Energy Storage Systems for Power Supply of Ultrahigh Speed Hyperloop Trains

The paper analyses the alternatives for the power supply of a Hyperloop type railway transport. The particular case of the technology of the Spanish company ZELEROS is studied. Specifications related to both a first prototype and a commercial system are presented and the power supply requirements analysed. After considering different alternatives, energy storage based on supercapacitors is obtained as a feasible and competitive solution for the power supply of this application due to the power/energy ratio and the cycles capability. A preliminary design methodology for the energy storage requirements is presented in the paper. Once selected the type of linear motor, the power supply scheme is presented, based on a motor-side power electronic converter and a DC/DC converter which connects to the energy storage devices. An additional low power grid-tie converter for the recharge of the energy storage system is also used. Different track sections are defined, connected to the power electronic converter through corresponding switches, being supplied sequentially when the capsule presence is detected along the track. The number of track sections depends on the limitations of voltage and current, defined by the power electronic converter selected and particular issues like current density selection and the evaluation of skin effect are very important for this application.