SBIR Phase I: Actively Shielded Superconducting Generators for Large Wind Turbines

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是将海上风电的水平电力成本(LCOE)从目前水平降低约为陆上风电的两倍。考虑到海上风能资源靠近沿海的负荷中心，它对美国来说是一种有吸引力的可再生能源，但高昂的成本阻碍了它的广泛采用。解决这一问题的一种方法是使用较大的涡轮机，这可能会导致工厂平衡降低？成本，这可能高达海上风能项目总成本的65%。然而，由于发电机和转子的大尺寸和重量，以及制造、运输和组装等基础设施障碍，涡轮机额定功率目前受到限制。该项目正在开发的轻型超导(SC)发电机，再加上OEM S已经开发的先进转子，可能会为更大的涡轮机额定值和更低的成本打开大门。潜在的高比功率机械技术还可以帮助改变一些其他重量敏感的电子系统，如混合动力飞机和船舶推进。该小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目旨在打破低技术准备水平(TRL)SC技术的传统风险与收益交易，通过使用新型的主动磁屏蔽？概念。这种设计概念使机器内的运行磁场非常高，同时消除了使用铁磁钢制成的磁轭来容纳磁场的需要。与其他解决方案相比，较高的内部磁场显著增加了电磁扭矩，导致了非常高的功率密度。此外，从磁路中去除重铁会进一步减轻重量。拟议中的发电机设计大约是目前可用的风力直驱的一半大小。效率也有望提高，消除约三分之一的铜线圈，同时保持相同的电流密度。来自商业上成功的磁共振成像(MRI)行业的现有低温冷却技术将被改造并用于机器，以在保持高比功率的同时降低许多与低温相关的风险。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is reduced levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of offshore wind from current levels that are about twice that of onshore wind. Given the proximity of offshore wind resources to load centers along the coast, it is an attractive renewable energy source for the nation, but high costs are an impediment to widespread adoption. One way to address this is with larger turbines that can lead to lower ?balance of plant? costs, which can be as high as 65% of the total project costs of offshore wind. However, turbine rating is currently limited due to the large size and weight of the generator and the rotor, as well as infrastructure obstacles like manufacturing, transport, and assembly. The lightweight superconducting (SC) generators being developed within this project, coupled with advanced rotors already being developed by the OEM?s, could open the door to significantly larger turbine ratings and lower costs. The underlying high specific power machine technology can also help transform a number of other weight-sensitive electrical systems like hybrid electric airplanes and ship propulsion. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to disrupt the traditional risk versus benefit trade of the low Technology Readiness Level (TRL) SC technology by significantly increasing the benefits with a novel ?active magnetic shielding? concept. This design concept enables a very high operating magnetic field within the machine while eliminating the need for a yoke made of ferromagnetic steel to contain the field. The higher internal fields increase the electromagnetic torque significantly over other solutions, leading to very high power density. Additionally, the elimination of heavy iron from the magnetic circuit leads to further reduction in weight. The proposed generator design can be about half the size of currently available wind direct-drives. Efficiency is also expected to improve with the elimination of about a third of copper coils while maintaining the same current density. Available cryogenic cooling technology from the commercially successful magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) industry will be adapted and utilized in the machine to reduce many of the cryogenics related risks while maintaining high specific power.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.