Lorin Cantemir, Costica Nituca, Gabriel Chiriac Techn i cal University “Gh. Asachi” Iasi

1. Unconventional Current Collecting of the Electric Energy from a Contact Line for the Electric Traction Vehicles Lorin Cantemir, Costica Nituca, Gabriel Chiriac Technical University “Gh. Asachi” Iasi Romania

2. Technical University in Iasi Faculty of Electrical Engineering Romania Palace of Culture PACIFIC 2011 Conference, December 8th 2011, Amiens, France

3. Contact Current Collecting – Conventional Collecting • Rail power collecting • used on first electric locomotive, 1879 and for the first tramway, 1881 • today used especially on metro • Contact line power collecting • One contact line, the most used system for supply the electric vehicles (used for electric trains, tramways) • Two contact line, used for trolley-buses • Three- phased current collecting • used on railway from 1899 in Switzerland, Italy. PACIFIC 2011 Conference, December 8th 2011, Amiens, France

4. Conventional Current Collecting Problems • Detachment of the pantograph from the contact line • Current collecting interruption • Destruction of the contact line and pantograph • Electric arc between the contact line and pantograph – Can we convert this problem into a useful aspect? PACIFIC 2011 Conference, December 8th 2011, Amiens, France

5. Unconventional Power Collecting Possibilities • Inductive • Without a magnetic circuit • With an magnetic circuit, Inductive Power Supply, Transrapid IPS • Electromagnetic • Capacitive • Using the electric arc, two methods • The electric arc controlled by a magnetic field; • The electric arc controlled by a coaxial gas. PACIFIC 2011 Conference, December 8th 2011, Amiens, France

6. Our research: The electric arc controlled by a coaxial gas Advantages: • The power collecting system is tolerably light and with small dimensions; • The cathode doesn’t need a special thermal protection except the cooling of the gas; • Disadvantages of such a system derive from an optimization of the longer electric arcs , the necessity of the gas system on the vehicle and a coaxial control of the electric arc PACIFIC 2011 Conference, December 8th 2011, Amiens, France

7. ELECTRIC ARC ENERGY TRANSFER IN STATIC REGIME The plasma jet-cutting installation. Electric arc currents for a copper anode. The maximum distance for a stable current is about 30 mm From the stability point of view of the electric arcs, the distances of about 2127 mm correspond to a maximum stability. Currents for an aluminum-titanium alloy anode. PACIFIC 2011 Conference, December 8th 2011, Amiens, France

8. ELECTRIC ARC ENERGY TRANSFER IN DYNAMIC REGIME The electric current through the electric arc The experimental stand for the dynamic regime tests For about 1520 mm between electrodes it was a good energy transfer. The electric current increases is proportional to the speed. The minimum current for a stable electric arc is about 120 A. PACIFIC 2011 Conference, December 8th 2011, Amiens, France

9. Conclusions • The tests were made in static and dynamic regime to estimate the stability of the electric arcs during the energy transfer for different distances between the electrodes. • There were used four types of materials for the anode and was analyzed the dependence between the electric current in arc and the distance between the electrodes. • The phenomena of the electric arc power collecting (the stability of the arc, the shape electrode, and the level of the electromagnetic interference) are very complex and need important researches to solve the specific problems. • For future research: in a.c., having into attention some parameters as voltage, current, frequency, critical length of the arc, climate, temperature, speed of the vehicle and the sliding velocity of the electric arc. PACIFIC 2011 Conference, December 8th 2011, Amiens, France

10. Thank you for your attention Contact l_cantemir@yahoo.com costica_nituca@yahoo.com gchiriac@tuiasi.ro PACIFIC 2011 Conference, December 8th 2011, Amiens, France