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Impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Analysis of institutional authors

Araúz JCorresponding AuthorMartínez SAuthor

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February 6, 2023
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Contribution of the thermal inertia of trains to the primary frequency control of electric power systems

Publicated to: Sustainable Energy Grids & Networks. 34 100988- - 2023-06-01 34(), DOI: 10.1016/j.segan.2022.100988

Authors:

Araúz, J; Martinez, S
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Affiliations

Univ Politecn Madrid, Escuela Tecn Super Ingn Ind, C Jose Gutierrez Abascal 2, Madrid 28006, Spain - Author
Univ Tecnol Panama, Fac Elect Engn, Panama Railway Engn Res Grp, Panama City 081907289, Panama - Author
Univ Tecnol Panama, Fac Mech Engn, Res Grp Energy & Comft Bioclimat Bldg, Panama City 081907289, Panama - Author
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid - Author
Universidad Tecnologica de Panama , Universidad Politécnica de Madrid - Author
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Abstract

There is a wide consensus about substituting fossil fuel-based electric generation with renewable resource-based one. However, the displacement of conventional power plants with power electronics-interfaced plants implies several technical issues that must be addressed. Among these needs, providing ancillary services to electric power systems is fundamental to maintain power quality and system reliability. There is a considerable amount of literature about providing ancillary services from renewable power plants and an increasingly important effort to complement these services with loads. However, the contribution of railway systems to these services has been less explored. Considering the world-wide expansion of railway systems, it is appropriate to consider them as relevant contributors to ancillary services. The present work presents a novel approach to assess the possibilities of contribution of railways to grid primary frequency control based on the thermal inertia of trains. This approach aims at determining how railways can support frequency control tasks without affecting the circulation time of trains and thermal comfort of passengers. This paper proposes to act on the power consumption of the air conditioning system of trains as the way of making the train whole consumption responsive to frequency deviations. In addition, the paper proposes a methodology for analyzing the effectivity of the approach. It defines the extent of the modeling detail of railway and electric power system, and the coupling between them. To validate the feasibility, its application is illustrated with a case study. The results show that frequency deviations can be reduced without affecting passengers’ thermal comfort.
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Keywords

cabindemand responseenergyoptimizationrailwaystrategythermal inertiaAffordable and clean energyDemand responseFrequency controlRailwayThermal inertia

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Sustainable Energy Grids & Networks due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2023, it was in position 70/353, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Engineering, Electrical & Electronic.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.18. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 13, 2025)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 1.21 (source consulted: FECYT Mar 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2026-04-24, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 11
  • Scopus: 11
  • Google Scholar: 5
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-24:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 12 (PlumX).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/93211/

As a result of the publication of the work in the institutional repository, statistical usage data has been obtained that reflects its impact. In terms of dissemination, we can state that, as of

  • Views: 23
  • Downloads: 23
Continuing with the social impact of the work, it is important to emphasize that, due to its content, it can be assigned to the area of interest of ODS 7 - Affordable and clean energy, with a probability of 48% according to the mBERT algorithm developed by Aurora University.
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Panama.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (ARAÚZ SARMIENTO, JESÚS HARMODIO) and Last Author (MARTINEZ GONZALEZ, SERGIO).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been ARAÚZ SARMIENTO, JESÚS HARMODIO.

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Project objectives

Los objetivos perseguidos en esta aportación se centran en evaluar el papel de los sistemas ferroviarios en el control primario de frecuencia de sistemas eléctricos. Se pretende determinar cómo los trenes pueden contribuir a este control mediante su inercia térmica sin afectar el tiempo de circulación ni el confort térmico de los pasajeros. Además, se busca proponer una estrategia basada en la modulación del consumo energético del sistema de aire acondicionado de los trenes para responder a desviaciones de frecuencia. También se plantea desarrollar una metodología para analizar la efectividad de esta estrategia, definiendo el nivel de detalle en el modelado del sistema ferroviario y eléctrico, y validar su viabilidad mediante un estudio de caso.
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Most relevant results

El estudio analiza la contribución de la inercia térmica de los trenes al control primario de frecuencia en sistemas eléctricos. Los resultados más relevantes son: 1) se propone un método para ajustar el consumo energético del sistema de aire acondicionado de los trenes en respuesta a desviaciones de frecuencia; 2) se establece una metodología para evaluar la efectividad de esta contribución, incluyendo el nivel de detalle en el modelado del sistema ferroviario y eléctrico; 3) el caso de estudio demuestra que es posible reducir las desviaciones de frecuencia sin comprometer el confort térmico de los pasajeros; 4) se confirma que los sistemas ferroviarios pueden ser agentes activos en servicios auxiliares para la estabilidad del sistema eléctrico.
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