Session 1B: Industrial Physics Forum: Large-Scale Applications

Superconducting Materials, Magnets and Electric Power Applications

The surprising discovery of superconductivity a century ago launched a chain of convention-shattering innovations and discoveries in superconducting materials and applications that continues to this day. The range of large-scale applications grows with new materials discoveries - low temperature NbTi and Nb$_{3}$Sn for liquid helium cooled superconducting magnets, intermediate temperature MgB$_{2}$ for inexpensive cryocooled applications including MRI magnets, and high temperature YBCO and BSSCO for high current applications cooled with inexpensive liquid nitrogen. Applications based on YBCO address critical emerging challenges for the electricity grid, including high capacity superconducting cables to distribute power in urban areas; transmission of renewable electricity over long distances from source to load; high capacity DC interconnections among the three US grids; fast, self-healing fault current limiters to increase reliability; low-weight, high capacity generators enabling off-shore wind turbines; and superconducting magnetic energy storage for smoothing the variability of renewable sources. In addition to these grid applications, coated conductors based on YBCO deposited on strong Hastelloy substrates enable a new generation of all superconducting high field magnets capable of producing fields above 30 T, approximately 50{\%} higher than the existing all superconducting limit based on Nb$_{3}$Sn. The high fields, low power cost and the quiet electromagnetic and mechanical operation of such magnets could change the character of high field basic research on materials, enable a new generation of high-energy colliding beam experiments and extend the reach of high density superconducting magnetic energy storage.   

High Temperature Superconductors for the Electric Power Grid

High Temperature Superconductor power equipment is positioned to play a key role in addressing our national and global energy challenges. While the most obvious benefit is efficiency by using the superconductor's lossless current flow to cut the 10{\%} power lost in the grid, other benefits are likely to be even more impactful. These benefits arise from the high current density of superconductor wire which enables design of highly power-dense and compact equipment including high capacity cables and rotating machinery -- generators and motors. Vast and dense urban areas are becoming home to an increasingly large proportion of world population, and high capacity ac superconductor cables offer a non-interfering and easily installed solution to increasing urban power needs. Longer term, the ultra-low loss of long-distance dc superconductor cables offers strengthened links and power sharing across wide geographical areas. Compact superconductor generators are the key to high power off-shore wind turbines, a major source of renewable energy. Some of these applications have reached a sophisticated level of demonstration, initiating commercial use.   

Industrial Large Scale Applications of Superconductivity -- Current and Future Trends

Since the initial development of NbTi and Nb3Sn superconducting wires in the early 1960's, superconductivity has developed a broad range of industrial applications in research, medicine and energy. Superconductivity has been used extensively in NMR low field and high field spectrometers and MRI systems, and has been demonstrated in many power applications, including power cables, transformers, fault current limiters, and motors and generators. To date, the most commercially successful application for superconductivity has been the high field magnets required for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with a global market well in excess of {\$}4 billion excluding the service industry. The unique ability of superconductors to carry large currents with no losses enabled high field MRI and its unique clinical capabilities in imaging soft tissue. The rapid adoption of high field MRI with superconducting magnets was because superconductivity was a key enabler for high field magnets with their high field uniformity and image quality. With over 30 years of developing MRI systems and applications, MRI has become a robust clinical tool that is ever expanding into new and developing markets. Continued innovation in system design is continuing to address these market needs. One of the key questions that innovators in industrial superconducting magnet design must consider today is what application of superconductivity may lead to a market on the scale of MRI? What are the key considerations for where superconductivity can provide a unique solution as it did in the case of MRI? Many companies in the superconducting industry today are investigating possible technologies that may be the next large market like MRI.