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Although surging rapids provide thrills for rafters, a steady stream is a more reliable form of transportation. The same is true of electricity. For aerospace, rail and research purposes, surges and gaps in the flow of electrons must be smoothed into a steady stream. This is where the specialized line of products from Transtechnik Corp. USA comes in. The company’s high-precision power supplies have input capacities that range from 500 volts up to 3,000 volts DC. “We take that voltage and either convert it to a low-level, stable DC voltage, or we convert it to a three-phase AC that is very stable with a very good harmonic distortion level,” President Gary Provenzano explains.

“We can control the wave pattern of the voltage and input going from low to high or high to low,” Provenzano continues. “When it falls outside the normal operating range, our solutions will power the line for a certain period of time throughout these gaps and transients. We can operate continuously from a wide range of input voltages. Our smart products protect themselves if the voltage goes outside the specified range.” 

Products from Transtechnik include auxiliary power supply systems for trams, high-speed and underground trains, suburban railways and trolley buses throughout the world. The company also supplies power systems for aerospace and basic research. 

The company won the Golden Hadron award from CERN, the world’s largest particle accelerator that is located in Switzerland, for implementing improvements above its contractual obligations. Transtechnik built the power supplies that control the particle accelerator beam.

“They’re very special,” Provenzano maintains. “The ones in CERN had to be extremely accurate, reliable and delivered on-time, which is why we won the award there. We feel that Transtechnik is at the leading edge of the technology and is one of the key suppliers in the industry.”

Custom Applications

Transtechnik has built custom products for military applications like the Tiger helicopter and for Airbus. “We find in our line of work that nothing is standard,” Provenzano emphasizes. “Almost everything is customized to the end customer’s specifications. Even though we have platforms for standardized products, there’s always a certain change element involved.”

The company uses state-of-the-art and patented, intermediate voltage power supplies along with intelligent solutions and special materials to keep component weight down. “I’d have to say that our main advantage over our competition is weight reduction and the ability to provide customized designs for projects in a very short time,” Provenzano asserts. “The speed comes from our many years of industry experience, the dedication of the team and the willingness of the company to support its dedicated customers.”

The market for the company’s products is expanding with opportunities for high-speed rail, electrical storage systems, magnetic levitation transportation systems and other applications. Transtechnik is partnering with American Maglev Technology, Atlanta, which has a prototype magnetic levitation transportation system running on a test track. Transtechnik’s scope covers portable substations, auxiliary power supplies, levitation choppers and work on propulsion equipment.

“You have a 50,000-pound car with almost zero resistance that you can push with one hand,” Provenzano marvels. “It’s physically floating on a magnetic cushion.” The company also is working on rail projects in Central and South America. 

“I foresee high-speed rail in the U.S. still taking many years before actual car orders would be realized,” Provenzano predicts. Transtechnik’s parent company in Germany, Transtechnik GmbH & Co.KG, is de­signing products for high-speed rail projects. However, Transtechnik’s focus continues to be on light rail vehicles and other electrical units.