Tallano Technologie is Developing a Vacuum System for Collecting Brake Particles

Air quality in underground sections represents a major health and safety challenge, with the following being the main issues at stake:

– staff working conditions (track maintenance personnel, drivers, etc.)
– passenger comfort

The dust generated during train brake application is one of the factors affecting air quality in tunnels. During braking, particles are regularly emitted, fine particles in particular, and these are detrimental to human health. Particles are the result of friction between the brake disc and the pad during brake application. Efforts therefore need to be made to reduce particle quantities without adverse effects on braking performance. Passenger safety is vital and train speeds must therefore be kept completely under control.

SNCF is currently working with Tallano Technologie to develop a vacuum suction system capable of collecting the particles released by the disc brakes on RER trains. Tamic, which is a patented innovation, is the first system of its type and would appear to be perfectly suited to railway tunnel operations.

The target consists of lessening the quantity of particles emitted during braking by 70%.

It is in connection with this ambitious project that Christophe ROCCA SERRA, Chairman and CEO of Tallano Technologie, contacted Eurailtest at the end of 2018 to enquire about possibilities for conducting preliminary fine particle emission measurements on brake discs to assist in optimising Tamic system development.

The Railway Test Agency (AEF), a Eurailtest partner laboratory, responded to this request.

Validation tests have been organised on its MF1 brake rig, a test bench capable of measuring particle emissions. This enables comparisons to be made between the quantities of particles emitted before and after fitting the Tamic filtering system. These tests are also crucial in that they serve to confirm system braking performance in relation to the safety standards currently in force.

At the end of 2018, preliminary tests were performed to measure the amount of particles emitted during braking and confirm the ideal configuration of the Tamic system to be tested on the MF1. The brake disc tested was put through its paces by simulating the route followed by a trainset run on RER Line C. Acceleration and stops were simulated in precise detail to produce a representative quantity of particles. Tests lasted 1 ½ months with the disc being applied nearly 8,000 times at speeds of up to 100 km/h for simulated weights of 5 to 9 tonnes and brake application forces of between 18 and 37 kilonewtons.

Additional tests began in May 2019.

At the end of these tests, Tallano’s engineers should be in a position to fine-tune their system to ensure collection of a little over 70% of the particles released during braking.

If the braking performances recorded on the test rig are confirmed in practice, trains equipped with the new device will gradually be rolled out for test purposes from the end of 2019, to allow time to assess behaviour under all the difficulties likely to be encountered in revenue service (snow, ice, dead leaves, rain, etc.). Once all the parameters have been examined and the equipment adapted where necessary, large-scale rollout could be planned.