A study of power factor correction techniques for high power AC locomotives

The authors describe a comparison of power factor correction (PFC) methods, which is intended to provide guidelines for selecting equipment. In order to carry out this study, a systematic personal computer based method of power electronic circuit analysis is developed, tailored to the task of comparing traction drive systems, which the authors describe. Using this generalised simulation package a brief comparison of various power factor correction schemes is also presented, thus enabling an initial engineering assessment of the various options