effiDCent - DC-powered busbars for efficient energy transfer in production lines

In the project effiDCent, the iFE, together with partners from business and research, is researching DC-based busbars for efficient energy transfer in production lines, e.g. in electric monorails. Significant innovations are the massive saving of copper through direct current transmission and alternative conductor materials, as well as the use of a central DC supply with error shutdown and size reduction of the converter.

The regulated DC voltage, the arc detection, the energy saving by increasing the speed of the three-phase motors and the attachment of distributed buffer capacitors along the busbar can meet high load requirements for a short time. This system offers the possibility of keeping the system "dynamically stable", at the same time reducing the overall capacity of the system and integrating intelligent energy storage.

The installation of buffer capacitors along the conductor rail is breaking new research ground - in particular ensuring stability is a challenge. Nevertheless, the advantages of the DC-powered rail system are considerable. The switch from alternating to direct current in combination with buffer capacitors significantly reduces the copper requirement of the rail by up to 50% and increases the efficiency of the customers by up to 15%. In addition, the central DC supply and the buffering capacity allow a significantly simpler construction of the customers. With the help of intelligent energy storage devices, the infeed will in future only have to be designed for the nominal and not for the peak power. This saves costs and relieves the burden on the supply network. In the end, the applicants expect that the total energy efficiency of an electric monorail system will be increased by 17-25% through the proposed innovations alone.

The project is managed by Paul VAHLE GmbH & Co. KG. Associate partner is E-T-A Elektrotechnische Apparate GmbH.