Date: 22nd July 2010
Korail uses Westcode Semiconductor's 2400A
4500V IGBT's in its high speed trains
Westcode Semiconductors, UK subsidiary of IXYS has successfully
co-operated with Hyundai Heavy Industry in Korea to outfit
Korail's (Korea's national train operator) new generation
of High Speed Train with its 2400A 4500V press pack Insulated
Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) and High Power SONIC fast
recovery diode technology.
Korea unveiled in its latest development, the Hyundai-Rotem
KTX II or KTX-Sancheon project, an entirely Korean manufactured
high speed train which has a maximum speed of 330 km/h and
a 0-300Km/h acceleration time of 316 seconds, an improvement
of 49 seconds over the previous KTX I train. IXYS says Westcode's
IGBT which forms the basic building block for the high speed
power converter enables such speeds with industry leading
reliability. The press-pack IGBT uses latest IGBT technology
featuring an improved Safe Operating Area (SOA) and reduction
in on-state losses of approximately 25% from the previous
generation.
This press pack IGBT technology uses a fully hermetic compression
contact ceramic capsule for reliability in the megawatt
range in high power applications. Korail plans to introduce
13 KTX-Sancheon train sets by the end of this year and 5
more during early 2011.
Korea's high speed rail network will be showcased later
this year when Seoul hosts November's G20 summit.
"We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity
of working closely with Hyundai Heavy Industry in the development
of the technology to facilitate the high profile success
of the KTXSancheon high speed train," commented Bradley
Green, Vice President of International Sales for IXYS. "We
are also proud that the new train generation powered by
Westcode technology is estimated to transport over 38 million
passengers in 2010 at an estimated accumulated distance
of 22 million kilometres. This represents a true example
of the reliability of the Westcode products."
"Our focus on the higher end of power semiconductors
with our UK team, based on our experience with high power
thyristors in hermetic packages, led us to develop the IGBT
capsule using our own proprietary technology. It has been
a great team effort within our
European group to combine MOS and Bipolar technologies for
high power trains," said Dr. Nathan Zommer, CEO of
IXYS Corporation. "Again we see the importance of our
power semiconductors in enabling fast mass transit systems
with high efficiency and reduced carbon emissions. It is
a great tribute to Hyundai-Rotem and Korea in leading Asia
into the 21st century with an advanced mass transit system,
and we are proud to be part of it."
For more information visit: www.westcode.com
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