Abstract
High temperature superconductors (HTS) are discussed as energy-efficient solutions for applications needing high direct currents beyond 10 kA e.g. for large high-field magnets or bus bar systems in industrial electrolysis plants. A number of high-current cable concepts based on REBCO tapes were developed such as the Roebel cable, co-axially wound tapes and several stacked-tape arrangements, among them the HTS CrossConductor (HTS CroCo), a stacked-tape conductor with high current density developed at KIT. In this manuscript, the experimental test of a high DC demonstrator, termed Supra-DC-Cable, made from twelve HTS CroCo strands is presented. The demonstrator was tested successfully at T = 77 K, reaching the expected critical current of 33 kA at 77 K and even for a constant-current operation at 36 kA for more than 30 minutes limited by the copper connections, not the superconducting cable. Currents and voltages were measured in all twelve strands individually during the parallel operation in the cable. These measured data allow the experimental validation of the modelled current distribution, based on the individual characterization of the twelve strands.
Highlights
Introduction to High Direct Current ApplicationsGlobal warming is one of today’s key challenges and technologies to decarbonize and to increase the energy-efficiency of all aspects of our way of living are of key interest
The long Copper litz wires (CL) wires serve several purposes: First, they allow for a compensation of thermal contraction, second, they provide the required flexibility during the mounting of the twelve strands in the bath, and third, their electric resistance allows to determine the current flowing in the individual High temperature superconductors (HTS) CroCo strands by measuring the voltage drop in the parallel connection of the Supra-DC-Cable demonstrator setup
One option to improve current sharing between the HTS CroCo strands is to add a common connector after the copper litz wires such that the only series resistance is the resistance of the soldered connection between the common connector to the superconducting HTS CroCo strand
Summary
Global warming is one of today’s key challenges and technologies to decarbonize and to increase the energy-efficiency of all aspects of our way of living are of key interest. The reduction of electric losses by superconducting cables, in particular based on high temperature superconductors (HTS), can be one technology to improve energy efficiency. Highest currents are encountered in aluminum electrolysis, where currents can reach up to 600 kA [4], [5] other electrolysis processes e.g. for magnesium or chlorine use currents in the ten to several hundred kilo ampere range [4,5,6,7] Most of these applications operate almost continuously at high loads and allow for substantial energy savings. Details can be found in [15], [16] and [17]
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