SURGE PROTECTION FOR SOLID STATE RAILROAD SIGNAL EQUIPMENT

Railroad signaling and communications equipment must operate under conditions that causes electrical surges. The problem of surge protection has been solved for conventional devices, and is now being solved for solid state devices. Electrical surges can be caused by lightning discharges, by power system switching and fault surges, and by the space charge associated with a cloud. Solid state devices are generally subject to damage by breakdown in the reverse direction. Protection problems can be grouped into three general areas: (1) AC power lines, (2) battery power supplies, and (3) information circuits of AC or modulated DC. The report describes the approaches taken for each of the three areas. Various methods of protection are explained and are illustrated with circuit diagrams.

• Corporate Authors:

  Safetran Systems Corporation

  Railroad Accessories Company Division
  Minneapolis, MN  United States  55421
• Publication Date: 1971-6-1

Media Info

• Pagination: 21 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Communications; Electric power supply; Interference; Signaling
• Uncontrolled Terms: Surge protection
• Old TRIS Terms: Lightning arrestors
• Subject Areas: Energy; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00046072
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Safetran Systems Corporation
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 16 1976 12:00AM