Electrotechnical Institute - Propulsion Power Converters, Auxiliary Traction Converters and Vehicle Control Systems

The electric traction department is a part of the Electrotechnical Institute and was founded in 1946. For 60 years the traction department has been successfully involved in most rail, tramcar and trolleybus projects in Poland.

Electrical traction equipment

Our main activity is the design and production of propulsion power converters, auxiliary traction converters, vehicle control systems and other electrical equipment for tramcars, trolleybuses, high power and shunting locomotives, local trains, rail buses and light trains. We also run our own R&D department, which works in several fields of traction including power converters, electrical machines and stray current analysis. Our laboratory is certified for testing all electrical traction equipment to be used in Poland.

During last few years our products and systems have been installed in many vehicles including:

• Tramcar type 105N2k - 140pcs (choppers and control systems)
• Locomotive type EM10 - 4pcs (choppers and control systems)
• Locomotive type EL2 - 10pcs (choppers and static converters)
• Locomotive EP09 - 47pcs (electrodynamic braking system)
• Trolleybus type PR110 and Solaris - 12pcs (choppers and control systems)
• Tramcar type 105N - 300pcs (fast circuit breakers)
• Tramcar type 105N (refurbished) - 30pcs (choppers and inverters)
• Tramcar type 116N - hybrid battery powered supply
• Several other types of tramcar - static converters

Traction vehicle design and production

We design and manufacture the following equipment for the new production and refurbishment of traction vehicles:

• DC propulsion converters (choppers) for DC motors (up to 5MW)
• AC propulsion converters for three-phase asynchronous motors (up to 1MW)
• Static / auxiliary converters for traction vehicles
• Vehicle / train control and diagnostic systems
• Batteries – ultra-capacitor energy storage systems for tramcars / locomotives
• GPS and GPRS control system technology for traction vehicles
• Driver MMI communication systems
• UIC557 diagnostics systems on passenger rolling stock
• Electrodynamic braking systems for locomotives
• Corrosion protection systems for metros, cables, tubes and pipelines
• Transformers for static converters, reactors, chokes and EMC power filters
• Fast hybrid circuit breakers for tramcars
• Anti-slip / skid devices for traction
• Traction automatic test stands for electric motors, and power and static converters

Other non-typical devices and systems can be produced to customer specifications.

Electrotechnical research and development

Products currently being studied by our research and development team include a new type of high-power traction drive (propulsion), onboard static / auxiliary converters, stray current analysis and cathodic corrosion protection.

Testing laboratory and certification

Our laboratory is well equipped with the highest class of measurement equipment and power supply for testing 600VDC, 750VDC, 1,500VDC, and 3,000VDC up to 3MW traction equipment. Our laboratory performs tests according to international railway and traction standards and work complies with the European ISO9001:2001.