Energy recovery effectiveness in trolleybus transport

Abstract

Nowadays the issue of electric energy saving in public transport is becoming a key area of interest which is connected both with a growth in environmental awareness of the society and an increase in the prices of fuel and electricity. One of the possibilities to reduce energy consumption in urban public transport is to increase the extent of regenerative braking energy utilization. This can be achieved by its accumulation in the supercapacitors or a change in the topology of the power supply system in order to facilitate its flow. The article presents an analysis of applying these two options for increasing recovery energy usage on the example of the trolleybus network in the Polish city of Gdynia. For the purpose of the analysis there was used a simulation model of trolleybus traction power system based on the Monte Carlo simulation method. The research results and findings can be applied in other similar trolley or tram networks.