Shigeki Isojima

Electric properties of a 66 kV 3-core superconducting power cable system

A 100 m-long, 66 kV, 3-core high temperature superconducting power cable system prototype has been developed and installed in order to verify its properties and performance for practical use. The cable is a cold dielectric type with three cable-cores placed in co-axial stainless corrugated pipes. After cooling the cable to LN/sub 2/ temperature, long duration tests, such as that for nominal current-voltage loading and that for load fluctuation, were performed for a one-year period. The cable was warmed to room temperature after each test to investigate the influence of the heat cycle. Critical current was more than 2.7 kA at 77.3 K, and AC loss was 0.7 W/m/phase at 1 kArms. The magnitude of shielding current was almost equal to the transport current. Capacitance, dielectric losses and other electric properties were also measured. All values showed no change during the tests, and were in good agreement with calculated expectations.

Design and experimental results for Albany HTS cable

The Albany Project plans to install a 350 m High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) cable in the power grid of the Niagara Mohawk Power Company to carry 800 Arms at 34.5 kV. The type of the cable has 3 HTS cores in one cryostat with Bi-2223 used for HTS conductor and shield layers. The three cores are housed within double SUS corrugated pipes which provides thermal insulation. The tapes are manufactured with a new innovative sintering method with controlled over pressure (CT-OP) technology. Polypropylene laminated paper (PPLP) is used as electrical insulation. The cable will be installed in long underground conduit. A cable joint will be made in an underground vault to connect a 30 m length of the cable with the remaining 320 m. The original Bi-2223 30 m cable will be replaced with a 30 m YBCO cable after long-term operation. The terminations at both ends of the cable will have three bushings in a cryogenic vessel. Typical performance evaluation experiments, such as cable bending tests, voltage tests, and fault current tests, have been conducted with sample cables to check the design. Voltage tests for 69 kV AC and 200 kV impulse were successfully applied to a 5 m cable in accordance with the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies (AEIC) code of 35 kV class cable. The cable will be manufactured and installed in 2004 and 2005, then, long-term operation will be started.

Fabrication and Installation Results for Albany HTS Cable

The Albany project has installed a high temperature superconducting (HTS) cable with a 350 m length in 34.5 kV and 800 Arms in the real power grid of the National Grid Power Company. The type of the cable is a 3 cores in a cryostat. Bi-2223 wires manufactured with SEI new sintering method, CT-OP, is used as both superconducting conductor and shield. The Cable was manufactured and shipped to the Albany test site after passing various tests such as Ic measurement, voltage tests, pressurized tests, and so on. Cable installations into a 320 m long conduits and a 30 m long conduit under ground was completed successfully. The cable was pulled with 2.5 ton tension, which is within its allowable limit. A joint between the 320 m cable and the 30 m cable was assembled in an underground vault. Cable terminations were also assembled at both ends of the cable. After all of the installation, the initial cooling was conducted successfully and then in-grid operation was started on July 20th in 2006 after confirmation of cable performance.

Verification tests of a 66 kv HTSC cable system for practical use (first cooling tests)

Abstract Tokyo Electric Power Company and Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. have been jointly developing elementary technologies for an high temperature superconducting (HTSC) cable system, such as conductor wound with HTSC wires, thermal insulation pipes, terminations and so on. Verification tests of a 100 m HTSC cable system integrating these elementary technologies have been conducted in collaboration with Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) to verify its long term electric and cryogenic properties. The cable conductor is composed of four layers of Bi-2223 wires wound spirally around a former. Polypropylene laminated paper impregnated with liquid nitrogen is adopted as cable insulation for its properties of high insulation strength and low dielectric loss. HTSC wires are also wound around the electrical insulation to form an electrical and magnetic shield. To reduce heat invasion from ambient temperature part, multi-layer insulation is wound between the co-axial stainless corrugated pipes where high vacuum is maintained. The cable was partially installed into a ∅ 150 mm duct and formed in a U-shape. Each end has a splitter box and three terminations. The cable and the terminations are cooled using two separate sets of a pressurized and sub-cooled liquid nitrogen cooling system. The cable has been developed and laid at CRIEPIs test site and long-term tests have been under way since June, 2001. This paper presents the design of the cable and some results of the first cooling tests.

The Results of Installation and Preliminary Test of 22.9 kV, 50 MVA, 100 m Class HTS Power Cable System at KEPCO

As high temperature superconducting (HTS) power cables have some merits over conventional cables, several demonstration projects on the HTS cable system are presently under way around the world. Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) also initiated an HTS cable project in 2002 with the Korean governments support. A three phase 100 m HTS cable system with a capacity of 50 MVA has been installed at Gochang test yard, located in Chonnbuk province, Korea. The HTS cable system is composed of a 100 m-long cable, two terminations and a cooling system. The rated current is 1,250 Arms and the rated voltage is 22.9 kV considering compatibility with the conventional power distribution system in Korea. Main purposes of this project are to verify the performance of an HTS cable system and to evaluate the potential of the HTS cable system from the viewpoint of power utilities. The real grid application of the HTS cable system requires the demonstration of system reliability, accumulated operation experiences, and it has to meet the practical needs of the utilities. In such a meaning, this project provides various challenges for KEPCO, and the feedback will be delivered to cable manufacturers. This user initiative test will facilitate the introduction of HTS cable systems into a real grid network. The installation process of the HTS cable system and some results of the preliminary test were presented in this paper.

HTS large scale application using BSCCO conductor

The basic property of high-Tc superconducting cables (HTS cables) using Bi-2223-based Ag-sheathed multifilamentary wire (Ag-sheathed wire) have been investigated for the realization of large-scale and compact cables, these being replaceable with conventional cables in existing ducts or tunnels. The AC performance of multi-layer HTS conductors, and three-phase HTS cables with coaxial superconducting magnetic shielding structure was evaluated. The characteristics of the HTS conductor and cable models of long length was investigated on a 50 m scale.

Thermo-mechanical properties of a 66 kV superconducting power cable system

To verify the practicability for intended application, TEPCO and SEI have jointly developed a 100 m, 66 kV class High Temperature superconducting power cable system and tested for a long duration one year at the CRIEPI test site. The cable has three cores in a cryostat and a cold dielectric configuration. The three cores are stranded loosely to manage thermal contraction during the cooling process. The cable is warmed to room temperature after each test to investigate the influence of the cooling cycle. At the initial cooling of the system, the tension of the cable due to thermal contraction during the cooling process was measured to be about 8 kN, which is considerably lower than 50 kN measured in a short length model cable without measures against thermal contraction. System properties, such as critical current, AC loss, shield current and so on are measured during each test after the cooling cycle. During the test program, the system shows no change in its properties.

Development of a 100 m, 3-core 114 MVA HTSC cable system

Abstract We have started a project to develop a 100 m 3-core 66 kV/1 kA/114 MVA high temperature superconducting (HTSC) cable system to certify the manufacturing capability and the practicability of an HTSC cable system for use as actual power system equipment. The cable is designed based on the results of a 30 m, 3-core test cable. The cable is composed of a conductor and a shield wound with Ag–Mn sheathed Bi-2223 tapes, electrical insulation with polypropylene laminated paper impregnated with liquid nitrogen and thermal insulation with co-axial corrugated pipes. The three cores are housed in this thermally insulated pipe. The cable has been developed and laid at CRIEPIs test site and long-term tests have been under way since June.

Development of a High Tc Superconducting Cable

A High Temperature Superconducting (HTSC) cable is expected to transport large electric power with a compact size because of its high critical current density. A 30m 66kV-lkA HTSC power cable system has been developed. The critical currents measured at 67K~80K are 1800A~800A. At the loading test, the 40kV-500A was successfully applied with a constant tan δ and capacitance. During the test, the temperature and pressure of circulating liquid nitrogen were controlled to 72K and 20kPa, respectively. Heat leak through the thermally insulated pipe was estimated as 1.5W/m, which is good performance for a long HTSC cable.

Experimental results of a 30 m, 3-core HTSC cable

Abstract A high temperature superconducting (HTSC) cable is expected to transport large electric power with a compact size because of its high critical current density. We have been developing a 3-core 66 kV class HTSC cable, which is applied to the ∅150 mm duct, and is composed of a conductor and a shield wound with Ag–Mn sheathed Bi-2223 tapes, electrical insulation with polypropylene laminated paper impregnated with liquid nitrogen and thermal insulation with co-axial corrugated pipes. A 30 m, 3-core cable system has been constructed to verify the 3-core performance after its production, laying and cooling. The cable had good performance to mechanical stress in the factory process. The critical current of the cable was more than 2.4 kA at 77 K. The AC loss of the conductor part was 0.5 W/m/phase at 1 kA rms, which agreed well with the calculated value of the spiral pitch adjustment technique. A 130 kV rms AC was successfully applied without any change in tan δ and capacitance. As a next step, a 100 m HTSC cable has been designed and developed based on these experimental results.