IGBT and public transit

IGBT plays an important role in public transit these days.

Suburban railway systems, one of major public transit tools, are trusted by a huge number of mass people from all over the world for their regular travel to and from work. Beside the urban transit system, electric trains have turned into a common way for travelling within metropolises in Europe and Asia. Very fast bullet trains in China, Japan and Europe enable journey by massive numbers of people by not consuming fossil fuel. Petrol/octane fueled cars and gasoline powered aircraft liquidates fossil fuel which is very bad for our environment. IGBT develops the motor drive technology greatly by ejecting snubber circuits and enhancing the operating frequency of the inverter circuit implemented to provide power to the motors.

Train traction has become one of the utmost taxing applications for power electronic modules due to the tough weather influences like moisture, dust and comprehensive temperature span. Power electronic gets into trouble from the trembles within the trains besides the electric and thermal load. The high number of acceleration and deceleration rounding operation causes extreme demands concerning power and thermal-cycling ability.

High potent IGBT modules are applied to meet the special needs of this particular infliction. These modules are specifically designed to be used in transportation and analogous applications. For achieving dependable, secure and cost-effective operation, IGBT devices in voltage classes 3.3KV, 4.5KV and 6.5KV with improved mechanized and thermionic features are placed in trains around the world.

High-speed switching IGBTs are used in main circuits by modern train traction systems. This high-speed switching lessens electromagnetic noise which is generated by the primary motor and enhances the efficiency of energy conversion. Traction system for trains employ an induction motor as the main driving motor and a VVVF inverter as a control unit, and they have improved remarkably as AC equipment especially because the main circuit semiconductor elements have rapidly improved. Today, more than 20 years after the initiation of application, new equipment is 100% designed for AC driving. Since the history of the shift to AC has largely depended on the technological advancement of main circuit semiconductors, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation is in an advantageous position in the industry, with the development of main circuit semiconductors, the manufacturing of chips, and the assembly tests of conductors all performed successively within the company.

Now-a-days, main circuit semiconductors usually employ a two-level main circuit configuration, consisting of IGBTs that can perform driving control with low power consumption, and an intelligent power module (IPM) that is equipped with a driver and protection functions. The main circuit semiconductors available today have much more delicate mechanisms which are becoming closer to ideal converters.

USComponent.com had been selling IGBT power transistor modules since 2001. Thyssen Krupp, OTIS, IXYS, SONY DADC, General Motors, Hongkong Electric Holdings Limited, Singapore Mass Rapid Transit Trains LTD, Verkehrsbetriebe Zurich, Czech Airlines, Molex, Cisco, Omron, Good Year Tires, Thai Airasia, Boeing, Xilinx, LEAR SIEGLER, and General Electric.

 USComponent.com has a Quality Control Team like no other. This means that we know how to work hard in order to ensure to make sure that the quality of all of the parts we’re selling is high. Because we only sell new and original electronic parts, we provide our customers with a 30-day warranty. And because we have connections with IGBT power transistor modules manufacturers, OEMs and distributors, we’re able to pass any savings on to our customers, giving them a lower price while still providing them with the quality products they deserve. Our inventory is carefully managed and held to the highest standards, and stored in a controlled environment warehousing facility.

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David Smith, Senior Vice President of USComponent.com </a>, an IGBT power transistor module distributor since 2001.