Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - OPEUS (Modelling and strategies for the assessment and OPtimisation of Energy USage aspects of rail innovation)

Teaser

Railways have traditionally been regarded as an environmentally friendly form of transport however improvements in other modes have put this statement into question. The majority of advances in recent times aiming at reducing energy consumption in railway systems have focused...

Summary

Railways have traditionally been regarded as an environmentally friendly form of transport however improvements in other modes have put this statement into question. The majority of advances in recent times aiming at reducing energy consumption in railway systems have focused on the vehicles and in particular the traction system itself, primarily by using regenerative braking, applying energy-efficient driving strategies, or improving the propulsion chain efficiency. A significant aspect differentiating railways from other transport modes is the comparatively longer life of its vehicles, which are expected to operate in excess of 30 years, leading to slower market penetration of new technologies and design advances. The use of energy storage systems (ESSs) is an area of increasing attention for rail-related research. The predictable nature of railway operations with clearly defined control strategies (e.g. timetables) represents a clear opportunity to explore the uptake of ESSs to optimise energy use.

It is in this context that the OPEUS project operates. The project began on 1st November 2016 with the aim of developing a simulation methodology and accompanying modelling tool to evaluate, improve and optimise the energy consumption of rail systems with a particular focus on in-vehicle innovation.

Six partners from five different EU countries have come together to work collaboratively towards six main project objectives:
• To define a simplified but universal energy requirements outlook for European urban rail systems.
• To develop a comprehensive rail energy usage simulation methodology.
• To develop an energy consumption simulation modelling tool for assessment purposes and applicable to urban, regional, high speed and freight duty cycles.
• To further assess the role and optimisation potential of driver advisory systems (DAS) in relation to control strategies for different representative duty cycles and traction types.
• To further assess the potential for energy usage optimisation of novel technologies (e.g. next generation ESSs) and strategies (e.g. engine power-off at low loads).
• To provide a critique of the energy consumption outlook for railway systems.

OPEUS is part of the cross-cutting activities as identified on the S2R Multi-Annual Action plan (MAAP) and linked to the member’s project FINE1.

Work performed

OPEUS is delivering its objectives through 7 technical Work Packages (WPs), the first 6 of which are completed and/or underway:
• WP1 has completed, defining the urban rail systems energy requirements in Europe
• WP2 has completed, defining and developing a theoretical simulation model based upon the previously developed SP7 tool (TRL3, from the CleanER-D project), it being validated to result in the OPEUS tool (TRL5)
• WP3 has developed reference scenarios corresponding to urban, regional, high speed and freight operations. These are now being used to perform simulations to provide a baseline against which to assess the energy consumption profile of future innovations
• WP4, WP5 and WP6 comprise studies regarding DAS, in-vehicle energy losses and advanced ESSs respectively. These WPs are all well underway, with initial investigations into each area now developing into more comprehensive strategies, analyses and assessments
• WP7 is due to commence at Month 22 (August 2018) utilising the outputs from the previous WPs 1 - 6.

In summary, the project is halfway to its lifetime. It has already managed to successfully organise, drive and lead consensus amongst different stakeholders to agree on a simulation methodology and tool that can be used by all, a process that has been made possible by the efforts made by both the project team and colleagues from the energy component of the member’s project FINE1. This has been translated into a clear opportunity to explore energy optimisation and decarbonisation strategies e.g. through the application of the OPEUS intermediate results to specific scenarios exploring real operational cases where the introduction of new technology (ESUs/ESSs) could bring tangible energy usage efficiency and optimisation results.

Final results

International EU-Funded collaborative initiatives such as CleanER-D (Grant Agreement No.FP7-234338), OSIRIS (Grant agreement No. SCP1-GA-2011-284868), Roll2Rail (Grant agreement No. 636032) and RailEnergy (Grant Agreement No. TIP5-CT-2006-031458), have already successfully identified technologies able to contribute to the optimisation of energy usage as well as developing tools that support the assessment of individual solutions, both for mainline and urban applications. Other projects such as MERLIN (Grant agreement No. FP7 – 314125) have gone beyond these to provide modelling architectures for an integrated optimisation approach that includes multiple elements, dynamic forecasting supply-demand scenarios and cost considerations to support operational and strategic decisions leading to an intelligent management of energy and resources.

OPEUS is building on the outcomes of these projects. The aim of the project is to develop a simulation methodology and accompanying modelling tool to evaluate, improve and optimise the energy consumption of rail systems with a particular focus on in-vehicle innovation.

The OPEUS concept is based on the need to understand and measure the energy being used by each of the relevant components of the rail system and in particular the vehicle. This includes the energy losses in the traction chain, the use of technologies to reduce these and to optimise energy consumption (e.g. Energy Storage Units and Systems). Specifically, the OPEUS approach has three components at its core:

I. the energy simulation model;
II. the energy use requirements (e.g. duty cycles)
III. the energy usage outlook and optimisation strategies recommendation.

OPEUS is integrating in its research urban and suburban rail systems which represent the most significant area where energy efficient solutions can make a remarkable contribution to overall energy optimisation goals and increasing its impact. Furthermore, through the involvement of UITP, UIC, S2R and the coordinator, OPEUS is preparing a position paper that will provide a clear outlook on the energy optimisation and efficiency prospect of European Rail Systems. The transparency and availability of the results (all deliverables are public) amplifies the impact that OPEUS can have in delivering energy efficiency solutions to the rail sector.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.opeus-project.eu.