By Stefan Fassbinder / Published on Sat, 2009-04-25 18:37
There are many advantages of superconducting underground power transmission cables claimed over conventional copper cables, but none of them carries very far. One claim frequently made is space saving in densely populated urban areas.
Now here you see some superconductor cables on the left and conventional HV and EHV cables of similar power transmission capabilities on the right side.
Read full story
By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Mon, 2007-06-18 07:30
A test project in New York City
'Secure super grids' use high-temperature superconductor wires and power cables to improve the reliability of the electrical power supply. In contrast to traditional power cables, these wires and cables can increase power without losing their ability to suppress surges. In this way, they can prevent blackouts often caused by surges on heavily loaded networks.
New York City will be the testbed for the technology. The Department of Homeland Security started a project for about 29 million euro to build such a secure super grid. Contracts have been signed with the American Superconductor Corporation and with Consolidated Edison Inc., the New York utility company.
Read full story
By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Tue, 2007-02-06 10:44
The grid of the future?
The idea of a superconducting grid is not new. But the increasing pressure on existing high-voltage transmission grids and recent large power outages in the U.S. and Europe has brought it into the spotlight again.
Two American scientists, Paul M. Grant and Chauncey Starr, have designed a Super Cable, a superconducting conduit cooled by hydrogen that can simultaneously deliver electrical power and hydrogen fuel. The cable contains a pair of DC superconducting wires at +/- 50 kV carrying 50 kA, a current far higher than in a conventional wire. Such a cable could carry approximately 5 GW over several hundred kilometres at nearly zero resistance. Since the cable carries hydrogen as its cryogenic coolant, it has the double advantage of transporting energy in chemical as well as in electrical form.
Read full story
By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Sat, 2006-10-28 16:16
Yes. Nearly all materials conduct electricity to a certain degree. But to be a serious candidate for use as an electrical conductor, a material must combine a very high conductivity with a few important mechanical characteristics. That is why most practically usable conductors are metals.
Read full story
By Isabelle Heriakian / Published on Wed, 2005-02-09 18:22
Voltage flicker caused by the electric arc furnace (EAF) and the mitigation using the superconducting synchronous condenser (SuperVAR) by the American Superconductor Corp. are considered in this paper. The modeling of EAF, SuperVAR and the system used are discussed. Fast reactive power support to reduce voltage flicker problem by an EAF is desirable. We use the voltage fluctuation amplitude as an index to evaluate the effectiveness of SuperVAR for two different MVar levels.
Read full story
