Power Factor and Higher Harmonic Currents of the Electric Power System for a High-Power Three- Phase AC Electrified Automated Guideway Transit

In three-phase ac electrified automated guideway transit (AGT) systems, the car uses a thyristor phase control type controller. The controller has a low power factor, and it generates higher harmonic currents to the power line. Such AGT systems as the Osaka- Nanko Port Town line which opened in 1981, need much more electric power than conventional personal rapid transit systems. In such a case, the harmonic currents at the receiving point are necessary not to exceed the limits of the power company. A simulator has been developed to calculate electric power and higher harmonic currents in a multivehicle power feeding system. Simulations for the Osaka-Nanko Port Town AGT system show that the average power factor is less than 0.7 and harmonic currents exceed the limits with no countermeasures. After several simulations, we developed the power feeding system which uses a fifth higher harmonic filter of 250 kVA at all seven feeding substations, and seventh, eleventh, and thirteenth harmonic filters, which total 1.0 MVA, at the receiving substation.