made possible easier operation on the 3 kV-dc line, however, still with optimized and different solutions for multisystem locomotives. The actual development of semiconductor technology still suggests a further increase in power density.