SOFT  STARTER EDPS* FOR HEAVY COMBUSTION ENGINES

(*EDPS -Electronic-Digital Direct Current Power Switch)

SEROT  - An Introduction

The company was registered in Beijing in 2008. The senior partner is Walter BAUM, a German physicist, who has lived in Beijing for over 25 years. The other partners are Hartmut OERTEL, Shanghai, and Dr. Andreas SZESNY, Qingdao.

The business objective of the company is the development and production of devices which save energy and resources as well as the improvement of existing technologies under environmental aspects:

We apply state-of-the-art data processing, high amperage electronics and mechatronics applications for the optimization and technical improvement of equipment, including existing equipment.

These products have been developed in China and are to be introduced as genuine Chinese products and will be exported as such.

The following is an introduction of the “soft starter” for heavy combustion engines. This product is suitable for the development and the refurbishment of older combustion engines in all cases where direct current puts considerable masses into motion, such as in a heavy diesel engine, where through the application of modern technologies much energy and material can be saved and wear-and-tear be avoided at the source.

The principle and advantages of the soft starter

Devices called “soft starters” -for the “soft” starting of electrical motors have been in use in many appliances with an alternate current drives. They can be found, e.g., in almost any modern household refrigerator. They eliminate the expensive impulse with its often annoying after-effects that often occur when powering up older electric appliances. However, according to our knowledge, there is no corresponding device for direct current and high amperage uses which would be necessary, e.g., for use with a high-powered starter motor.

SEROT has developed a soft starter for the engines of diesel locomotives, which can also be employed in other heavy machines, like tanks. With our soft starter, each engine start occurs more efficiently, with less power being required.

The soft starter controls the power supply at each starting operation, by giving impulses of increasing length until the power reaches its full required strength. This method has the following advantages:

• The peak current occurring at each starting operation, e.g., of the engine of the Chinese diesel locomotive “Dongfeng D4”, is reduced from approx. 2,400 Amperes to below 600 Amperes.
• Wear and tear of the batteries is substantially reduced. Each normal start causes a considerable wear like that of a short circuit with the consequence that the batteries overheat and, among others, much water evaporates from the battery fluid.
• Without the softarter, through simply interposed additional super capacitors in the normal starter engine and due to the consequently reduced internal resistance Ri the current peak is increased substantially andtherefore the reduction of the current peak with our soft starter is even greater.
• The engine can be safely started even if the batteries are not fully charged.
• Attrition of the commutator brushes is substantially reduced and brush sparking is avoided.
• Attrition of the sprockets and the cogwheels in the starter engine as well as in the engine itself is substantially reduced because the acceleration of the engine does not occur suddenly but slowly and in a controlled and steady manner.
• Energy saving alone amounts to more than 33% per starting operation.

All switching is conducted “dry” (i.e. there is no occurrence of an electric arc) as it is carried out electronically inside an IGBT (a family of high-power transistors) and the contactor, which is normally worn out after awhile by the electric arc, is built in solely for security purposes and, for practical purposes, suffers no wear and tear.

The process of starting with the soft starter as compared to starting the engine without takes about one second longer, which is hardly noticeable.

The "soft starter" can be installed in place of the contactor by any trained electrician.

The measurements of the present soft starter are chosen to fit into the slot of the contactor in a “Dongfeng D4” locomotive. Other sizes are available (e.g. 19 inches).

Additional details:

• The selling price of the soft starter is only slightly higher than that of a regular contactor which has to be exchanged at regular intervals (below RMB 20,000).
• The device can be reconditioned and cleaned after the contract period and be re-used as a reconditioned device, as there is no occurrence of wear and tear under normal operating conditions.
• For technical specifications and details please ask for additional data or refer to the enclosed list.
• The soft starter can be supplied with additional, customized functionalities, like interlocking and surveillance as well as temperature and operating voltage monitoring.
• A real-time protocol is being developed, which will enable all events to be read out, even on board the locomotive.

Our intention:

We are looking for:

• A facility for the demonstration of the capabilities of our soft starter and the performance of an intensive test of the device (preferably a test bay, later a locomotive for a long-term field test)
• Accreditation by the Chinese railways authorities
• Potential marketing and sales channels
• A strong partner for marketing and sales as well as liaison with the relevant departments of the railway and other possible users.

Other developments within  the same product family

Apart from the "soft starter", we can supply the following devices for heavy engines:

• An electronic switch for the locomotive's compressors. This switch features the same advantage of wear and tear reduction as the "soft-starter" and is designed for continuous operation.
• A unique battery/power supply architecture which enables the engine to be started from a new generation of super capacitors instead of the batteries.
• A novel switching technology with which these super capacitors can be optimally charged - if necessary, even immediately before the start.
• An optimized battery charge program enabling the supercaps to be charged either normally, i.e. over a period of several hours, or during the warm-up phase of the locomotive, even from an outside 220 V DC source.

Advantages of this architecture combined with the above solutions:

• Required battery capacities are substantially reduced .
• Batteries can be appropriately charged and discharged in line with their physical characteristics and without overheating. In this way, the life of the batteries is extended considerably and the need for maintenance is reduced accordingly.
• The start of the heavy engine, which up to now imposes a heavy stress on the batteries that is comparable to a short circuit, does not interfere with the locomotive's electronics, and there is no need for a back-up battery for the sensitive electronic equipment. Technical data of the EDPS