A new traction system with asymmetrical six-phase permanent magnet synchronous motors for hydrogen trains

This paper proposes a new traction system with asymmetrical six-phase permanent magnet synchronous motors to replace traditional induction and permanent magnet machines for hydrogen trains. The main benefit of the proposed traction system is the elimination of the boost converters of the fuel cells (FCs) and the battery. The proposed traction system has two three-phase inverters feeding separately the six-phase machine and controlled to achieve optimal power sharing between the FC and the battery. The model of the system and its control has been implemented on a micro-controller and validated with a hardware-in-the-loop simulator. A comparison of the proposed topology with traditional motor drives has shown a mass reduction of 85% and a volume reduction of around 14% for basic components. Therefore, the proposed traction configuration and power-sharing strategy is a very interesting candidate for hydrogen trains.