Differentiating/integrating measurement setup applied to railway environment

Abstract

Large-scale tests at the new Harbor Railway Line in The Netherlands asked for a dedicated measuring system for all currents at eight cross sections of the railway. The differentiating/integrating measurement scheme with adapted versions of Rogowski coils and special integrators fulfilled the requirements with respect to accuracy, bandwidth, electromagnetic compatibility, life-time, and environmental constraints. Three types of current sensors were developed; their air-core guaranteed linearity over the full current range up to 20 kA. Most importantly, the sensors allowed unimpeded rail transport. The paper discusses the sensors, the rationale, and tests, as well as the integrators. The system has been successfully employed, before and after the large-scale tests, in Luxembourg and Portugal. A few out of much data gathered show the broad applicability of the system.