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New
Release -- Superconductor Week does not edit or endorse the following
news release: Intermagnetics' SuperPower Subsidiary Sets New World Record In Second-Generation HTS Wire Performance Dean
Peterson, leader of the Superconductivity Technology Center at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory added, "Our long-standing partnership with SuperPower
is resulting in significant improvements in both the manufacturing process and
product quality. Commercial viability is now within our reach."
SuperPower also announced that site construction at the HTS Cable Project in
Albany, New York, continues to progress according to schedule. Philip J.
Pellegrino, president of SuperPower, noted that, "The equipment and
controls building, underground ductwork and termination vaults, and the
cryogenic refrigeration system are all substantially completed. The first phase
of the cable fabricated by Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI) is expected to
arrive at the North Albany Service Center site of Niagara Mohawk, a National
Grid Company, in September for installation."
In
addition to today's announcement of the world record at the 2005 DOE Peer Review
this week in Washington, D.C., Pellegrino noted the following additional
accomplishments, all geared toward producing a practical conductor and prototype
devices:
1)
SuperPower's new 2G wire is about 35 to 50 percent thinner than previous wire.
This was made possible by reducing the thickness of the substrates by 50
percent. These are now the thinnest substrates used anywhere in the world. A
greater quantity of this thinner wire can now be packed into the same space,
providing more efficient coils for motor, generator and transformer
applications.
2) Los Alamos National Laboratory successfully fabricated this thinner 2G wire
supplied by SuperPower into a prototype electrical coil to demonstrate the
mechanical durability of the conductor without any degradation in critical
current.
3) Delivery to SEI of 207 meters of the new, thin 2G wire in a 4 mm width with a
copper stabilizer and an average critical current of 140 A/cm has been
completed.
4) Delivery of 113 meters of 4 mm wide, copper-stabilized 2G wire to SEI has
fabricated into a demonstration one meter long 2G cable, proving lower ac losses
and higher current carrying capacity.
5) New coils fabricated with SuperPower's 2G wire were supplied to Rockwell for
an HTS motor that operated at 6 times higher power than for a similar
demonstration about one year ago. The resulting motor was run at 40 Amps and
achieved 7.5 hp in a conventional 5 hp motor frame.
6) SuperPower fabricated an electrical coil using 20 meters of 2G wire to
demonstrate the capability of the wire to produce high magnetic fields at liquid
nitrogen temperatures, which is not possible with 1G wire.
7) Dielectric test results obtained from Oak Ridge National Laboratory
demonstrate the advantages of SuperPower's surround stabilizer configuration for
high-voltage applications.
8) 1 mm wide 2G wire has been demonstrated. This is 4 times narrower than wire
made by any other organization. Narrow conductor is preferred for low ac losses
in military and several commercial applications. Further, SuperPower
demonstrated twisting of the 1 mm wide conductor to form a stranded, multi-wire
conductor for the first time.
9) High-throughput 2G wire fabrication in every process step has been
demonstrated for the first time. Linear tape speeds equivalent to 30 meters/hour
of 4 mm wide conductor were used to produce long length, high-performance 2G
wire. High linear tape speeds would enable long single piece lengths of 2G wire.
Pellegrino said, "Following on our previous demonstration of SuperPower's
ability to fabricate 2G wire in short lengths, we have continued to focus on the
achievement of commercial manufacturing capability by pursuing the fabrication
of high-quality 2G wire in continuous long lengths, now surpassing 200 meters.
At the same time, we have continued our development of a product suitable for a
variety of applications by focusing on critical mechanical properties,
electrical stabilization, ac losses, magnetic field performance and
device-suitable dimensions. SuperPower's manufacturing process is focused on
obtaining high throughput in every processing step."
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