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news release:
GE
and Sumitomo Electric Industries enter HTS research collaboration
Niskayuna, NY, December 20: GE
Global Research, the centralized research organization of the General
Electric Company, today announced it has reached agreement on a collaborative
research effort with Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI)
to develop industrial equipment using higher temperature superconducting
materials. The discovery of higher temperature materials is seen as critical to
enabling more cost-effective and widespread industrial applications of
superconducting technology.
As part of the agreement, SEI will concentrate their
research activities on superconducting wire development. The research team at
Global Research will focus on the design and prototyping of new industrial
applications for superconducting wires. GE engages in the development of a broad
range of products, including medical diagnostic imagers, power-generating
turbines, and industrial drives that benefit from more advanced superconducting
materials.
"This collaboration with SEI will combine SEI's
strength in superconducting wire technology with our experience in the design
and development of industrial products using superconducting materials to enable
new commercial applications in energy and health care," said Michael Idelchik,
Vice President, Advanced Technology, GE Global Research said. "Together, we have
a great opportunity to deliver new technology that greatly expands opportunities
in the superconducting market."
"It is very important for higher temperature
superconducting wires to be delivered into real commercial application through
industry leading companies like GE. Since recent wire is reaching to enough
industrialized level of quality, we believe this collaboration starts at the
right time," said Dr. Ryosuke Hata, Managing Executive Officer and Deputy
General Manager, R&D Unit, Sumitomo Electric.
Since the discovery of superconductivity in 1911 by
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, researchers around the world have been trying to exploit
the phenomena in a variety of applications, including medical imaging, power
generation, and motors. At the present time, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is
the only commercial product that has greatly benefited from this discovery. The
need for cooling superconducting materials down to liquid helium temperatures
(4K) has limited more widespread applications of this technology.
New advances to develop higher temperature materials
have been made. The discovery of high temperature superconductors in 1986 with
critical temperatures above liquid nitrogen temperature (77K) spurred renewed
interest and research in superconductivity, and numerous efforts have been
carried worldwide to bring High-Tc wires to commercial applications. In
addition, SEI established the world’s first commercial long length High-Tc wire
mass production technology, which is called CT-OP (ConTrolled Over Pressure
Technique), to produce DI-BSCCO wire (Dynamically Innovative Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O wire)
with 200 A of current carrying capacity at 77.3 K (liquid nitrogen temperature)
within a 1mm2 cross sectional area without electric losses). But the development
of even higher performance superconducting materials would create even more
market opportunities.
SEI has developed one of the first successful exampled
of use of superconducting wire within a power cable demonstration, i.e., DI-BSCCO
cable was employed in the first in-grid power cable demonstration project
sponsored by Department of Energy and New York Energy Research & Development
Authority. After connecting to the grid successfully on July 2006, the DI-BSCCO
cable has been supplying the power to approximately 70,000 households without
any problems. The long-term test will be completed in the 2007-2008 timeframe.
About GE Global
Research
GE
Global Research was the first industrial research lab in the United States and
is one of the world's most diversified research centers, providing innovative
technology for all of GE's businesses. Global Research has been the cornerstone
of GE technology for more than 100 years, developing breakthrough innovations in
areas such as medical imaging, energy generation, jet engines, advanced
materials and lighting. GE Global Research is headquartered in Niskayuna, New
York and has facilities in Bangalore, India; Shanghai, China; and Munich,
Germany. Visit GE Global Research at
www.ge.com/research.
About Sumitomo Electric
Industries
Sumitomo
Electric started business in 1897. Since its establishment as an electric wire
manufacturer, Sumitomo Electric has been a leading technology company for
"Automotive", "Information & Communications", "Electronics", "Electric Wire &
Cable, Energy", and "Industrial Materials." Superconductivity technology
research is one good example of our business activities. Sumitomo Electric is
headquartered in Osaka, Japan and includes approximately 270 subsidiaries and
affiliates in more than 30 countries around the world, mainly in Asia, North
America and Europe. Visit Sumitomo Electric at
www.sei.co.jp/index.en.html.
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