مقاله انگلیسی مطالعه امکان سنجی فنی و اقتصادی باس بارهای HTS جریان بالا برای راکتورهای همجوشی
Abstract
Keywords
Introduction
Cable design
Economic analysis
Results and discussion
Conclusions
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Declaration of Competing Interest
Acknowledgement
Appendix. – HTS tapes
References
ABSTRACT
In this study, we present a technical and economic assessment of high-current HTS bus bars for primary use in fusion reactors. Our objective is to verify the technical feasibility of such conductors and, for this purpose, we carry out a conceptual design of 66 and 105 kA DC bus bars, e.g. as a potential solution for powering the European DEMO power plant. We employ commercial HTS tapes and reasonable (as well as conservative) assumptions on cooling configurations and costs. Then, we compute the material, manufacturing and operating costs of these bus bars, comparing them with conventional (i.e. Al) conductors. Different Al current densities are considered, showing their impact on the total costs and on their technical feasibility. The cumulative operating costs over a 30-year period, based on nowadays realistic values for electricity cost and discount rate, are then briefly compared and discussed. We believe the present work could be of interest in designing the power supply system of future fusion reactors and other high-current industrial applications.
Introduction
The use of high-temperature superconductors (HTS) in power transmission lines has gained a growing interest above all for their superior efficiency compared to conventional conductors. Therefore, several recent projects worldwide have demonstrated the successful application of HTS cables in power grids and substations [1–11]. A few research studies have been focused on the economic assessment of HTS cables, and, in particular, on their competitiveness with respect to conventional conductors. In general, the results have shown that operating HTS cables at LN2 temperatures is not always convenient with respect to conventional (i.e. Al or Cu) cables, especially if short line lengths and critical current densities below 106 kA m− 2 are considered [12,13]. Other authors, besides reducing the operating costs thanks to reduced power losses, have emphasised that HTS power transmission lines have the additional advantage of allowing lower voltage levels, thus bringing economic benefits also to auxiliary devices such as transformers and power switches [14,15]. In recent years, the improvement in the manufacturing technologies of HTS wires and tapes has allowed to reach larger critical currents. This has progressively decreased the HTS material costs (strictly speaking, their operating cost per unit length, measured in $ kA− 1 m− 1 ), making them more and more attractive for replacing conventional conductors [16]. Another point to be considered is the application cases that have been studied in the literature. The works mentioned above, in most of the cases, refer to HTS conductors for high-voltage and/or AC power grid applications, usually with small current ratings (e.g., in the order of few kA). Nevertheless, some industrial applications operate at lower voltage levels and larger currents, thus they could potentially benefit from an HTS-based solution.