Conceptual design, AC loss calculation, and optimization of an airborne fully high temperature superconducting generator

Abstract

With the trend of multi-electrification and hybrid-electrification of aircraft, the airborne high temperature superconducting (HTS) generator is considered as the key technology of the new generation of aviation power generation system and has received wide attention. The high critical current and low loss of superconductors can significantly improve the output power, power density, efficiency and other performance of generators. In this work, conceptual design of a fully HTS generator for aircraft is carried out to address key issues in terms of AC loss distribution, which serves as the ground of cryogenic design in the future. A 10 MW fully superconducting generator is designed to be used in a large passenger aircraft (with more than 150 seats and a maximum takeoff weight of about 100 tons). Based on the finite element method (FEM) with the so-called T-A formulation, the electromagnetic characteristics of the generator are analyzed, and AC losses of the stator and rotor are calculated. To calculate the rotor loss in realistic dynamic-field environment, a technique named “rotation-domain exchange” is developed and implemented. By using such technique, accurate calculation of AC loss of the rotor in realistic dynamic electromagnetic environment is achieved with no need of simplified boundary condition as previously reported work. Based on the model, the stator coil structure is optimized to reduce the AC loss and the rotor coil structure is optimized to reduce the HTS tape usage. Results show that the optimized stator AC loss is 15.645 kW, and the rotor AC loss is 6.268 kW, indicating that the rotor AC loss of a fully superconducting generator with narrow air gap and large number of coil turns is not neglectable as previous work assumed. Thus, precise calculation and dedicated optimization of the rotor loss is critical since cooling of the rotor is much more challenging than the stator as the former remains in motion.