Policy / Systems / Technology

August 11, 2012

 

Japanese Utility Develops New Superconducting Coil Capable of Storing Ten Times More Energy

Keywords: Environmental Technology Non-manufacturing industry 

Chubu Electric Power Co., an electric utility servicing the Chubu region of central Japan, announced on May 14, 2012, that it has successfully developed a superconducting coil that can withstand the world's strongest electromagnetic force, making new yttrium-based superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) systems capable of storing 10 times as much energy as a conventional systems of the same size. The new superconducting coil is the product of a SMES project contracted by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).

In a superconducting state, a strong electromagnetic force tends to elongate the superconducting wire materials. Superconducting coils conventionally use a structure whereby this electromagnetic force is supported by the wire materials, so the strength of the electromagnetic force is limited by the strength of the wire materials. Yttrium-based superconducting coils of this conventional structure can withstand electromagnetic forces up to 1,000 megapascals (MPa).

The new high-strength coil developed by Chubu Electric together with the Tohoku University High Field Laboratory for Superconducting Materials bears the electromagnetic force acting on the superconducting wire materials with the coil surface, so it can withstand an electromagnetic force of approximately 2,000 MPa. The company has also established insulating coating technology using liquid resin, instead of wrapping resin tape around wire materials, to ensure insulating performance and enhanced workability simultaneously. These new technologies can be applied not only to SMES but also to superconducting magnets in any application that uses a strong magnetic field.

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Posted: 2012/08/11 06:00:15 AM

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