Second-Generation High-Temperature Superconductor Wires for the Electric Power Grid

Abstract

Superconductors offer major advantages for the electric power grid, including high current and power capacity, high efficiency arising from the lossless current flow, and a unique current-limiting functionality arising from a superconductor-to-resistive transition. These advantages can be brought to bear on equipment such as underground power cables, fault current limiters, rotating machinery, transformers, and energy storage. The first round of significant commercial-scale superconductor power-equipment demonstrations, carried out during the past decade, relied on a first-generation high-temperature superconductor (HTS) wire. However, during the past few years, with the recent commercial availability of high-performance second-generation HTS wires, power-equipment demonstrations have increasingly been carried out with these new wires, which bring important advantages. The foundation is being laid for commercial expansion of this important technology into the power grid.

6. Vortex dynamics in nanofabricated chemical solution deposition high-temperature superconducting films

“…In the pure TFA route, trifluoroacetate salt precursors of Y-TFA (Y(CF 3 COO) 3 ), Ba-TFA (Y(CF 3 COO) 2 ), and Cu-TFA (Cu(CF 3 COO) 2 ) are mixed in a stoichiometric ratio and dissolved in adequate solvents (methanol in most cases). The solubility, stability, and homogeneity of the solution will mainly depend on the specific salt, the metal ion concentration, the solvents, and possible additives used [18,24].…”

“…YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7−d (YBCO) is⁴ the technologically most relevant high-temperature superconductor, highly explored for practical applications [1][2][3][4][5][6]. The achievement of artificial pinning centers (APC) in YBCO films is of major concern when pinning forces need to be optimized, in coated conductors (long-length epitaxial YBCO films on buffered flexible metallic substrates), or when they need to be exploited for electronic applications, requiring flux quanta manipulation.…”

Production of silver for use as a global-scale superconducting power cable material

“…The 2G type is currently in demonstration stage; testing of this type has been successful in power transmission for short distances. Because 2G wire consumes less silver (whereas the physical size and property of both 1G and 2G wire rods are similar to each other [2,3]), 2G is likely to go into commercial production in the near future. The amount of silver per unit length used for 2G power cable has dropped from 800 to 40 kg/km, by replacing of most of the silver with copper.…”

Nanowall pinning for enhanced pinning force in YBCO films with nanofabricated structures

“…Tailoring vortex pinning landscape in high temperature superconductors and in particular of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7Àd (YBCO), is one of the major challenges nowadays for its relevance in applications requiring manipulation of flux quanta [1][2][3][4], or enhanced critical currents [5][6][7][8]. Various types of artificially induced pinning centres envisaging nano-engineering the film microstructure, such us spontaneous segregated secondary nano-phases [9][10][11][12] or ion irradiation induced defects [13][14][15][16] have been studied with the aim to push critical currents towards its theoretical limits.…”