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High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) technology for wind generators

Jensen, Bogi Bech; Abrahamsen, Asger Bech

Publication date:
2011

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Jensen, B. B. (Invited author), & Abrahamsen, A. B. (Invited author). (2011). High Temperature Superconducting
(HTS) technology for wind generators. Sound/Visual production (digital) http://www.wind-
drivetrain.com/presentations

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High Temperature Superconducting
(HTS) Technology for Generators
Dr Bogi Bech Jensen1, Associate Professor ([email protected])
Dr Asger B. Abrahamsen2, Senior Scientist

1Depertment of Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark (DTU)

2Materials Research Division, Risø DTU

17th – 19th October 2011

2nd International Conference on Drivetrain Concepts
for Wind Turbines, Bremen, Germany.
Overview
• Working principle and requirements for superconducting generators in
wind turbines

• Considerations for wind turbine solutions for large scale offshore wind
power development

• Benefits of the HTS technology in terms of efficiency and power density

• Assessing the current cost situation

• How can HTS technology become commercially viable

2 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Level of experience with HTS machines
• How many have constructed/tested a superconducting machine?

• How many have read about it and done some calculations?

• How many have had limited exposure?

3 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

 WORKING PRINCIPLE AND
REQUIREMENTS

4 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

HTS machine principle
• Zero DC resistance is particularly attractive in the field winding of a
synchronous machine
• Very high currents in the field winding result in a very
high airgap flux density T  ABˆ V g
• Hence very high torque densities can be achieved
• HTS tape is used in the field winding (the cold region) P  T m
• Copper is used in the stator winding (the warm region)

5 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

2G HTS tape
• The tape thickness is around 100-200μm for 2G
• The HTS layer is just a few μm
• The remaining material is for mechanical and thermal stability

6 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

High Temperature Superconductors
• The superconducting state is limited by
– Critical flux density Bc
– Critical current density Jc
– Critical temperature Tc

• HTS materials can be characterised

by IV curves
n ( B ,T )
 J 
E[V / m]  E0  
 c
J ( B , T ) 

• E0 is the electric field at the

critical current (1μV/cm)

7 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

The Superwind project
• Aims at assessing HTS machines for wind turbines

• Particularly for large scale direct drive wind turbines

• Constructed a prototype demonstrator

– Assessing HTS coils
– 1G – BSCCO (Tc ~ 110K)
– 2G – YBCO (Tc ~93K)
– Not investigated MgB2 (Tc ~39K)

• The prototype and some results are presented in what follows

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Race Track Coils

150 mm
124 mm

60 mm

20 mm

242 mm

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 Winding Glass fiber insulation

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 Vacuum impregnation

Vacuum Chamber Epoxy degassing

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HTS coil connections
• Power connections and voltage monitoring connections

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Characterising the tape: I-V curves
• IC(B,θ) @ 77K

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Testing AmSC CC348 tape (2G)

14 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

DC loss in the two sections of the HTS
IC industrial definition:
V/L = 1μV/cm

Loss per length at I 85A:

P/L = 8.5μ W/cm
(425W for 500km)

Loss per length at IC = 95A:

P/L = IC V/L = 95 μ W/cm
(4.8kW for 500km)

Loss per length if non-

superconducting:
P/L =IC2 R/L = 10-4Ω/cm(95A)2
=0.9W/cm
(45MW for 500km)

15 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Requirements for HTS machines in general
• Reliability of the cooling system, including
– Cryocoolers
– Possible rotating gaskets
– Redundancy

• Designed to withstand possible faults

– Mechanically rigid
– Thermally stabile
– Quenching must be avoided

• The same requirements for the stator as found in other machines

– Reliable cooling system
– Short circuit protection

16 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Point of discussion
• Discuss with your neighbour (two and two):
– The presentation on HTS generators for wind turbines from yesterday
– What has been presented so far this afternoon

• Comments, questions, suggestions?

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 CONSIDERATIONS FOR
LARGE SCALE OFFSHORE

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Generations of wind turbine generators

P  IBD 2l

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1G wind turbine generator
REpower 5MW
• Generator: Geared doubly fed induction generator

20 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

1G wind turbine generator
Enercon E-126 6MW
• Generator: Direct drive wound field synchronous generator

21 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

2G wind turbine generator
Multibrid M5000 5MW
• Generator: Hybrid geared permanent magnet generator

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Active materials in the generators

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1G – Iron and Copper

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Ferromagnetic domains aligned in Fe

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2G – NdFeB, Iron and Copper

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RFeB permanent magnets (R = Rare earth)

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3G – YBCO, Iron and Copper

• Rotor requires leads for the very stable DC supply (brushless?)

• Rotating cooling system or rotating gaskets
• Extremely high current densities leading to very high airgap flux densities
• Slotless designs are commonly proposed, such that B ~2.5T can be achieved
• SeaTitan (design by AmSC): P = 10MW, D~5m, L~5m, m = 150-180 tons

28 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Behaviour of the superconductor
• Meissner effect

• Critical engineering current densities:

IC
• The superconductor must be
J e, C 
operated within the critical surface Aconductorinsulation
• 2-3A/mm2 is common in conventional
large machines
• 2-300A/mm2 can be achieved in HTS
machines
29 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark
Materials for coated conductors
(2G HTS tape)

30 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Drivetrain comparison – Rare earth usage
Cu PM HTS
&
Fe

Geared Have not

0 25kgR/MW been
proposed
Hybrid
0 45kgR/MW 20gR/MW

Direct drive
0 250kgR/MW 100gR/MW

mR = 0.27mR-B-Fe
31 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark
Point of discussion
• Discuss with your neighbour (two and two):
– The difference between the drivetrains
– Your opinion on the HTS alternative, based on your experience and
background
– What do you see as the biggest advantage?
– What do you see as the biggest challenge?
– How is this relevant for your company?

• Comments, questions, suggestions?

32 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Advantages
• High torque density
• Less rare earth usage
• Less top mass => lighter structure
• Ease of transportation
• Efficiency
• Less lubricant

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Challenges/Disadvantages
• Cooling
• Insulation
• Reliability of the cooling system
• Supply of components
• Immaturity of the technology/supply chain
• Cost!
• Cool down time
• Maintenance
• Short circuit
• Materials
• Failure modes
• Torque transmission
• Slip rings

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Relevance for your company
• Size, logistics, material usage
• Makes for interesting research

35 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Importance of cost of energy (CoE)
• CoE is reduced as the total installed capacity is increased
• 121GW (2008) – 215GW (June 2011)

Source: www.pwc.com/sustainability

36 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

CoE from renewable energy sources will
become lower than from fossil fuel sources

Source: European Climate Foundation – Roadmap 2050

37 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Danish Wind Industry Association
MegaVind – 2020 Strategy
• Vestas Wind Systems
• Siemens Wind Power
• DONG Energy
• Grontmij
• Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
• Aalborg University

• Half CoE from offshore wind farms

• Achieved by:
– 25% increase in capacity factor
– 40% reduction in CAPEX
– 50% reduction in OPEX

38 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

MegaVind – 2020 Strategy
50% reduction in CoE from offshore wind

Source: Danish Wind Industry Association – MegaVind Strategy

39 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

MegaVind – 2020 Strategy
Focus areas

Source: Danish Wind Industry Association – MegaVind Strategy

40 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Point of discussion
• Discuss with your neighbour (two and two):
– Most important requirements for future offshore wind turbines
– or even wind farms
• List suggestions?
• Any that are not compatible with HTS machines?

41 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

 EFFICIENCY AND POWER
DENSITY

42 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

 Generator Power
P  mT  m 2 ABˆ gV cos p 
A  70,000A/m limited by stator cooling
  1.05rad/s limited by the power rating of the WT
(around 10rpm at 10MW)
PM Generator Bg = 0.9T HTS Generator Bg = 2.5T

P  10MW  VPM  115m3 P  10MW  VHTS  42m3

With an axial stack length of 2.0m, this would
result in a airgap diameter of:
Dg = 8.6m Dg = 5.2m

43 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Amount of copper in a PM and HTS
• If the electric loading (A/m circumference) and the armature current
density is the same in both machines:
– Amount of copper will be
proportional to the diameter

• Hence if a 10MW PM machine has

– 20 tons of copper and
– 8.6m airgap diameter

• A 10MW HTS machine will have Diameter

– 12 tons of copper at
– 5.2m airgap diameter

44 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Copper loss comparison
• The copper losses are the dominating losses in a large direct drive wind
turbine generator
• The copper losses are:
2
lCu J Cu VCu
PCu  I Cu RCu  J Cu ACu 
2 2 2

ACu Cu  Cu

• Using ρCu = 8950kg/m3, σCu =45MS/m, JCu = 2.7A/mm2 gives

• 360kW Cu losses in the PM (3.6% of rated output power)

• 220kW Cu losses in the HTS (2.2% of rated output power)

45 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Cooling losses in an HTS machine
Previously we had:
425W for 500km

If additional 375W come from:

Conduction through connections
Radiation through the insulation

The total power to be removed needs to be 800W

In order to remove this at 30K, 50 times more power is needed:

40kW (0.40% of rated output power)

The total losses (excluding iron and mechanical) are therefore:

2.6% for HTS (efficiency excluding Fe and Mech: 97.4%)
3.6% for PM (efficiency excluding Fe and Mech: 96.4%)

46 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Point of discussion
• Discuss with your neighbour (two and two):
– The simplistic approach to efficiency estimation
• Comments, questions, suggestions?

• Partial load
• Stray losses
• Mechanical retention

47 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Why use Multi-Pole Generators?
• The converter is indifferent
(to a certain extent)

• Power is independent of
pole numbers

• Voltage is independent
of pole numbers

• Traditionally: weight
(and cost) savings!

48 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Core Back Thickness
• The flux path is from one pole to the next.

ˆ  2Bˆcb Acb  2Bˆcbla dcb

1
d cb , stator 
p

1
d cb , rotor 
p

49 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

PM Direct Drive Generator
2 Poles 10 Poles

• The mass of the nacelle can be significantly reduced

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End windings
• Copper and HTS end winding length is reduced

2 Pole Multi-Pole

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Simplified calculations of HTS usage

Source: H. Ohsaki et al. “Electromagnetic Characteristics of 10 MW Class

Superconducting Wind Turbine Generators”, ICEMS, 2010.
52 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark
Estimating the effective airgap
• 12 pole, Dg = 5.2m, JCu = 2.7A/mm2, A = 70kA/m, FFCu = 50%
• Radial copper depth:
70 103
dCu   50mm
2.7 103  0.5
• Airgap: g = 10mm
• Cryostat thickness: 30mm each
• HTS radial thickness: 30mm
– iterative
• Each pole has 2.7m of heavily
saturated iron. This can be simply
represented by 50mm of air
(corresponding to μr~50

• Total effective airgap: 200mm

53 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Estimating the required number of turns
• 12 pole, Dg = 5.2m, JCu = 2.7A/mm2, A = 70kA/m, FFCu = 50%
• Effective airgap: 200mm
• If Bg = 2.5T → Hg = 2MA/m
• Required mmf per pole:
 
mmf   H  dl
mmf  400kA

• If each HTS conductor can carry 100A

then 4000 turns are needed

70 103
dCu   50mm
2.7 10  0.5
3

54 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Estimating the required length of HTS tape
• 12 pole, Dg = 5.2m, JCu = 2.7A/mm2, A = 70kA/m, FFCu = 50%

• HTS turns per pole: NHTS = 4,000

• Pole arc length

Dg
l pole   1.4m
2p
• As the HTS has circular ends the average
turn length is:
lturn  l pole  2laxial  8.4m

• The total length of HTS tape in a 12 pole machine would therefore be:
•
lHTS  N HTS lturn 2 p  400km

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Mass, HTS length and price as a function of
pole number

56 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Power density
• The power density of an HTS generator can therefore be expected to be
higher than for a PM generator

• The power density will depend on the specific design and varies in the
literature

• Most scientific papers do not account for the entire mass of the generator

• AmSC promise 15-18kg/kW (10MW)

• A 10MW PM generator might have 30kg/kW (Bang 2008)

(D. Bang et al. “Review of generator systems for direct-drive wind turbines”, EWEC 2008)

57 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Point of discussion
• Discuss with your neighbour (two and two):
– The simplistic assessment of the HTS tape usage

• Comments, questions, suggestions?

58 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

 ASSESSING THE CURRENT
COST SITUATION

59 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Cost of HTS tape
• If 500km of HTS tape is assumed for a 10MW wind turbine generator

• The current carrying capacity is 100A and the cheapest price on the
market is €100/kAm, which gives €10/m

• The cost of the HTS tape for a 10MW would therefore be €5 million

• In addition the cryostat, cryocooler etc. will have to be added

• PM price today? €100-200/kg

• If 10 tons of PM is required for a 10MW wind turbine

• The cost of the PM for a 10MW would be €1-2 million

60 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Future cost of HTS must/will come down
• It is not unlikely that the price of HTS tape will come down to €15/kAm

• This would result in €750,000, if 500km of HTS tape was required for a
10MW wind turbine

• This would be competitive with PM technology

61 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

 BECOMING
COMMERCIALLY VIABLE

62 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Continue research in universities
• Building small scale prototypes
• Learning from these and extrapolating to large scale

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Results for a simple prototype

64 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Design and construct large scale
demonstrators
• AmSC and Northrop-Grumman (NGC) built a 36.5MW for the US Navy in
2007
• AmSC and Converteam built a 5MW for the US Office of Naval Research
in 2005
• AmSC would like to build the SeaTitan – a 10MW direct drive wind
turbine generator
• Converteam and Zenergy built a small HTS hydrogenerator
• Converteam are building an 8MW direct drive wind turbine generator
• Siemens has had much HTS machine activity
• GE just announced that they would construct a 10MW direct drive wind
turbine generator based on LTS

65 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

Collaboration and commitment is needed
• Collaboration and commitment is needed from the
– Wind turbine manufacturers
– HTS tape manufacturers
– Wind turbine operators

• Commitment is needed from the funding bodies

– This seems to be in place – HTS generators for wind turbines have
been mentioned specifically in an FP7 call

• Mass production of the HTS tape is required

– Avoid the chicken and egg scenario

66 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

 THANK YOU!
QUESTIONS?

67 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark

 VIND I ØRESUND

This presentation is part of an EU Interreg project, which is informing about

projects connected to Wind in the Øresund-region of Eastern Denmark and
Southern Sweden.

A collaboration between the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and The

Faculty of Engineering at Lund University (LTH).

68 DTU Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark