Papers by Keyword: Cryocooler

Abstract: After the emergence of AC NbTi strands, superconducting transformers were successfully built. But the very high cost of 4 K cryogenics made these transformers economically not attractive. The high Tc superconductors (HTS), operating at much higher temperatures, change these conclusions with low cost HTS conductors. The high cost of PIT tapes and the relatively large AC losses remain issues. The second generation HTS wires, the REBCO coated conductors, are under development and achieved substantial progress recently. They operate at higher temperatures and intrinsically show lower AC losses especially for transformers. MgB2 is the third option. The magnetic flux density conditions make possible the operation at 27 K and they show low costs. This paper provides a preliminary design for an on-board 40 MVA transformer using YBCO coated conductors and MgB2 wires. Both superconducting transformers show similar volume and weight. The power density per unit mass and volume is improved by a factor about two, cryogenic included, compared to resistive systems. This makes them very attractive for on-board mobile systems. The economical point of view will be discussed based on some targets price/performance for superconductors and cryocoolers. MgB2 is penalized by its operation at lower temperature (27 K / 77 K), which makes cryogenics very expensive. The advantage of the low cost of MgB2 compared to REBCO may be lost except with very low AC loss MgB2 tapes.

Abstract: The issues in the conventional sintering of the MgB2 superconductors have conducted to the discovery of a new way to densify this material. The new process is an “in situ” method that relies on the reactive liquid infiltration (RLI) of liquid Magnesium into Boron powders packed preform. The RLI process allows to obtain highly dense manufacts without the use of hot pressing apparatus and can be applied to the manufacture of large superconducting pieces. One of the peculiarities of the MgB2 superconductivity, that withstand up to 39 K, is represented by the relative insensitiveness of the supercurrent percolation to the orientation of the grain boundaries. This property allows to use polycrystalline material without loosing superconducting performance, granted that a good connectivity between the crystalline grains must be realized, as the RLI process allows to do. The microstructure of the bulk material obtained by RLI shows a variety of morphologies, according to the kind of the used Boron powders and to the process variables. A detailed analysis of the microstructure of the MgB2 obtained by RLI will be presented, as well as its analytical description and the correlation with the superconducting characteristics.