Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Second-generation HTS Wirefor Wind Energy Applications
1
Venkat Selvamanickam, Ph.D.
Department of Mechanical EngineeringTexas Center for SuperconductivityUniversity of Houston, Houston, TX
SuperPower Inc.
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Superconductivity can have a wide range of impact on wind energy• Light-weight, higher-power, direct drive turbines
– Preferred for off-shore wind energy for economy & less maintenance– Less than 500 tons for 10 MW compared to ~ 900 tons for conventional direct drive– More efficient, especially at part load– High air-gap flux density
• Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage to address intermittency– Very efficient, short-term storage, complementing other storage methods
• Low-loss, long-distance power transmission from remote areas– Much reduced right of way (25 ft for 5 GW, 200 kV compared to 400 feet for
5 GW, 765 kV for conventional overhead lines)• Fault Current Limiters and Fault Current Limiting Transformers
• Built-in fault current limiting capability while benefiting from high efficiency• Liquid nitrogen coolant is also dielectric medium (no oil) eliminates the possibility of
oil fires and related environmental hazards
2
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
2G HTS wire: Great potential for applications• Second-generation (2G) HTS- HTS is produced by thin film vacuum deposition
on a flexible nickel alloy substrate in a continuous reel-to-reel process very different from mechanical deformation & heat treatment techniques used for Nb-Ti, Nb3Sn and 1G HTS wires
– Only 1% of wire is the superconductor– ~ 97% is inexpensive Ni alloy and Cu – Automated, reel-to-reel continuous manufacturing process– Quality of every single thin film coating can be monitored on-line
in real time !
2 μm Ag
20μm Cu
50μm Ni alloy substrate
1 μm YBCO - HTS (epitaxial)100 – 200 nm Buffer
40 μm Cu total
20μm Cu
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain4
2G HTS wires provide unique advantages
0
200
400
600
800
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Strain (%)
Stre
ss (M
Pa)
SP 2G HTSHigh Je
High Strength 1G HTS Low Je
Nb3Sn Moderate JeLow Strength
1G HTSModerate Je
< 0.
1 m
m
20μm Cu
50μm Hastelloy
20μm Cu
• 2G HTS wires provide the advantages of high temperature operation at higher magnetic fields.
• Mechanical properties of 2G HTS wires are alsosuperior
100
1000
10000
100000
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Applied Field ( Tesla )
non-
Cu
Jc (
A/m
m2
)
YBCO (H//c) YBCO (H//ab) NbTi
Nb3Sn (Internal Sn) Nb3Sn (Bronze)
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain5
Advantages of IBAD MgO-MOCVD based 2G HTS wires
YBCO
LaMnO3
MgO (IBAD + Epi layer)
Al2O3
100 nm
Y2O3
Hastelloy C-276
YBCO
LaMnO3
MgO (IBAD + Epi layer)
Al2O3
100 nm100 nm100 nm
Y2O3
Hastelloy C-276
2 μm Ag
20μm Cu
20μm Cu50μm Hastelloy substrate
1 μm YBCO - HTS (epitaxial)~ 30 nm LMO (epitaxial)
~ 30 nm Homo-epi MgO (epitaxial)~ 10 nm IBAD MgO
< 0.1 mm
• Use of IBAD MgO as buffer template provides the choice of any substrate– High strength (yield strength > 700 MPa)– Non-magnetic, high resistive (both important for low ac losses) – Ultra-thin (enables high engineering current density)– Low cost, off-the-shelf
• High deposition rate and large deposition area by MOCVD– enable high throughput
• Precursors are maintained outside deposition chamber– Long process runs (already shown 50+ hours)
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Successful scale-up of IBAD-MOCVD based 2G HTS wires
• 500 m 2G HTS wire first demonstrated in January 2007 (crossed 100,000 A-m)
• 1,000 m 2G HTS wire first demonstrated in July 2008 (crossed 200,000 A-m)
• Crossed 300,000 A-m in July 2009 with 1,000 m wire.
• 1,400 m lengths are now routinely produced.
• High throughput processing (>> 100 m/h* in IBAD & buffer processes, > 100 m/h* in other processes)
• Manufacturing capacity of few hundred km/year
6*4 mm wide equivalent
040,00080,000
120,000160,000200,000240,000280,000320,000
Nov-01
Jul-02
Mar-03
Nov-03
Aug-04
Apr-05
Dec-05
Aug-06
Apr-07
Jan-08
Sep-08
May-09
Critical Current * Length (A-m)
62 m18 m1 m 97 m
206 m
90 A-m to 300,330 A-m
in seven years
158 m
322 m 427 m595 m
790 m
1,065 m
935 m
1,030 m
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
7
Meeting application requirements for HTS wire: Superior performance in operating conditions
Application Operating Field (Tesla) OperatingTemp. (K)
Key requirements Wire needed per device (kA-m)
Cables0.01 to 0.1 (ac)
0.1 to 1 (DC)70 to 77
Low ac losses (ac)High currents (dc)
40,000 to 2,500,000
Generators 1 to 3 30 to 65 In-field Ic 2,000 to 10,000
Transformers 0.1 65 to 77 Low ac losses 2,000 to 3,000
Fault current limiters 0.1 65 to 77Thermal recovery
High volts/cm500 to 10,000
SMES 2 to 30 T 4 to 50 In-field Ic 2,000 to 3,000
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Wire price-performance is the key factor for commercialization• Today’s 2G wire (4 mm wide, copper stabilized) : 100 A performance at 77 K,
zero applied magnetic field, Price $ 30-40/m = $ 300-400/kA-m.
• At this price, cost of wire for typical device project (other than cable) > $ 1 M (more expensive than the typical cost of the device itself !)Cost of wire for a 500 km cable project = $ 20 M (~ cost of cable project itself !)
Metric Today Customer requirementPrice $ 300 -
400/kA-m< $ 100/kA-m* For commercial market entry
(small market)< $ 50/kA-m* For medium commercial market< $ 25/kA-m* For large commercial market
*at operating field and temperature
Four to 10-fold improvement in wire price-performance needed !Four to 10-fold improvement in wire price-performance needed !
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Need for wire performance improvements
• Ten-fold reduction in price essentially impossible with $/m cost reduction.
• Increasing amperage is key to reaching price ($/kA-m) targets
• Opportunity to substantially increase self-field critical current in 2G wire by increasing film thickness
– HTS is still only 1 to 3% of 2G wire compared with 40% in 1G wire and is the only process that needs to be changed in 2G wire for high critical current
• Opportunity to significantly modify in-field critical current performance of 2G wire
– Numerous possibilities of rare-earth, dopant, nanostructure modifications to tailor in-field critical current
9
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
• SuperPower’s technology operations consolidated in Houston which enabled total focus on manufacturing in Schenectady.
SuperPower-UH 2G wire development strategy
National LabsNational LabsCustomersCustomers
CRADAs
SP staff @ Houston
UH research staff
SuperPowerManufacturing at Schenectady, NY
Manufacturing Operations in NY
Technology in Houston
Manufacturing objectives• High yield, high volume operation• On-time delivery of high-quality wire• Incorporate new technology advancementsTechnology objectives• High performance wires • Highly efficient, lower cost processes• Advanced wire architectures• Successful transition to manufacturing
Best of both worlds : strong and concentrated emphasis on technology development & manufacturingBest of both worlds : strong and concentrated emphasis on technology development & manufacturing
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Outline
• Higher performance in operating conditions of interest• Low ac loss wires• Improving yield and reducing cost
11
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
Jc (M
A/c
m2 )
HTS film thickness
Research MOCVDPilot MOCVD
0
200
400
600
800
1000
0 1 2 3
Crit
ical
cur
rent
(A/c
m-
wid
th)
Thickness (µm)
Goal
12
Need for higher amperage production wires
• Address problems with decreasing current density with thickness
• High currents without significantly increasing film thickness by increasing current density (Jc)
– Microstructural improvement (texture, secondary phases, a-axis, porosity)
– Pinning improvement (interfacial & bulk defects)
• Opportunity to reduce factor of two difference between pilot and research MOCVD systems
2012 – 500 A/cm2014 – 750 A/cm
2016 – 1000 A
Increasing Ic
SP M3-714
Now Ic up to 375 A/cm (150 A/4 mm) in long lengths
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Improvement in critical currents of thick film coated conductors with higher rare earth content
13
77K
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0.9 1.1 1.3 1.5 1.7 1.9
Gd+Y
Jc
(MA
/cm
2 ) 0T1T, //ab1T, //c1T, min
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Improved pinning by Zr doping of MOCVD HTS wires
Process for improved in-field performance successfully transferred to manufacturing at SuperPowerProcess for improved in-field performance successfully transferred to manufacturing at SuperPower
• Systematic study of improved pinning by Zr addition in MOCVD films at UH.• Two-fold improvement in in-field performance achieved !
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Large improvements in in-field Ic of Zr-doped wires
100 A/4 mm
100 A/4 mm achieved at 65 K, 3 T in Zr-doped wire compared to 40 K, 3 T in undoped wire
165 A/4 mm achieved at 40 K, 5 T in Zr-doped wire compared to 18 K, 5 T in undoped wire
100 A/4 mm achieved at 65 K, 3 T in Zr-doped wire compared to 40 K, 3 T in undoped wire
165 A/4 mm achieved at 40 K, 5 T in Zr-doped wire compared to 18 K, 5 T in undoped wire
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Large improvements in in-field Ic of Zr-doped wires
Retention of 77 K, zero field Ic
65 K3 T
40 K3 T
18 K3 T
Undoped wire 0.27 1.02 2.13
Doped wire 0.73 1.99 3.50
Retention factor of doped wire is higher by 2.7 1.9 1.6
77 K zero-field Ic of 2009 undoped wire = 250 A/cm
77 K zero-field Ic of new doped wire = 340 A/cm
Retention factor of doped wire including higher zero field Ic is
higher by3.71 2.64 2.23
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Superior performance at 4.2 K in recent Zr-doped MOCVD production wires
In-field performance of Zr-doped production wires improved by more than 50% in high fields at 4.2 KIn-field performance of Zr-doped production wires improved by more than 50% in high fields at 4.2 K
Measurements by V. Braccini, J. Jaroszynski, A. Xu,& D. Larbalestier, NHMFL, FSU
T, K
0 20 40 60 80
Jc, M
A/cm
2
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Production wire1.1 µm thick HTS filmIc (77 K, 0 T) = 310 A/cm
1 10
100
1000
T=4.2K
I c - 4m
m w
idth
(A)
B (T)
undoped, B perp. wire undoped, B || wire FY'09 Zr-doped, B perp. wire FY'09 Zr-doped, B || wire FY'10 Zr-doped, B perp. wire FY'10 Zr-doped, B || wireJc @ 4.2 K (A/4 mm) 2009 2010
10 T, B ⊥ wire 201 310
20 T, B ⊥ wire 118 183
5 T, B || wire 1,219 1,893
10 T, B || wire 1,073 1,769
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Benefit of Zr-doped wires realized in coil performance
Coil properties With Zr-doped wire With undoped wire
Coil ID 21 mm (clear) 12.7 mm (clear)
Winding ID 28.6 mm 19. 1 mm
# turns 2688 3696
2G wire used ~ 480 m ~ 600 m
Wire Ic 90 to 101 A 120 to 180 A
Field generated at 65 K 2.5 T 2.49 T
Same level of high-field coil performance can be achieved with Zr-doped wire with less zero-field 77 K Ic, less wire and larger bore
Same level of high-field coil performance can be achieved with Zr-doped wire with less zero-field 77 K Ic, less wire and larger bore
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Goals for further performance improvements• Two-fold improvement in in-field performance achieved with Zr-doped wires• Further improvement in Ic at B || c : Now 30% retention of 77 K, zero field value at
77 K, 1 T ; Goal is 50%.• Improvement in minimum Ic controlling factor for most coil performance : Now 15 to
20% retention of 77 K, zero field value at 77 K, 1 T ; Goal is first 30% and then 50%• Together with a zero-field Ic of 400 A/4 mm at 77 K, self field 200 A/4 mm at
77 K, 1 T in all field orientations.• Achieve improved performance levels at lower temperatures too (< 65 K)
10
100
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240
Critical cu
rren
t (A/4 mm)
Angle between field and c‐axis (°)
Standard MOCVD‐based HTS tape
MOCVD HTS w/ self‐assembled nanostructures
Goal
c‐axis
200
10x 77 K, 1 T
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Ongoing research in pinning improvements• Raise minimum Ic in angular dependence
– Most defects in Zr-doped MOCVD wires are directional, BZO nanocolumns along the c-axis (with splay) and RE2O3 precipitate arrays along the a-b plane.
– Create new defect structure that is not directional or modify existing defect structure to be isotropic
– Create a splay in defects along a-b plane to broaden the peak in Ic at B || a-b just like the peak at B || c
• Determine contribution of different defect structures at lower temperatures and higher fields
10
100
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240
Critical cu
rren
t (A/4 mm)
Angle between field and c‐axis (°)
Standard MOCVD‐based HTS tape
MOCVD HTS w/ self‐assembled nanostructures
Goal
c‐axis
200
10x
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Multiple strategies to enhance in-field performance : higher Ic, more isotropic• Superconductor process modification
– Chemical modifications in MOCVD to modify defect density, orientation and size.
• Influence of film thickness on in-fieldIc of Zr-doped films
• Influence of rare earth type and content• Influence of Zr content at fixed
rare-earth type and content• Influence of other dopants• Influence of deposition rate
• Buffer surface modification buffer prior to superconductor growth• Post superconductor processing modification such as post annealing
etc.
2
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Improvement with Zr in thicker films
Improvement in in-field critical current of Zr-doped wires increases with film thickness
Improvement in in-field critical current of Zr-doped wires increases with film thickness
All samples were of composition Y0.6Gd0.6BCO
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
In-field performance of Zr-doped films is drastically modified by rare earth content
Zr content maintained at 7.5% in all three samples
c‐axis
Fewer defects along a‐b plane in Y1.2 ; defects prominent along a‐b plane in (Y,Gd)1.5Fewer defects along a‐b plane in Y1.2 ; defects prominent along a‐b plane in (Y,Gd)1.5
Y1.2Y1.2
20 nm
(Y,Gd)1.5(Y,Gd)1.5
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Thick film multilayers of Zr doped (Y,Gd)1.5 and (Y,Gd)1.2 compositions
• 7.5% Zr doping. 0.7 µm HTS film deposited in each pass.• Zero-field and in-field performance measured after each pass.
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Multfilamentary 2G HTS tapes for low ac loss applications• Filamentization of 2G HTS tapes is desired
for low ac loss applications.• So far, there is no proven technique to
repeatedly create high quality mulfilamentary2G tapes. Also, adds substantial cost.
4 mm
32-filament tape, 4 mm wide (difficult to make even 1 m lengths)
5-filament tape, 4 mm wide (produced up to 15 m)
0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.060
1
2
ac lo
ss (
W/m
)
Bac rms (T)
5.1 x
100 Hz unstriated
multifilamentary
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Goals in multifilamentary 2G HTS wire fabrication• Maintaining filament integrity uniform over long lengths (no Ic reduction)• Striated silver and copper stabilizer (minimize coupling losses)• Minimum reduction in non superconducting volume (narrow gap) and
fine filaments
Ag
Substrate
Cu
HTS
A fully filamentized 2G HTS wire would need to have 20 – 50 µm of copper stabilizer striated !A fully filamentized 2G HTS wire would need to have 20 – 50 µm of copper stabilizer striated !
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
4. Remove remaining photoresist5. Wet etch silver and HTS
Cu
2. Transfer pattern from mask to photoresist
3. Electroplate copper
Photoresist
Ag
Substrate
YBCO1. Coat photoresist
on silver
Approach to make fully-filamentized 2G HTS wire
X. Zhang and V. Selvamanickam, US 7,627,356
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Approach to make fully-filamentized 2G HTS wire
2
1 mm
100 μm
Cu Ag HTS
substrate
Cu
Fully-filamentized 2G HTS wire demonstrated, but still involves etchingFully-filamentized 2G HTS wire demonstrated, but still involves etching
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Striate buffer layer, then deposit REBCO.
SubstrateBuffer Stack
Substrate Substrate
REBCO
Prerequisites:1.) ‘striation ‘phase’ needs favorable properties for minimal coupling
2.) no widening of ‘striation phase’ into REBCO
3.) No poisoning of REBCO (no diffusion barrier)
4.) No porosity or features that may initiate cracks
5.) Fully-filamentized silver and copper stabilizer
Alternate bottom-up approach being developed
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
500 µm
Mechanical striation with a diamond tip:
1 mm separationMilling reveals ~1.8 micron depth
Width ~ 25 µm.Repeated experiments with load control : width decreased to 12 µm
Striation of buffer layers
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
• REBCO texture typical of non-striated tape
• Striated texture polycrystalline, rough
• No apparent widening of striation!
Striated buffer after MOCVD
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Cross section of striated region after MOCVD
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Factor of five lower ac loss in multifilamentarywire made by bottom-up approach
SCR 5,6 – multifilamentary ; SCR 7ref – reference, no filaments
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Improving yield through on-line vision QC in MOCVD
• Vision inspection algorithms assign quality values to images taken every ~15 mm of the wire as it emerges from the MOCVD deposition chamber
• Comparisons of ‘quality map’ with reference tape to discern process drift in real time
Real-time prediction of Ic during MOCVD process enabled by improved on-line Vision systemReal-time prediction of Ic during MOCVD process enabled by improved on-line Vision system
850 900 950 1,000 1,050 1,100 1,150 1,200 1,250 1,300100
80
60
40
20
0
0
100
200
300
400
500
Training from Reference ImagesNo Partial Training
Def
ect C
ode
Val
ue (%
)
Absolute Position (m)
COVG Ic1T
Ic-1
T (A
mps
)
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Early detection of a-axis growth during MOCVD is valuable for high current wires
y = 1.0007x - 0.0235R² = 0.8411
0
100
200
300
400
0 100 200 300 400Pr
edic
ted
criti
cal c
urre
nt (A
)
Measured critical current (A)
Ic=4.95*counts (006)-125
Critical current predicted based on (006) XRD peak intensity
Good correlation between measured Ic and (006) XRD peak intensityGood correlation between measured Ic and (006) XRD peak intensity
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
0 0.5 1 1.5
YBCO (200)/(006) ratio
Crit
ical
Cur
rent
(A/c
m)
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
On-line XRD in new pilot-MOCVD system for real-time quality control
36
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Significant improvement in quality of production wires in 2010
% wires > 2009 2010
250 A/cm 25% 60%
300 A/cm 8% 22%
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Rapidly decreasing price of 2G HTS wire through technology advancements
10 m demo
100 m demo
First year of pilot production
2 to 4x higher throughput
Creation of separateManufacturing andR&D facilities
500 m demo 1,000 m
demo
AP wire (Zr-doped) product introduction
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Projected improvements in in-field performance of production wires through technology
• 10-fold improvement by combination of higher self-field critical current and improved retention of in-field performance through technical innovations.
• Even at 4.2 K, 15 T, 2G HTS wire is comparable now with Nb3Sn wire. Opportunity to improve to be 10X better than Nb3Sn !
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Significant price improvements projected through technological advancements
• Price reduction due to improvements in zero-field critical current, retention of in-field critical current and cost reduction ($/m)
• Applications that involve magnetic field benefit from the additional improvement factor in in-field Ic retention
• Increasing market opportunities with decreasing price at operating condition.
c
Small commercial market
Medium commercial market
Large commercial market
Prototype device market
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Mag
netic
Fie
ld (
T)
Temperature (K)
A
D
C
B
Niobium‐Tin LTSNiobium‐Titanium LTS
2G HTS ‐ Small market2G HTS ‐Medium market2G HTS ‐ Large market
A. Cables, Transformers, Fault Current Limiters
B. Motors, Generators, Transportation, Aerospace
C. High‐field Magnets, MR, High Energy Physics, Fusion Reactors
D. High‐field Inserts, MR, High Energy Physics, Fusion Reactors
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Mag
netic
Fie
ld (
T)
Temperature (K)
A
C
B
D
Niobium‐Tin LTSNiobium‐Titanium LTS
2G HTS ‐ demo market
A. Cables, Transformers, Fault Current Limiters
B. Motors, Generators, Transportation, Aerospace
C. High‐field Magnets
D. High‐field Inserts
Now to 2 yearsNow to 2 years
5+ years5+ years
Roadmap to realize large market potential
• Large market potential outside the capability of LTS wire.
• Wide range of applications with broad operating conditions & unique requirements – need highly sophisticated & engineered wire.
• Abundant opportunity to lead market capture through technology to improve wire performance and cost-profile
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Mag
netic
Fie
ld (
T)
Temperature (K)
A
C
B
D A. Cables, Transformers, Fault Current Limiters
B. Motors, Generators, Transportation, Aerospace
C. High‐field Magnets,
D. High‐field Inserts
Niobium‐Tin LTSNiobium‐Titanium LTS
2G HTS ‐ Small market2G HTS ‐Medium market2G HTS ‐ Large market
2 to 5 years2 to 5 years
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Applied Research Hub to accelerate technology transfer and commercialization• Formed in 2010 with $3.5 M funding from the state of Texas through the
Emerging Technology Fund. Additional $3.8 M provided by UH.• The initial focus of the Applied Research Hub is on power applications of
high temperature superconducting wire. SuperPower is the first industry partner
• Labs now in UH campus expanding to 70-acre UH Energy Research Park• New pilot-scale MOCVD
system procured and will be set up this summer.
• SuperPower to establishSpecialty Products Facilityin UH Energy Research Park this summer
Rapid transfer of technology advances to manufacturing to accelerate commercialization of HTS for wind energy and other applicationsRapid transfer of technology advances to manufacturing to accelerate commercialization of HTS for wind energy and other applications
Symposium on Superconducting Devices for Wind Energy – February 25, 2011 – Barcelona, Spain
Abundant potential for 2G HTS wires for several applications• 2G HTS wires have come a long way by combining complex materials
with novel processes and equipment innovations.• Among all superconducting materials, 2G HTS wires are the most
tunable plenty of opportunities to meet goals through R&D. • Potential for large improvements in performance (critical current in
operating condition) with modest price reduction ($/m)• Opportunities to tailor wire to meet complete specifications (ac losses,
stabilization, mechanical properties)• Focused R&D effort underway along with maturing manufacturing
operation for broad insertion of 2G HTS wire in several applications