The jury of the Polish Product of the Future competition appreciated the innovativeness of the solution, awarding it a distinction in the Joint Product of the Future category to institutions of higher education and science and to entrepreneurs. Production of the switches under licence from TUL will start this year with industrial partner ZAE Woltan. According to Prof Piotr Borkowski, head of the Department of Electrical Apparatus, who heads the project, companies such as NEWAG S.A., PKP CARGO S.A. and PESA Bydgoszcz S.A. are already interested in the switch. The vacuum-hybrid technology developed at the Department of Electrical Apparatus has also been selected by CERN to protect the Large Hadron Collider.
The award-winning circuit breakers are intended primarily for use in DC railway traction systems, domestically and in foreign markets, and prospectively in other types of urban and mining electrical traction and industrial systems (electro-thermal, drive equipment, converters, etc.).
The ultra-high-speed DCU-HMs developed at Lodz University of Technology have features unattainable by the magneto-blow circuit breakers currently in use. Their task is to conduct and switch off currents - operating, overload, short-circuit - occurring in a given traction system and to limit overvoltages.
The ultra-fast operation of the DCU-HM results in extremely effective limitation of short-circuit currents without the switching surges eliminated by autonomously operating arresters. The current cut-off time is in the order of single milliseconds.
- When our ultra-fast DC circuit breakers are used, the number of faults and their consequences will be significantly reduced, extending the service life of the rolling stock. The circuit breakers have features that are beneficial for the implementation of the principle of sustainability, emphasises Prof. Piotr Borkowski.
All the circuit-breaker assemblies are controlled by fibre-optic or electrical signals via a specialised microcomputer, with control and adjustment of the DCU-HM parameters from a service computer. The innovativeness of the award-winning circuit breaker is based on its hybridisation, modular design allowing it to be mounted in various locations on the vehicle, standardisation, optimisation and a number of special functions, such as recording of measurements of operating parameters, computerised control of the circuit breaker's condition, computerised adjustment of protection tripping thresholds and a counter of circuit breaker tripping and its type, as well as data archiving and viewing of the history of events over a period of three years.
The organisers of the event promoting the most innovative products and cutting-edge technologies are the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development and the National Centre for Research and Development, and the partners are the Ministry of Development and Technology and the Ministry of Education and Science. The competition is also held under the patronage of the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy.