AC Drives in Traction Applications

DC motors and drives have previously been the choice for traction applications. The desire to use an induction motor in similar applications has been unfulfilled due to the absence of a suitable ac drive controller that could fully exploit the economical, rugged, and simple ac induction motor. AC drives using vector-control techniques are available to gain the high-performance operation in precise-torque and four-quadrant applications. This paper describes the use of such a drive for locomotion of large coal-handling equipment.