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China's 30 m, 35 kV/2 kA ac HTS power cable project

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2004 Supercond. Sci. Technol. 17 S332

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INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS PUBLISHING SUPERCONDUCTOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Supercond. Sci. Technol. 17 (2004) S332–S335 PII: S0953-2048(04)75449-4

China’s 30 m, 35 kV/2 kA ac HTS power


cable project
Ying Xin1 , Bo Hou1 , Yanfang Bi2 , Kunnan Cao1 , Yong Zhang1 ,
Songtao Wu2 , Huaikuang Ding3 , Guoling Wang4 , Qing Liu5 and
Zhenghe Han6
1
Innopower Superconductor Cable Co., Ltd, Longsheng Industrial Park, Beijing Economic
and Technological Development Area, Beijing 100176, People’s Republic of China
2
Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, Hefei 230031,
People’s Republic of China
3
Hefei Research Institute of Cryogenics and Electronics, Heifei 230043,
People’s Republic of China
4
Shanghai Cable Works, Shanghai 200093, People’s Republic of China
5
Department of Material Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084,
People’s Republic of China
6
Applied Superconductivity Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084,
People’s Republic of China

Received 23 January 2004


Published 14 April 2004
Online at stacks.iop.org/SUST/17/S332
DOI: 10.1088/0953-2048/17/5/048

Abstract
A project for a 30 m, 35 kV/2 kArms , 3 phase, warm dielectric HTS power
cable system is underway in China. This system will be installed in the
China Southern Power Grid at the Puji substation in Kunming, Yunan
province, in 2004. We have carried out a series of experiments to investigate
the possible winding angles and layer configurations of the cable conductor
with Ag sheathed Bi-2223 tapes, different LN2 cooling mechanisms,
termination configurations, and fabrication techniques. For better
understanding of the basics of an HTS cable system and practising new
fabrication techniques, a 4 m superconductor cable with terminations and a
closed cycle cryogenic system was built and tested. In this paper, we give
the detailed parameters of the 30 m cable system and the work plan of the
project.
(Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)

1. Introduction Research on superconductor power cable and its


applications has been carried out in tens of programmes around
Upgrading the power utility industry is one of the fields to the world since 1992 (for example, [1–5]). Different conductor
which HTS technology can contribute. Among all possible configurations and different dielectric designs have been
power utility applications of HTS, the power transmission intensively investigated. Quite a few prototype superconductor
cable is of great importance. cables and terminations have been fabricated and tested ([6–9],
The main advantages of superconductor cables over for example). Evaluations of the impact of the application of
conventional cables are high capacity, superior efficiency, and a superconductor cable on the power grid and the environment
compactness. The use of a superconductor for transmitting have been carried out [10–12]. Two superconductor cable
electricity can reduce the energy loss due to extremely systems were installed in live power transmission lines for
small Joule losses. Superconductor cables will also allow trial operation. One of them is at Southwire Company’s
low voltage and large current transmission systems to be power supply system in Carrollton, Georgia, USA. Southwire
constructed. This will reduce the cost of high voltage auxiliary Company, Oak Ridge National Lab and other collaborators
equipment and the impact on the environment. developed the cable system. The installation was finished

0953-2048/04/050332+04$30.00 © 2004 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK S332


China’s 30 m, 35 kV/2 kA ac HTS power cable project

(a) (b)
Electric field equalizer↵

Current lead ↵

Cryostat ↵

Epoxy tube ↵ LN out ↵


Johnston coupling ↵ 2

LN2 in ↵

Common conductor connection↵ Electric insulation ↵

Figure 1. (a) Design of the termination. (b) Photograph of the termination.

at the end of 1999. The other is in the Danish power grid


close to Copenhagen, which was completed by NKT and its
collaborators in May 2001.
With support from the Beijing municipal government and
the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, we started
our superconductor cable project at the end of 2001. Our plan
was to complete the manufacturing of the cable conductors,
the terminations, and the liquid nitrogen cooling system by
the end of 2003. This cable system will be installed at the
Puji substation in Kunming, Yunnan, China in the spring of
2004. This substation is the provider of electricity to four
industrial customers (including two metallurgical refineries)
and a residential population of about 100 000. Figure 2. The flow diagram of the cooling system of the cable.

G-M cryorefrigerator LN2 supply valve


2. System description and technical parameters

The goal of our ongoing project is to develop a 30 m 3 phase,


35 kV/2 kArms , and ac power transmission cable system. The Exhaust tube of separator
LN2 outlet tube
detailed technical parameters of the cable system are listed in
LN2 inlet tube Heat exchanger of cold head
table 1.
The 3-phase system is made of three single-phase cables. Subcooled heat exchanger Gas and liquid
Each cable consists of 6 layers of total 112 BSCCO 2223 tapes. two-phase separator
The 61 filament silver sheathed BSCCO tapes were produced
by Innost of China, and have an Ic > 60 A at 77 K, self-field.
The geometrical and dimensional descriptions of the
former, conductor, the cryostat, and the dielectric of the cable
are given in table 2. Figure 3. A schematic drawing of the configuration of the
A drawing of the design and a photograph of the sub-cooling tank.
termination are given in figures 1(a) and (b) respectively. In the
termination’s design, we emphasize simplicity and genericity. cable cooling system: the first is that some refrigerators can be
The basic structural design could be used for warm dielectric turned off when the load on the cable is much lower than the
cables in a wide range of current and voltage. Since the rated value, so the cooling energy consumption can be reduced
terminations are at high voltage under working condition, under such situations; the second is that it makes it possible to
epoxy tube is used as the connection path of flowing liquid do maintenance and repair without shutting down the whole
nitrogen from the refrigeration unit to the cable. The cryostat of system.
the termination is made of two coaxial stainless steel tubes. The
space between the walls of the tubes is evacuated at <0.1 Pa. 3. Project participants
Getter is used for enhancing the performance of the cryostat.
The cable’s liquid nitrogen cooling system consists The developer of the 30 m power cable project is Innopower
of eight Cryomech AL 300 refrigerators, a Barber Nickels Superconductor Cable Co. Ltd of Beijing, China. Major
BNCP-30-000 liquid nitrogen pump, a sub-cooling tank with collaborators include Yunnan Electric Power Group, Institute
heat exchangers, a liquid nitrogen tank, and a mechanical of Plasma Physics, Academia Sinica, 16th Research Institute
pump. The cooling capacity is about 2000 W at 75 K. The of China Electronics Technology Corporation, Shanghai
8 GM refrigerators are working in parallel. Figure 2 is the flow Cable Works, Innova Superconductor Technology Co. Ltd,
diagram of the cooling system of the cable. Figure 3 gives a Applied Superconductivity Research Center of Tsinghua
schematic drawing of the configuration of the sub-cooling tank. University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology,
There are two advantages of using eight refrigerators for the and NEXANS.

S333
Y Xin et al

Figure 4. A photograph of the 4 m superconductor cable system.

Table 1. Cable parameters.


Subject Specification Subject Specification
Mode of cable Three, single phase, outdoor Operation altitude 2000 m
Length 33 m (flange to flange) Outer diameter of cable <115 mm
Rated voltage 35 kV Total loss of termination <120 W/unit
Rated current 2 kA (rms) Cooling fluid LN2
Shortcut current 20 kA Cooling capacity 2000 W at 75 K
Dielectric Warm Inlet temperature 70–72 K
ac loss of cable <1.0 W m−1 Outlet temperature 74–76 K
Heat leak of cable <1.5 W m−1 Reliability requirement >20 000 h

Table 2. Major design parameters of the cable conductor.


Item Specification
Former length 33 m
Former ID/OD (with braiding) 30/35 mm
Layers of HTS tape 6
Winding angle TDT, angle varies in different layers
ID of cryostat 43 mm
OD of cryostat 70 mm
Dielectric type XLPE
Nominal thickness of dielectric 11 mm

The participants of the project come from a wide spectrum superconductor cable system, which consists of a 4 m
of disciplines, including Superconducting Material and Device superconductor cable with thermal and electrical insulation,
Manufacturer, Power Utility Company, National Research a pair of terminations, and a closed cycle refrigeration system.
Laboratory, Power Transmission Cable Manufacturer, and Figure 4 is a photograph of the system. The current carrying
University. capacity test, heat load test, and system cooling rate test were
performed on this system.
4. Project work plan and progress The winding of the 30 m cables was started in the second
half of October, and finished in the first half of November
This project was started at the end of 2001 and the expected 2003. The completion date of the fabrication of terminations
installation completion date is 31 March 2004. was set at the end of October 2003. Field preparation of the
To test and refine the designs of the system and to installation of the 30 m superconductor cable system at the
develop manufacturing techniques, we carried out numerous Puji substation is underway. The installation work is planned
experiments and made six short cable conductor models and a to begin in January and be completed at the end of March 2004.
pair of termination models. These experiments include the Trial operation will begin afterwards.
influences of mechanical strain and stress, magnetic field,
and thermal cycling on Ic of the BSCCO tapes, thermal 5. Summary
conductivity test of the materials in the cable structure, test on
different liquid nitrogen cooling configurations, cable current With the support from Chinese government, China’s 30 m,
carrying capacity test, current distribution test among the 35 kV/2 kArms , 3 phase, HTS power cable system, its first
conductor layers, conductor ac loss measurement, and ac superconductor cable system being planned to be installed
withstand voltage test on the terminations. in a power grid for trial operation, is under construction.
Besides the six conductor models mentioned above, to Significant progress has been made in this project. This system
test our design on a system level, we made a complete will be installed in the China Southern Power Grid at the Puji

S334
China’s 30 m, 35 kV/2 kA ac HTS power cable project

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Mortensen J, Christiansen J and Mikkelsen S D 2002
power grid in the world, following the Southwire cable in the
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IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 9 1273
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