As REO-USA prepares for the APTA Expo, it will focus on how its products also impact safety factors and the bottom line.
REO-USA (booth 4300) will display an assortment of reactors, charging resistors, current transformers, and EMC and sinus filters when APTA meets from October 12-15 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. Company officials also are preparing to discuss the impact of energy-saving liquid-cooled components supporting and surrounding auxiliary and main drive converters for rail transportation. These components not only can greatly reduce space requirements, but also last up to 50 percent longer and pay for themselves several times over with 30-plus years of operation.
The roster of manufactured peripheral components reflects REO-USA’s design commitment to making trains safer than ever. It begins with IRIS certification from the parent company in Germany and ISO certification in the U.S., demonstrating quality performance at the highest international levels.
Components for light rail, IC rail, people movers, trolleys, and even hybrid and electric buses, are produced in compliance with European fire protection standard EN 45545. The international standard EN 60310 is also employed to ensure the quality of transformers and reactors aboard rolling stock. A wide range of materials — including nanocrystalline and amorphous — are used for high efficiency.
REO-USA’s protection ratings, including NEMA 4X and a pollution protection degree of PD4 for most products, provides assurance that they can withstand extreme weather environments including rain, saltwater, freezing conditions, sand, dust and more.
All REO-USA railway technology components are developed to meet the standard or special requirements for safety, weight, space requirements and costs. They undergo a litany of tests and analysis, including 3D magnetic field, FEM thermal simulations, and FEM analysis of structural mechanics. Specifically made components begin with a prototype phase, followed by type testing which measures acoustics, temperatures, shock and vibration, salt spray, Electromagnetic Interference and others.
An important consideration in transportation system engineering provides for lightweight components carrying a small footprint. To accomplish this, REO-USA’s liquid-cooled resistors, for instance, are available with power ratings from 1 to 100 kW and can reduce space requirements up to 70 percent or more while lowering component surface and/or housing temperatures. This improves reliability, performance, and efficiency while reducing stress on the drive system.
