Feasibility of Supercritical Hydrogen for cooling Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) Devices

Abstract

Electrical Power storage is an integral part of the power generation industry. In this context, superconductors based energy storage devices such as Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage Devices (SMES) have been invented which proved to be a milestone in power generation sector. However, these superconducting devices suffered with the issues such as AC losses and thermal losses which deteriorates the performance of energy storage phenomenon. Moreover, these losses also results in increased use of cryogenic fluids which are utilized to maintain the superconductivity of superconductors. Therefore, in the context of efficient cooling strategies for superconducting based energy storage devices, use of commercially available and thermally stable cryogenic fluid is inevitable. In the present work, supercritical hydrogen (SCH) as a coolant was proposed and thermo physical properties of SCH, which affects its operational capabilities, were studied. Graphs were plotted for density, viscosity, thermal conductivity and specific heat of SCH for various temperature and pressures and it was observed that the temperature rise resulted in tangible changes in these properties. In addition to this, correlations for thermo physical properties were also formulated which could further be used for research and development of SMES devices. Uniform temperature distribution is expected with the use of SCH in SMES devices which accentuates the performance of the device.