Optimisation of Energy Efficiency: Dynamic Voltages in Superconducting Tapes to Energise Superconducting Power/Energy Applications

Abstract

The evolution from low-temperature superconductors (LTSs) to high-temperature superconductors (HTSs) has created a great amount of opportunities for superconducting applications to be used in real life. Dynamic voltage is a special superconducting phenomenon, and it occurs when the superconductor takes a DC transport current while simultaneously exposed to an AC magnetic field. The dynamic voltage is crucial for some superconducting applications as it is the energy source by which to energise the load, such as flux pumps. This article investigates the missing aspects that previous studies have not deeply exploited: the optimisation of energy efficiency for the dynamic voltage in an HTS tape with different working conditions (e.g., currents and magnetic fields). First, the mechanics of superconducting dynamic voltage were explicated by typical analytical solutions, and the modelling method was validated by reproducing the behaviours of the Bean model and analytical solutions of dynamic voltage. After the feasibility of the modelling was proved, in-depth modelling was performed to optimise the energy efficiency of an HTS tape with different DC transport currents and AC magnetic fields. Owing to the physical limitations of the superconducting tape (e.g., quench), a safe operating region was determined, and a more delicate optimisation was performed to discover the optimal operating conditions of the HTS tape. The novel conceptualisation and optimisation approaches for the superconducting dynamic voltage in this article are beneficial for the future design and optimisation of superconducting energy/power applications under complicated electromagnetic conditions.