Energy Management for Railway Vehicles

Institution: University of Manchester

Dept/School/Faculty: EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Power Networks

PhD Supervisor: Dr R Todd

Application Deadline: Applications accepted all year round

Funding Availability: Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

Supervising academics: R Todd.

Second supervisor TBC. 

Student background required: 
Electrical and electronic engineering with a minimum of a 2:1 honours degree. A strong interest in, and aptitude for, energy storage systems and control. 

Benefit to / Impact on Industry: 
Enormous opportunities for energy storage in rail applications exist, in part due to the high level of regenerative energy which can be captured and stored each time a train slows down. Developing a sizing tool for energy storage for rail, and advanced control methods are crucial to ensure the most effectively use the energy storage asset. 

What novelty will the student base their PhD on? 
Developing a sizing tool for the energy storage system for rail applications. Also, the advanced energy management controller for rail applications. 

Project overview: 
Advanced plans exist to increase the portion of the UK rail network which is electrified. To fully exploit the opportunities of this larger electrified network requires advanced real-time energy management, with local or distributed energy storage, to manage and effectively use the significant regenerative energy. However the anticipated increased traffic on the rail system creates unique challenges as the power sources and sinks keep moving. 

Outline of Proposed Project Plan: 
Year 1: Taught courses and preparatory study 
Year 2: Develop an appropriate fidelity model of a subsystem of a busy rail network with multiple trains to define the operating cycle, including the propulsive power requirements and the regenerative energy capacity 
Year 3: Undertake analysis to select the energy storage technology, size the energy storage system and define the locations of the energy storage system(s) 
Year 4: Devise, implement and demonstrate an advanced energy management controller for a small subsystem of a railway network 

Funding Notes:

This project is funded by EPSRC, the University of Manchester and our Industry partners. Funding is available to UK candidates. EU candidates are also eligible if they have been studying or working continuously in the UK for three or more years (prior to the start date of the programme). The successful candidates will have their fees paid in full and will receive an enhanced maintenance stipend. 

See here for information on how to apply and entry requirements: www.power-networks-cdt.manchester.ac.uk/study/projects-apply