Siting and Sizing oI Stationary Supercapacitors in a

Metro Network
Vito Calderaro, Vincenzo Galdi, Giuseppe Graber, Antonio Piccolo

Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale
University oI Salerno
Fisciano (SA), Italy
vcalderarounisa.it, vgaldiunisa.it, ggraberunisa.it, apiccolounisa.it


Abstract-The design of an Energy Storage System (ESS)
based on SuperCapacitors (SCs) for Metro Network (MN)
regenerative braking energy recovery system is investigated. A
simulation tool is implemented in order to estimate the power
flow among the metro vehicles and the ESSs through the MN.
Several simulations are performed in order to design the number,
the position along the track and the required capacity of the SCs.
The energy delivered from the electric substations and the energy
saved using a particular ESS configuration computed by joint
sizing and siting approach are estimated to show the effectiveness
of the proposed method.
Keywords-Energy management, Energy storage, Railway
Engineering, Supercapacitors, Siting, Sizing, Regenerative
Braking, Metro Aetwork.
I. INTRODUCTION
Sustainability is an increasingly central goal oI all human
activities |1|. Transportation sector, in particular, is among the
Iirst that adopted technical solutions oriented towards
sustainability |2|, |3|, due mainly to two aspects: the large
impact in terms oI pollution and climate-altering emissions,
and the signiIicant contribution in terms oI energy
consumption. This irreversible trend is also impacting the
electriIied transport systems in wide urban and metropolitan
areas, like metro, tramway or light rail, already characterized,
by their nature, by a lower emissions compared to those
aIIecting road transport. In the case oI electriIied transports,
the goal oI sustainability is today more and more oIten
expressed through the search Ior energy eIIiciency oI the
power train and oI the vehicle up to the Ieeding system |4|.
One oI the most eIIective methods to increase the energy
eIIiciency oI railway systems is the recovery oI vehicles
braking energy: in a conventional metro network equipped
with irreversible DC substations, braking energy is only usable
iI other vehicles are simultaneously demanding energy,
otherwise, it would be wasted as heat on the vehicles braking
resistors. In order to avoid this energy wasting, Energy
Storage Systems (ESSs) represent a very interesting option |5|
to store the metro vehicles braking energy and to reuse it Ior
the next traction operation with consequent lower use oI
energy Irom the Ieeding network. Two main ESS
conIigurations are usually implemented Ior railway systems:
mobile ESSs, installed on-board vehicle |6|, and stationary
ones, installed at the substation level or along the track |7|.
Compared to on-board ESSs, stationary ESSs have the
advantage to not be subject to weight and size constraints
imposed by vehicle and to be able to balance the voltage at
weak points oI the network |8|, |9|. Regarding ESSs
implementation, several solutions have been proposed: new
battery technologies |10|, SuperCapacitors (SCs) |4|, |11|, and
Ilywheels |12|. Among them, SCs based ones seems to be the
most attractive because the high speed characteristics oI SCs
response and their 'power source working mode.
Some papers have been written on stationary EES
implementations, |4|, |13|. SCs sizing is designed simply
equating the maximum kinetic energy oI the metro vehicles
with the energy that can be stored by SCs, |14| and |6|, or
using an optimization approach without considering the
related siting, |15|. On the other hand, in literature Iew papers
address the problem oI SCs siting without the constraint to
install the SC in the substation |16|, Iinding optimal solution
placing the SCs in arbitrary number along the track.
This paper proposes a new method Ior the joint siting and
sizing oI SCs, taking into account the track topology - slopes
and radius oI curvature - the electrical characteristics oI the
Ieeding line, the mechanical characteristics oI the vehicle and
its route plan. It is possible to achieve several design solutions
in order to maximize energy eIIiciency, to minimize number
and capacity oI SCs and then, consequently, to reduce costs. In
the Iollowing, Section II describes the models oI the metro
network, vehicles and ESSs used Ior the implementation oI the
proposed simulation tool based on the quasi static` backwards
looking method. Section III describes the case study, whereas
the results oI several simulations are presented and discussed
in Section IV. Finally, conclusions are listed in Section V.
II. MODELS AND SIMULATION TOOL
In order to calculate the power Ilow and the energy
consumption in light railway/metro system with trackside
ESSs, two models have been pointed out and merged: the Iirst
is based on calculus oI traction eIIort necessary to implement
the timetable taking into account both the track and railways
behaviours; the second one, starting Irom the mechanical
eIIort, evaluate the power Ilow on the Ieeding system. The
model obtained has been implemented in a simulation tool
based on the quasi static` backwards looking method. This
method is usually applied in railway and metro simulations,
due its relatively simple models and short simulation times Ior
energy consumption estimation oI vehicles Iollowing an
imposed speed cycle. The speed cycle is divided in small time
steps during which the vehicle variables are supposed to be in
the steady state. The power needed to satisIy the speed cycle is
determined at the wheel level. Then, the power to be provided
by the Ieeding line is estimated calculating the upstream
vehicle components consumption characteristics. The
direction oI the simulation calculation is the opposite oI the
real power Ilow direction. The implemented system model
simulates the behaviour oI a metro line and consists oI three
diIIerent sub-models: the network model, the stationary ESS
model, and the vehicles model.
A. Network model
Substations are simply modelled as ideal DC voltage
sources with series resistance and, in the case oI substations
not reversible, with a series diode |17|.
The connecting lines are modelled as electric resistances
|7|, |15|: since trains are moving between two subsequent
stations or ESSs, the electrical resistance R
a
between the train
and the initial station/ESS, and the electrical resistance R
b

between the train and the next station/ESS, are time variant.
ThereIore, in each time step kT, these values should be
calculated according to:

( )
( ) | |

=
=
T k s d r R
T k s r R
b
a
*
*
(1)
where,
a
R and
b
R are expressed in |O| and was deIined
beIore, r |O/km| represents resistive coeIIicient, d |km| is the
distance between initial and next substations, and s(kT) |km|
is the distance between the train and the initial station or ESS
at the each time step kT.
B. Stationarv ESS model
The stationary ESS model includes the SC modules, the
DC/DC converter and the power Ilow controller. During the
charging period, SCs will receive the regenerative power Irom
the trains and during the discharging period, they will deliver
power to the trains. ThereIore they are modelled as ideal
current sources. A power Ilow controller commands the
DC/DC converter to charge or discharge the SCs, using an
energy management strategy according to the line voltage and
the SCs State oI Charge (SoC). The ideal equivalent circuit oI
SC, composed with Iour elements |18|, is depicted in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. SuperCapacitor electric model.
In the Fig. 1, R
s
is the equivalent series resistance that
models the power loss during the charging and discharging
operations; R
p
is the selI-charge resistance, modelling the
losses due to the leakage current: R
p
is always higher than R
s

in real capacitors. L results primarily Irom the physical
construction oI the SC and its value is usually small. Finally,
C is the SC`s capacity that changes linearly according to the
SC electrodes voltage,
sc
J , according to:
( )
sc
J C C | + = 1
0
. (2)
where
0
C is the SC`s capacity constant value and | |
1
J |
represents the SC`s capacity voltage coeIIicient.
C. Jehicles model
Trains are modelled as current sources absorbing power at
the accelerating time or generating power at the regenerative
breaking time. Starting Irom a given speed cycle, the power at
the wheels is calculated. This power is needed to overcome the
vehicle inertia, slopes and curves, aerodynamic Iriction, and
rolling Iriction. Going upstream the vehicle components and
their related eIIiciencies, the power requested Irom the electric
grid is determined according to:

( )
s accessorie
i m g
r
vehicle
P
v F a m
P +

+
=
q q q
*
. (3)
In (3) P
accessories
is the power required Ior lighting and
cooling (or heating) services, m is the total mass oI the train -
including the passengers -, a is the train acceleration, v is the
train speed, p
g
, p
m
, and p
i
represent, respectively, the gear box
eIIiciency, the motor eIIiciency and the inverter eIIiciency. F
r

is total resistive Iorces computed as sum oI two single terms:
the basic resistance including rolling Iriction and aerodynamic
drag
base
F , and the line resistance
line
F that is caused by track
grade and curves. Total resistive Iorces, then, should be
calculated according to (4) and (5).
) (
2
2 1
v m F
base
+ = o o (4)
( ) ( ) ( ) ) ( sin s r f s g m F
c line
+ = (5)
1
o and
2
o depend on the train characteristics and the wind
speed, and can be obtained by literature or calculated Irom the
train data. The curve resistance ( )
c
f is given by empirical
Iormulas, as in |19|, where is used the Roeckl`s Iormula.
Finally, g is the gravitational acceleration and s is the position
oI the train.
Thus, an ideal current generator models the vehicle: the
current value drawn Irom substations or ESSs (or delivered to
it) is simply calculated as the ratio between vehicle power and
line voltage. ThereIore, it`s necessary do improve the model
with some small capacitance in parallel to the vehicles to
describe the receptivity oI the network under regenerative
braking conditions. Indeed, iI the capacitance was not present,
it would not be possible to simulate the braking phase when
the energy is given back to the line because all the paths Ior
the current Ilow would be closed: substations are blocked,
there aren`t vehicles consuming energy, and ESSs can`t absorb
braking energy iI ESS controller doesn`t detect a growth oI
line voltage. The electric model oI the overall network with
the substations, the storage units, and the vehicle is shown in
Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. Metro network overall electric model.
III. CASE STUDY
The simulator can simulate up to Iour vehicles circulating
simultaneously on the track. ThereIore, it is possible to
evaluate the amount oI energy that the vehicles can exchange
in a conventional line in Iunction oI the number oI vehicles,
line characteristics, and voltage boundaries.
The proposed simulation tool has been validated considering a
metro DC network Ied by two electric substations. Metro
network consists oI Iour subway line sections and Iive
stations, three are intermediate and two are located at the
beginning and at the end oI the line, in correspondence oI the
substations. Network and trains are characterized by the
parameters listed, respectively, in Table I and Table II.
TABLE I. NETWORK PARAMETERS
Parameters Jalue Units
Track`s length 1680 m
Rail electric resistance 0.12 O/km
Number oI ESS 2 -
Substation DC Voltage 750 V
Substation internal resistance 0.02 O
Maximum line voltage 20
Minimum line voltage -33
TABLE II. VEHICLE PARAMETERS
Parameters Jalue Units
Empty mass 21600 kg
Loaded mass 32000 kg
Max. traction power 300 kW
Accessories power 6 kW
Gear box eIIiciency 0.98 -
Motor eIIiciency 0.85 -
Inverter eIIiciency 0.9 -
Every case study includes several number and place oI
ESS modules. Each ESS module is constituted by the series oI
4 SC units: each SC unit has as rating voltage 125 V and
250 F as nominal capacity.
The driving cycle used Ior simulations is shown in Fig. 3:
it consists in repeating Iour times a Iirst phase oI acceleration,
Iollowed by a stretch oI line path at a constant speed and
Iinally ending with the braking phase.

Fig. 3. Test drive cycle.
IV. NUMERICAL RESULTS
Several simulations have been carried out Ior the case
study described in previous Section, in which two identical
trains move in opposite directions implementing the same
driving cycle. The comparison between the case study without
ESS and Iour particular examples oI ESS sizing and siting is
shown in Table III. From Table III rows 2 and 5 it is evident
that despite having a smaller capacity oI SCs installed on the
line, it is possible have a saving energy supplied by the
substation with an appropriate ESS siting. Moreover, Case 4
shows that having ESSs in electric substations, Ior the same
SC capacity, is not a solution that saves the energy delivered
by the Ieeding line.
TABLE III. CASES STUDIED
Case
# SC
modules
Siting [mj Sizing [Fj
Substation
Energy
[kWhj
1 0 - - 5.41
2 2 420, 1260 63, 63 4.33
3 1 840 125 5.12
4 2 0, 1680 63, 63 5.34
5 3 0, 840, 1680 63, 63,63 4.97
The electric substations current trends Ior the reIerence case
without ESSs and 3 cases with the same SC capacity,
described in Table III, are presented. Fig 4 shows the
comparison oI the current supplied by substations to the
Ieeding line without ESSs and to Ieeding line with ESSs
placed in substations: it`s evident that Case 4 isn`t an
interesting design solution because doesn`t get energy saving
and any substation peak current reduction also.

Fig. 4. Comparison oI Case 1 and Case 4 substation current.

Fig. 5. Comparison oI Case 2, and Case 4 substation current.
In Fig 5 it`s evident that compared to the Case 4, an
appropriate siting oI SCs - Case 2 - allows to reduce the
current supplied Irom the substations, with consequent savings
in energy delivered, and, in addiction, on the sizing oI the
power components oI the substations converters also.

Fig. 6. Comparison oI Case 3, and Case 4 substation current.
Fig.6 shows design solution - Case 3 - that involves the
placement oI a single ESS module, with double SC capacity,
in the middle oI the Ieeding line, compared with the Case 4;
We note that Case 3 allows to get a lesser reduction oI peak
current supplied by substation compared with Case 2.
The pantograph voltage trends are presented in Fig.7, Fig.8
and Fig.9. In particular Fig.7 well highlights that the Case 4
does not provide relevant beneIits in terms oI pantograph
voltage undershoot.

Fig. 7. Comparison oI Case 1 and Case 4 pantograph voltage.
Fig.8 and Fig.9 shown the comparison oI the pantograph
voltage in Case 1 (reIerence case study without ESSs), and
pantograph voltage in Case 2 and Case 5. The simulations
show that, despite having a smaller capacity oI SCs wired on
the line, the Case 2 allows to get, during vehicle acceleration
phase, a lesser reduction oI the pantograph voltage, compared
to the Case 5.

Fig. 8. Comparison oI case 1 and case 2 pantograph voltage.
In particular, Fig 8 shows that during acceleration phase, in
the areas near 420 m and 1460 m, that is where the ESS
module has placed, pantograph voltage is more damped than
in the Iarther areas. Similarly, during braking phases,
pantograph voltage is more increased in the areas Iurther away
Irom ESSs; however pantograph voltage remains below the
upper value limit described in Table I.
Regarding Fig. 9, it`s evident that Case 5, that has wired a
greater number oI modules on the Ieeding line, and thus a
higher SCs capacity (3 ESS modules each one having SCs
capacity equal to 63 F) than Case 2, has during the braking
phases a minor raising oI the pantograph voltage.

Fig. 9. Comparison oI Case 1 and Case 5 pantograph voltage.
V. CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, a metro supply network, metro vehicles and
ESSs have been modelled and simulated using Matlab
soItware. A simulation tool allows to compare diIIerent
solutions Ior ESSs siting and sizing and to quantiIy the energy
savings produced by each one oI them has been implemented.
It has also been shown how a joint procedure Ior ESSs siting
and sizing allows, in addition to achieve an increase in energy
savings, to obtain a decrease oI the maximum current
delivered by substations and, thus, a reduction oI the power
converter devices ratings. Finally, has been shown the
pantograph voltage improvements oI a joint siting and sizing
during acceleration and braking phases.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The research activity is part oI research carried out in
research project: 'SFERE Sistemi Ferr
e Risparmio Energetico, developed with the Iinancial support
oI National Operative Program PON R&C. The authors would
like to thank the project coordinator, dr. Luigi Fratelli oI
AnsaldoBreda.
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