This paper describes an innovative integrated solution for monitoring and protection of the power supply system of electric traction. The development of electronics devices, new possibilities to communicate (wireless), and new sensors makes it possible to design, develop and implement new hardware–software structures in various fields such as energy systems, transportation infrastructure, etc. This contributes to increasing developments in the monitoring and protection of railway infrastructure. A monitoring and protection system that uses sensors and devices to acquire electrical parameters from railway infrastructure has been developed and applied for fault detection and protection of power supply systems from electric traction. The solution of monitoring and protection presented are composed of a hardware–software structure with Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) communication for monitoring of power supply installations from the electric traction and a central remote system composed of a device with GSM communication and a server that will allow, among others things, accurate detection of the block section (SC), in which an electrical fault (short circuit) has occurred, determination of the circuit breakers electro-erosion from the railway installations and an indication of the opportune moment for maintenance activity, respectively, as well as knowledge of the technical condition of some equipment from the return circuit. The proposed and developed method for monitoring devices has been validated in the railway laboratory to confirm its capability to detect defects and was tested in the field. Experimental results in the field and appropriate data analysis are included in this article.

Nowadays, sensors and condition monitoring systems are expanding rapidly and becoming cheaper. This contributes to increasing developments in condition monitoring in railway transport infrastructure. A condition monitoring system that uses an online device and sensors to acquire electrical parameters from railway infrastructure has been developed and applied for fault detection and diagnosis of impedance bonds. The impedance bond condition is monitored in real-time using current and temperature sensors, providing early warning if predefined thresholds are exceeded in terms of currents, imbalance currents, and temperatures. The proposed method and the developed monitoring device have been validated in the railway laboratory to confirm its capability to detect defects. The acquired parameters from impedance bonds are used to extract thermal stresses and technical conditions of this equipment. Experimental results and appropriate data analysis are included in the article.

Due to the growing number, diversity and spreading of magnetic field sources, an increasing need to determine the field levels of human exposure has arisen. Some of the most encountered sources are the overhead power lines (OPL) and the determination of spatial and temporal variation of the magnetic fields produced by OPLs is a challenge. In this paper a hybrid method for the estimation of the temporal and spatial distribution of the magnetic flux density B caused by OPLs, based on experimental measurements and on numerical and analytical simulations, is presented. Thus, using a small number of simultaneous spot measurements correlated with a long-term survey, maps of the magnetic flux density distribution on extended areas are established, for several time instances. The proposed method is verified using two sets of different measurements and the results obtained through simulation. The difference between the estimated and simulated values of B is under 5.5%, which is considered acceptable considering that B spans over a large set of values (724 nT ÷ 1375 nT) in the location of the long-term survey procedure. The possibilities and limitations of the proposed method are discussed.

There is a special concern for measuring and simulating low-frequency magnetic fields generated by underground power cables, particularly in human exposure studies. In the present study, an accurate 2D finite element model for computing magnetic fields generated by three-phase underground power cables with solid bonding is proposed. The model is developed in ANSYS Maxwell 2D low-frequency electromagnetic field simulation software for a typical 12/20 kV (medium-voltage) three-phase underground power cable in both trefoil and flat formations, but it can be adapted to any cable system. Model validation is achieved by analytical computations conducted with a software tool based on the Biot–Savart law and the superposition principle. RMS magnetic flux density profiles calculated at various heights above the ground with these two methods correlate very well. This is also true for induced shield currents. The application of the finite element model to multiple three-phase power cables laid together is also considered.

In this study, the radiofrequency electromagnetic field from a LTE-2600 base station installed in a suburban environment is assessed by both simulations and in-situ measurements. The simulations were performed using EMF-Estimator, a software that implements the methodology described in ITU-T Recommendation K.70 to calculate the cumulative radio frequency exposure levels in the vicinity of transmitting antennas, while the measurements were conducted using a portable N9912A FieldFox spectrum analyzer equipped with a handheld \log log-periodic antenna. The simulated and measured electric fields at 18 test points around the LTE base station correlate within acceptable limits, indicating typical RF exposure levels below 2.25% of the exposure limit established by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection for the general public.