High-voltage transducer offers more safety on railway vehicles

The requirements placed on railway vehicles have increased significantly in recent years. Products for rolling stock need to ensure a higher level of functional safety than ever before to make the travel experience more comfortable, safer and reliable for the end user – the railway customers. New technologies must be developed to meet future application requirements as well. Based on these points, Knick decided to fundamentally redesign one of its core product groups. 

The P50000 high-voltage transducers are used to monitor primary circuits on traction units and locomotives. They measure the voltages and currents coming from the contact wire, and help with energy management and emergency shutdown in case of a short circuit. They are so precise and fast that they can even be used as sensors for charging the energy required by the train.

High-voltage measurement involves the processing of dangerously high voltages and associated electrical power. If a short circuit is not switched off immediately, it can cause fire. On a train, this places a direct and considerable risk to the safety of the passengers and staff. Short circuits must therefore be reliably detected by measurement. Furthermore, the high-voltage transducer itself should never be dangerous – neither during maintenance nor after years of railway operation. These aspects have been taken into account for the construction and design of the P50000 series, much of which had not existed in the industry up until now.

Contact protection during maintenance

The protective cover for the high-voltage input terminals provides defined clean separation distances and prevents overlays, (e.g. in ventilated roof boxes,) which are prone to contamination. In addition, protection from external contact is assured, especially important during maintenance servicing. Conductive parts can be installed as close as needed to the housing, as the necessary distances are already defined by the protective cover. It is no longer necessary to pay as much attention to adjacent equipment or metal parts during installation, as it had been in the past.