Rail Transportation

Power System Analysis

Project:

Power System Analysis

Project Location:

Queens, NY

Scope of Work:

AES installed electrical power monitors at 18 traction power substations on a total of 35 750 VDC rectifiers to collect simultaneous load readings during peak rail operation. AES worked with the transit customer to develop a specific work plan, specify and procure metering equipment, schedule work, perform installation/removal and create tabulations of voltage, current and power readings (one data point every second) over a period of 1-week.
Services Provided
  • Power System Analysis
Challenges

Traditional power monitoring equipment could not be used in many cases due to the fact that most standard meters are rated for 600VAC and portable DC current probes are not commonly available in a large enough size as to fit around the large rectifier bus bars. In addition to that, each traction power station had a slightly different setup. Some stations had built in resistive shunts where the voltage on the shunt could be recorded in lieu of installing current probes. At other locations, split-core hall effect CT’s were required that were large enough to fit around the bus bars were required. Although AES owns a large fleet of power recording meters, a significant amount needed to be rented during the monitoring period due to the abnormally large number of simultaneous readings as well as uncommon power system configurations.