The high-speed rail reaches a speed of 350 kilometers per hour, so how to power it? Don't worry, China has its own tricks
With a speed of 350 kilometers per hour and an operating mileage of more than 40,000 kilometers, China's high-speed rail has become one of the most advanced railways in the world, and this creates a problem. It is obvious that high-speed rail uses electricity as a power source. The speed is as high as 350 kilometers per hour, so how to power it? Don't worry, for this problem, China has its own coup. Since the high-speed rail consumes so much power, how to power it after running? China has long thought about the answer to this question. The power grid above the high-speed rail is an important facility for power supply. In this issue, I will tell you how the high-speed rail supplies power.
The picture shows the high-speed rail line
At present, domestic high-speed railways mainly operate at two speeds, 350 kilometers per hour and 250 kilometers per hour. The faster the running speed, the greater the traction required, and the higher the power consumption. A high-speed rail running at a speed of 10 kilometers per hour needs to consume 4,800 kWh of electricity in one hour, and when the speed is increased to 350 kilometers, it needs to consume 9,600 kWh. It can be said that a considerable part of the high-speed rail fare is used to pay for the train operation process. However, it should be pointed out that even if high-speed rail consumes such a large amount of electricity, if calculated according to the per capita cost, high-speed rail is still more environmentally friendly than means of transportation such as airplanes and cars.
Such huge power consumption means that high-speed rail must provide power through a special high-load power grid, and its power supply process is also very different from household electricity. The power supply for households is mainly transmitted from power plants to power supply companies. These companies then carry out transmission and distribution, but the electricity for high-speed rail is directly transmitted to the traction substation after the power plant generates electricity.
The picture shows the domestic high-speed rail
The reason why it needs to pass through the traction substation to be transmitted to the power grid is because the electric energy transmitted by the high-voltage wires cannot be directly supplied to the high-speed rail. In addition, since the high-speed rail line is often hundreds of kilometers long, it is impossible to provide electricity from only one substation. Along the way, there will be multiple substations arranged along a certain distance to supply power to the designated section.
In order to ensure that there is no danger of a short circuit between the same substation, there will be a 100-meter-long no-power section between the two power supply sections. The high-speed rail cannot obtain power in this section, so it can only rely on its own inertia and The speed slips past, but because it runs so fast, it is difficult for passengers to actually feel the power disconnection. Since the car itself is also equipped with equipment such as emergency batteries, even if the power is disconnected, the lighting system and other important facilities are Do not lose energy and stop running.
The picture shows the high-speed rail
In addition, in order to avoid the impact of unexpected power outages, the high-speed rail adopts the secondary circuit hot backup method. When one of the two circuits is powered off, it can automatically switch to the other circuit at a millisecond speed, and the two circuits are connected by Different substations supply power. Except for natural disasters such as earthquakes, there is almost no possibility that the two substations can be stopped at the same time. Therefore, the power supply of the high-speed rail is very stable, which can basically guarantee the operation of the whole year. There was a power outage, which once again demonstrated China's strong technical strength in the field of high-speed rail.