Determination of electric rolling stock operational indicators optimal values according to the criterion of energy efficiency

The article deals with the issue of improving the energy efficiency of DC and AC electric locomotives operated at the enterprises of JSC “Russian Railways». The main goals and objectives of the development program and energy strategy of JSC «Russian Railways» are analyzed and briefly considered. In accordance with these tasks, the relevance of scientific research in the field of improving the energy efficiency of electric locomotives is substantiated. The current data on traction rolling stock, on modern traction resource management systems and on Russian and foreign scientific research in the field of energy efficiency are analyzed. As a result of the analysis, it was found that most of the studies are aimed at studying the influence of key operational factors on energy efficiency indicators, so, in this case, on the specific power consumption for train traction. However, the reverse question has been poorly studied - the selection of the train mass and the technical speed on the basis of a preliminary assessment of the specific power consumption for train traction by analyzing the statistical data of trips on a certain section of the railway. The purpose of this study is to assess the possibility and develop a method for determining the optimal values of the key parameters of the operation of electric freight locomotives in order to achieve maximum operational efficiency in relation to them according to the criterion of energy efficiency. Two models were created in the program «Complex of calculations of traction power supply» (CORTES) - for DC and AC electric locomotives, describing the dependence of the energy efficiency indicator (specific power consumption for train traction) on operational indicators, such as the train mass and the technical speed. The initial data for further modeling were obtained by modeling trips on a conditional site.