Patent attributes
A power system for a locomotive includes a dynamic brake (DB) grid, at least one chopper circuit, and a controller. The locomotive includes at least one traction motor to power one or more loads during a braking of the locomotive. The DB grid includes at least one resistor bank and is configured to dissipate at least a portion of the power generated by the traction motor. The chopper circuit includes a three-phase inverter module, and selectively disables an electrical communication between the resistor bank and the traction motor. The controller is coupled to the chopper circuit and the loads. The controller determines a magnitude of the loads, and controls the chopper circuit to disable an electrical communication between the resistor bank and the traction motor for a predetermined duration to control a portion of the power dissipated by the DB grid to meet the magnitude of the loads.
