The Converter Restart Sequence of Electronic Frequency Converters for the Tokaido Shinkansen at a Transient Fault on the Power Receiving Side

Abstract

In the Tokaido Shinkansen, we use frequency conversion substations (FCs) for obtaining the unified 60Hz feeding power frequency. We try to replace rotary frequency changers (RFCs) to new electronic frequency converters (EFCs) with the same rated capacity at the two FCs in the Tokaido Shinkansen. EFCs have advantages of low-loss, low-cost of maintenance, flexibility in operation, and layout easiness compared to RFCs. When there is a transient fault on the power system of the utility company (EFCs’ power receiving side), an instantaneous voltage drop on the power receiving side is detected. Then, an EFC is stopped for the operation, and it takes time to restart the EFC with the maintenance staff's manual control. Therefore, we have introduced a new operation method of EFCs, “converter restart sequence,” to realize restarting EFCs in a short time at the fault. This paper presents the new operation method for EFCs renewed from RFCs.