Power electronics used in Chinese electric locomotives

The Chinese railways are characterized by a wide range of various locomotive series. Nowadays, 80% of the locomotives driven by electricity run on the most main railroads. Most of the electric locomotives designed by AC-DC traction system till 2003 while DJ1 locomotives manufactured by AC-DC-AC traction system. Power Electronics is one of the pivotal parts of the whole locomotive equipment, playing important roles in power outputting, traction torque releasing, brake dynamic inflicting etc. This paper probes into 3 ages of the power electronics technology used in the electrical locomotives in China. The line-commutated control (thyristor and diodes) and the line-commutated control (thyristor and diodes) in traction and auxiliary system delegates the different age. Problems in system design concerning match of invert and asynchronous traction motor are discussed. Main circuit diagram, power electronics and general technical parameters are presented. At last, The paper gives a comparison of the traction characteristic for the electrical locomotive in different age.