Reflections of Cathrine Feloups
In our serie "What does the future bring?" our ESR's are sharing their perspective. This serie is linked to the Horizon Magazine article published on Monday, March 13 2024 which focusses on EU support for Ukrainian researchers including ETUT project regarding "Building bridges between Ukrainian and EU researchers" featuring Regis Nibaruta, Ivan Struzhko, Vladimir Havryliuk, Gert Rietveld and Frank Leferink. The full article can be found https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/horizon-magazine/building-bridges-between-ukrainian-and-eu-researchers By Andrew Dunne.
Via Cordis, the project is described as'the ETUT project will model, design, estimate, quantify and monitor economic measures for a reliable, safe, effective and greener electrical transport system. The training programme will include innovative methods to be applied in electric transport... it may have far reaching consequences and may even see the railway network supporting or replacing local electrical utility networks' Can you explain the problem specifically? In simple terms, what exactly is the electrical engineering challenge in terms of future electric transport systems and what's the link with local electrical utility networks too?
The railway's problem is that new locomotives have been added to it. These new locomotives are electrified, with numerous electronic devices that cause interference in the system. This interference can be coupled to the communication system via the radiated or conducted method via the power and communication cord, resulting in a malfunction of the railway's overall system.
The challenges are a method of resolving some of the system's issues, such as the battery's long charging time, which is a waste of time for a large system with many electronic devices. Furthermore, some of the devices used are based on electronic devices with extremely fast switching times. As previously stated, the fast time causes interference issues in the entire system and may be coupled to other nearby devices, causing the system to malfunction. All of these issues and potential solutions add to the overall cost when compared to previously used devices, leading to a decision not to use the advanced one for financial reasons.
When we spoke you described these two areas of electrical engineering where the main focus was - electromagnetic compatibility and power electronics. Can you give me examples of the kind of devices that might benefit from improvements to both and can you explain the link with these two areas and future electric transport systems?
As previously stated, electrified locomotives contain numerous devices such as a drive system (power electronics converters) for the motor and its control device, a battery system, a communication system, and so on. As an example, due to the fast switching time of the switching devices used in the motor, the noise generated becomes more pressing and can easily interfere with other sensitive devices such as sensors and analogue feedback signals, causing malfunctioning. Furthermore, because these devices must work so quickly to reduce system losses and increase efficiency, a high frequency current is passing through the motor, causing deterioration of the insulation and altering the safety aspect on which the motor is designed.
Another example is the charging system of devices connected to the grid, which can reduce the quality of it after adding the system that requires an additional system to solve the issue with the grid itself.
If these two areas for power electronics and electromagnetic compatibility are solved, it will help our future, which is reliant on electric vehicles for environmental reasons.
Are there any examples of really applied research which you are currently conducting which relates to electric transport systems which we can talk about? Can you explain what you are working on - in an applied sense - with whom, and how?
Yes, there is a lot of research going on right now to solve the problems caused by electromagnetic interference. Now, I'm focusing on reducing the noise generated by the power electronics converters connected to the motor in order to reduce the current that is destroying the motor. A few decades ago, the solution of using a filter to avoid the noise generated was developed. However, filters are bulky and expensive for a large system; therefore, a 50 percent reduction in filters has been achieved by using low-cost devices to reduce noise while also saving the motor, which is the main device in locomotives.
What is the long-term hope with this work? From a research point of view, what are YOUR long-term motivations for this all is and what are the impacts he envisages in the future (i.e. who does he see will benefit from this research in the future, and how?).
Long-term goals include improving the railway system as a whole, not just for Ukraine, which is the project's primary focus, but for all communities. The reliability, cost, and efficiency of the motor, battery systems, and communication system have all been improved. Based on the compassion between the used and the new achievement, the researcher and developer of the system will determine which is the best to apply in terms of cost, reliability, and efficiency.
Could I get a reflection from you on the importance of developing future electric transport systems in view of climate change and emission reduction targets? Why is this issue you're tackling so important from an environmental perspective?
The use of fuel as a method of generating power for the transport system has a significant impact on CO2 emissions, which contribute to global warming. We've already heard about glacier melting, which is one of the most important measures to electrify public transportation.