An Opportunity for MgB2 Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage

随着可再生能源(风能、波浪、太阳能)发电量的增长，储能被广泛认为是维持电能质量和负载均衡的长期解决方案。超导磁能存储已被强调为未来清洁能源格局所需的许多超导设备之一，确保从更分散和间歇的供应基地向消费者提供安全和连续的供应。传统导体允许电流通过它们，尽管当电流遇到电阻时，一些能量会耗散成热。当温度低于临界温度(T_C)时，超导体对直流电流没有可测的电阻。此外，与普通铜丝相比，可以携带更大的电流密度。超导储能装置能够在紧凑的体积中紧凑地储存大量能量，而不会造成存储损失。超导磁性储能装置已经在高价值的制造或实验中用于电能质量。然而，这项技术的成本很高，因为它使用的是低温超导，需要4.2K的液氦才能运行。这个项目的机会来自于2001年发现的一种新的超导体MgB2，它可以在更高的温度下运行。较高的工作温度意味着可以使用干式冷却系统，从而简化设计，减小尺寸，从而降低总体成本。该项目评估了MgB2导体是否适合应用于超导磁储能(SMES)，以用于未来的能源网络。我们的目标是制造和测试一种镁B2磁体线圈和短长导体，为潜在的英国中小企业制造商提供必要的信息，以评估导体和磁体的发展。由于南安普顿大学目前的设施，相对较小的投资会产生较大的影响。使用大口径磁铁设备，可以在10至20K之间的足够大的磁场背景磁场中测试镁B2线圈，从而降低建造全尺寸镁B2磁体的成本。线圈测量的数据，以及对短长度导线的试验，将构成导线和应用评估的基础。超导磁体制造商西门子磁铁技术公司和牛津仪器公司已经表达了他们对该项目的兴趣。

As the contribution of electricity generated from renewable sources (wind, wave, solar) grows, energy storage is widely regarded as the longer term solution for maintaining power quality and load levelling. Superconducting magnetic energy storage has been highlighted as one of many superconducting devices needed in a future clean-energy landscape, ensuring secure and continuous supply to consumers from a more distributed and intermittent supply base.Conventional conductors allow electric current to flow through them, although some energy is dissipated into heat as the current encounters a resistance. For temperatures below the critical temperature (Tc) a superconductor exhibits no measurable electrical resistance for DC currents. Furthermore much larger current densities can be carried than with normal Cu wire. The superconducting energy storage device is able to compactly store large energies in a compact volume with no storage losses.Superconducting magnetic energy storage devices are already in use for power quality in high-value manufacturing or experiments. The technology is however expensive as it uses 'LTS', low temperature superconductivity, which requires liquid helium at 4.2K to operate. The opportunity for this project comes from a new superconductor MgB2, discovered in 2001, which operates at higher temperatures. A higher operating temperature means a dry cooling system can be used which simplifies the design, reduces the size and hence the overall cost.The project assesses the suitability of MgB2 conductor for application in superconducting magnetic energy storage, (SMES) for future energy networks. The goal is to fabricate and test an MgB2 magnet coil and short length conductor to provide the necessary information for potential UK SMES manufacturers to assess both the conductor and magnet development. Due to the current facilities at the University of Southampton, a relatively small investment converts to a larger impact. Using the wide bore magnet facility an MgB2 coil can be tested in a large enough magnetic background field at temperatures between 10 and 20K, mitigating the cost of constructing a full size MgB2 magnet. Data from the coil measurement, together with tests on short length conductor will form the basis for the conductor and application assessment. Superconducting magnet manufacturers SIEMENS Magnet Technology and Oxford Instruments have expressed their interest in the project.