Battery with Integrated Power Supply (BALIN)

Abstract

: The BALIN is a modern device, consisting of a battery with integrated battery charger, dedicated to powering the 24 V services of the carriages. In various Trenitalia rolling stock, used for the regional transport of travelers, there are old and obsolete battery charger devices and there are lead acid batteries that need frequent maintenance operations to be kept efficient. These components, due to their low reliability, are the source of serious disruptions to passenger transport, and the management of their maintenance involves high costs for Trenitalia. In order to solve these problems, Trenitalia has therefore decided to invest resources to develop a new system of integrated power supplies and batteries, therefore the BALIN has been developed. The main advantages of BALIN compared to the original components are the presence of a high energy efficiency battery charger designed to operate in a wide range of temperatures and the presence of sealed lead-acid batteries without maintenance with a life exceeding 6 years. The BALIN is able to disconnect its own batteries from the carriage electrical circuits. The BALIN battery charger also implements an intelligent battery management logic and thanks to the interface with the command and control signals present on the rolling stock, the batteries are isolated from the carriage electric load automatically when the train is off and the service it's over. Another important automatic feature of the BALIN is to protect its batteries from deep discharge, in fact the power supply from the batteries to the electric carriage loads is interrupted when the voltage reaches 21 V. The characteristics mentioned go towards the reduction of the charge/discharge cycles of batteries and contribute to increasing the reliability and durability of batteries throughout the entire life of the rolling stock.