Experimental superconducting power cable has successfully worked 180 days

The superconducting power cable in the city of Essen in Germany worked for 180 days without interruption. An experiment called AmpaCity was completed on October 27, and now engineers are processing the data. Since April 30, a three-phase coaxial superconducting cable with a length of a kilometer has transmitted five times more energy than ordinary copper (approximately 20 million kW / h), while practically without loss.



In an interview with phys.org, Matthias Noe, head of the technical physics department at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, one of the organizers of the project, said: “The AmpaCity project shows how theoretical studies are being put to practical use. Research helps solve social problems, such as the renewal of the German energy system. ”



The effect of superconductivity has been known for almost 100 years. However, the amazing ability of superconductors to conduct current without resistance is met with one serious limitation - it manifests itself only at extremely low temperatures close to absolute zero. In 1987, two German physicists received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of the so-called. "High-temperature" superconductors operating at temperatures of -200 ° C. Thanks to this research, it became possible to create a conductor consisting of a special kind of YBCO ceramics, which, when cooled to -200, worked successfully for a long time. Such a 10,000-volt conductor replaces a standard 110,000-volt high-voltage line — a conventional copper cable has too large resistance losses.

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Comments on the post from a specialist Nik_sav : Temperatures of around -200 Celsius are beneficial from an economic point of view - the energy costs for cooling the superconductor and the contacts are lower than the losses in copper wires. In the case of cables, liquid nitrogen is supplied under pressure to the cable cooling channels. Normally, direct and reverse refrigerant currents with refrigerators at both ends of the cable are used.

If the use of such power cables becomes widespread, cities will be able to save on high-voltage lines - the place they occupy will be freed, the power network will be simplified, giant transformer stations will become unnecessary.