Earticle

CeO2 has been widely used for single buffer layer of coated conductor because of superior chemical and structural compatibility with ReBa2Cu3O7-δ(Re=Y, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, Ho, etc.). But, the surface of CeO2 layer showed cracks because of the large difference in thermal expansion coefficient between metal substrate and deposited CeO2 layer, when thickness of CeO2 layer exceeds 100 nm on the biaxially textured Ni-3%W substrate. The deposition rate has been limited to be less than 6 Å/sec in order to get a good epitaxy. In this research, we deposited CeO2 single buffer layers on biaxially textured Ni-3%W substrate with 2-step process such as thin nucleation layer(>10 nm) with low deposition rate(3 Å/sec) and thick homo epitaxial layer(>240 nm) with high deposition rate(30 Å/sec). Effect of deposition temperature on degree of texture development was tested. Thick homo epitaxial CeO2 layer with good texture without crack was obtained at 600 oC, which has Δφ value of 6.2 o, Δω value of 4.3 o and average surface roughness(Ra) of 7.2 nm within 10 ㎛ × 10 ㎛ area. This result shows the possibility of preparing advanced Ni substrate with simplified architecture of single CeO2 layer for low cost coated conductor.

The BaHfO3 (BHO) buffer layer on the IBAD MgO template was turned to be effective for a successful fabrication of GdBa2Cu3O7-δ (GdBCO) films with high critical current density (Jc). Both the BHO buffer layers and GdBCO films were prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The effects of the PLD conditions, including substrate temperature (Ts), oxygen partial pressure (PO2), and deposition time on the in-plane texture, surface roughness, and microstructures of the BHO buffer layers on the IBAD MgO template were systematically studied for processing optimization. The c-axis oriented growth of BHO layers was insensitive to the deposition temperature and the film thickness, while the in-plane texture and surface roughness of those were improved with increasing Ts from 700 to 800°C. On the optimally processed BHO buffer layer, the highest Jc value (77 K, self-field) of 3.68 MA/cm2 could be obtained from GdBCO film deposited at 780°C, representing that BHO is a strong candidate for the buffer layer on the IBAD MgO template.

In this paper, the prototype of the HTS motor with an on-board cryocooler, is fabricated and tested. The overall system is composed of the stator with conventional copper winding, the rotor with superconductor, and the rotating cryocooler designed from the on-board concept. The rotor is fabricated as the race-track coil with 2G, YBCO tape and contacts with the on-board cryocooler while being rotated together. An inline-type pulse tube refrigerator is used as the on-board cryocooler. The cryocooler is fabricated from optimal process to satisfy the structure and thermal stability of the on-board system. Each component is integrated according to carefully defined sequence. Specially, a combining method of torque tubes is an important part for sustaining stability of the rotor and the cryocooler. In the rotating test, the HTS motor is successfully operated with 240 rpm of rotating speed when 75 A current is supplied to the superconducting rotor. In this paper, potential problems of the HTS motor system using the on-board cryocooler are proposed and solved, and realistic possibility of this concept is also confirmed.

A hybrid superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) with fast switch had been previously suggested by our research group. To make a hybrid SFCL, different superconducting wires were wound two pancake coils so that two pancake coils had asymmetric configuration. The impedance of the asymmetric non-inductive coils are zero with applied normal current. However during the fault, currents were distributed unequally into the two pancake coils because each superconducting wires have different electrical characteristics. This unequal distribution of current causes effective magnetic flux which generate repulsive force. Fast switch was thus opened by the repulsive force applied to the aluminum plate which consists of SFCL. In this paper, the AC loss characteristics of the asymmetric non-inductive coils with combinations of superconducting wires were studied and calculated by related experiments and finite element method (FEM) simulation. From these results, we suggested the appropriate combination of two superconducting wires to be used for the asymmetric non-inductive coils.

As new one of superconducting power supplies, we proposed an HTS flux pump utilized a solar energy system. As an eternal electric energy can be converted by the solar system, the solar energy system is promisingly applied as an energy source in the power applications. Especially, since the solar energy system played a role in conventional utility power, total power consumption of the flux pump system are provided by solar energy. That means its operating efficiency is remarkably improved compared with developed flux pumps. A solar energy system is comprised of solar panel, photo-voltaic (PV) controller, converter and battery. The HTS flux pump consists of an electromagnet, two thermal heaters and a Bi-2223 magnet. In this paper, we describe the possibility the fusion technology between superconducting power supply and solar energy system. As a fundamental step, the fabrication, structure and experimental results are explained.

A sub-cooled liquid nitrogen cooling system is known as a most promising method to develop large scale superconducting apparatuses such as superconducting fault current limiters and superconducting cables [1]. Gaseous helium (GHe), gaseous nitrogen (GN2) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) are commonly used for designing an high voltage applied superconducting device as an injection gaseous medium [2, 3]. In this paper, the analysis on the dielectric characteristics of GHe, GN2 and SF6 are conducted by designing and manufacturing sphere-to-plane electrode systems. The AC withstand voltage experiments on the various gaseous insulation media are carried out and the results are analyzed by using finite element method (FEM) considering field utilization factors (ξ). It is found that the electric field intensity at sparkover (EMAX) of insulation media exponentially decreases according to ξ increases. Also, the empirical expressions of the functional relations between EMAX and ξ of insulation media are deduced by dielectric experiments and computational analyses. It is expected that the electrical insulation design of applied superconducting devices could be performed by using the deduced empirical formulae without dielectric experiments.

A Hybrid Fault Current Limiter(FCL) which has more advantages in fast response and thermal characteristics than a simple resistive FCL had been proposed by our group. The Hybrid FCL consists of a resistive FCL for reducing the magnitude of the first peak of fault current, and a fast switch for detecting fault current and generating the repulsive force within a cycle in fault situation. In ideal case, the impedance of the fast switch wound with two other kinds of HTS tape is negligibly zero in normal operation. But, during the fault situation, each HTS tape has different quench characteristics because of asymmetric current distribution. And this phenomenon causes effective magnetic flux and this flux opens the switch through the repulsive force applied to a metal plate of the fast switch. The magnitude of the repulsive force affects the switching characteristics of the fast switch. It should be large enough to raise the metal plate up. Otherwise the arc re-out break which are caused by not enough repulsive force to raise the metal plate up can cause unintended operation of the fast switch. In this paper, the numerical calculation of the repulsive force applied to the metal plate of the fast switch in various combinations of HTS tapes was performed by using the short-circuit test and finite element method.

This paper deals with the design on iron-core shape for superconducting hybrid electromagnet (SH-EM). A proto-type SH-EM was developed by Yonsei University[1]. It is the first step study on the fundamental technology for advanced railroad system development. We proposed the method that reduce the number of cooling systems in order to improve operating efficiency of the SH-EM. The results was obtained by changing of iron-core shape were verified by the FEM analysis. This paper can be expected to suggest useful data for an advanced SH-EM.

Hybrid fault current limiters (FCL) have been researched at Yonsei University. The hybrid FCL has advantages such as having a rapid response to a sudden fault situation and a fast recovery time from a quench. It consists of an asymmetric HTS coil, a switching module, and a bypass reactor. The asymmetric HTS coil is wound with two different types of HTS wires in an opposite direction so that it has nearly zero inductance at the superconducting state. When the quench occurs at the fault state, a strong magnetic field is generated from the asymmetric coil because of different quench characteristics of two HTS wires, and then a repulsive force is induced in the switching module. The force opens the switch and the fault current is pushed into the bypass reactor. In this research, we analyzed the cause of the repulsive force and confirmed, experimentally and computationally, that the magnitude of a repulsive force is varied by changing the gap distance between the asymmetric coil and the switching module. By using the FEM simulation, we calculated the repulsive force with respect to the gap distance and verified that the effect of the gap distance. Then, short circuit test was carried out to confirm the correct operation of the fast switch.

The electrical insulation design of high voltage superconducting fault current limiters (SFCLs) should be confirmed to be applied for the stabilization of the power grid. This paper describes numerical analysis and AC dielectric experiments for developing high voltage SFCLs. The electric field distributions between applied high voltage part and ground were calculated by finite element method (FEM) simulation tool and AC criterion of liquid nitrogen at 200 kPa was calculated from correlation between the field utilization factor and FEM simulation results. This paper deals with ceonceptual insulation design of a 154 kV class single-phase no-inductively wound solenoid type SFCL which was focused on gap distance between the cryostat and superconducting coils. Furthermore, the shield ring effect was confirmed to reduce maximum electric field at applied high voltage part.

In this study, the liquid-vapor (L-V) separator equipped with liquid-level meter is developed. In the developed L-V separator, the flange is designed to be attachable so that the separator can be flexibly applied under any cases where the volumetric capacity of L-V separator is varied by the system requirement. The leak- tightness between the attachable flange and the chamber is experimentally confirmed with the use of double groove indium wire sealing even under the high pressure up to 20 bar. In addition, the liquid-level meter is designed and fabricated to figure out the inner state of L-V separator. It consists with 19 carbon composition resistors in series. All resistors are separately calibrated in the temperature range from 77 K to 200 K. The performance of the L-V separator and the liquid-level meter is investigated with experimental tests, and the result is presented in this paper.