Operation and Control of Fuel Cell Powered Tower Wagon

Diesel-electric tower wagons are used for periodic inspection, patrolling, and maintenance of overhead equipment by the Indian Railways. To reduce the carbon footprint, it is recommended that the diesel engine be replaced with a fuel cell along with the battery energy storage system (BESS). The BESS is required to support the fuel cell during transient operations such as startup and speed change. This paper aims to introduce the power architecture of the fuel cell powered tower wagon and propose the control strategy to operate the fuel cell as the primary energy source and the BESS assists the fuel cell. The control strategy of each power converter is discussed in detail and their performance is validated through simulation results in MATLAB/Simulink.