Europa-Park: Inductive charging technology for Panorama Train

“Age & Size: min. 0 years, min. 0 cm”

“Experience: Level 1: Cozy, relaxed”

This is the matter-of-fact information you can read on the Europa-Park website about what is probably one of the most used attractions there.

The Panorama Train is one of the first rides that visitors reach shortly after they enter via the Deutsche Allee. If you would like to immerse yourself in the world of amusement and enjoy the view of the varied themed landscape while pottering gently along at 10 km/h, you can start the day with your kit and caboodle on one of these trains. A whole circuit around the rail track through the park takes about 15 minutes. But you can also reach four countries in intervals of about 5 minutes each and make a stop there. Each of the five trains currently offers 86 seats. This means up to 1750 passengers can embark on the tour every hour.

For more than 40 years, the lazy train has run through the extensive premises, steaming and puffing with diesel or petrol in the tank. Now, the first two locomotives have already been converted to electric drive technology and a sustainable power supply. Exhaust gases and the corresponding bad smells caused by the internal combustion engines are now a thing of the past on these trains. What remains is the authentic lazy train ambiance with steam generated purely from water. A sensory experience that hardly any passenger would want to do without.

No visitor can fail to notice the huge solar panel array installed on the approximately 300-meter-long covered footpath stretching from the car park to the park entrance. Above that, while passengers are riding the Silver Star roller coaster and screaming with delight, screens along the walkway provide information about the amusement park’s sustainable energy management. The carport roof on the parking lot of the Rulantica water world also contributes to the renewable power supply from 3000 solar modules.

Energy recovery next to the Hansel & Gretel enchanted forest is anything but a fairytale. There, electricity comes from a run-of-river hydroelectric power plant. The park’s own combined heat and power plants supply energy not only in the form of electricity, but also heat.

This makes the Europa-Park more or less self-sufficient as far as energy recovery is concerned. So, it makes sense to use the energy for operating the historic Panorama Trains as well.

At the time of the park’s founding, the lazy train was still called the Western Train. This is because the associated traction engines were built by an American company and are modeled on a miniature version of the steam locomotive from the early days of the USA. Although this original manufacturer now also offers electrified trains, they run on electric motors combined with lithium-ion batteries. This technology makes it necessary to charge the batteries via conductor rails.

Conductor rail or overhead lines, however, are out of the question for the amusement park with its many level crossings that are heavily frequented by streams of visitors. Moreover, this technology would be too expensive not only to purchase, but also to operate and maintain.

So it was a good thing that the Europa-Park maintains close ties with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and regularly assigns master’s theses. In this case, too, a master’s thesis laid the foundation for a complex project that could subsequently only be implemented in close cooperation between the park owners and a suitable drive specialist. The choice was made for SEW-EURODRIVE, with which the Europa-Park has already had positive experience in maintenance and repair work for several years.

For instance, SEW-EURODRIVE’s fast service is also available on weekends if necessary. It makes no difference to our service colleagues whether the drive to be serviced is our own or a defective third-party geared motor.

Four MOVITRANS^® spot TFS stationary field plates were concreted into the floor at each station, between the rails. The MOVI-DPS^® energy storage units of the locomotive are charged inductively, i.e. contactlessly, from these within a very short time when the locomotive stops at the station. The charging process takes no more than one minute. Passengers need this time to get on and off the train anyway.

The amount of energy absorbed per stop in the double-layer capacitors of the maintenance-free MOVI-DPS^® energy storage units will easily last until recharging at the next station and beyond. In addition to providing energy for driving the locomotive, the energy storage system also supplies all other electrical components on the train. This includes, among other things, the artificially created light, sound and steam effects.

TÜV Süd placed strict requirements for safe disconnection as soon as there is no train for charging on the field plates. The UCS10B safety controller is used for safe two-channel shutdown of the system. It deactivates the MOVITRANS^® spot TES supply units if necessary.

In the case of the Panorama Trains, decentralized technology and installation in control cabinets are not a contradiction in terms, since the inconspicuous cabinets placed close to the tracks not only have a visual function but also to protect the electrical components against unauthorized access.

Four energy-efficient MOVIGEAR^® drive units of type MGFTT4-DSM, one of which attentive observers can see at the front, behind the locomotive’s pilot.

They are ideal for this application because of their high protection class combined with the HP 200 surface coating. They are controlled via double-axis modules of the MOVIDRIVE^® modular application inverter without encoder.

The MOVIDRIVE^® modular is used as frequency inverter. Its compact dimensions and the integration of the energy storage system make it ideal for this application.