The present application discloses a terminal structure for conduction cooling high temperature superconducting cable, comprising: a cable terminal body; a terminal thermal insulation shell, in which a vacuum thermal insulation cavity is formed, and the cable terminal body being arranged in the vacuum thermal insulation cavity; a refrigeration mechanism comprising a refrigeration output part extending into the vacuum thermal insulation cavity, and the refrigeration output part being connected to the cable terminal body through a cooling-conducting structure. The terminal structure provided by the present application cools the high-temperature superconducting cable by means of conduction cooling of a refrigerator without operations of low-temperature liquid transportation and supplementary, and can operate for a long time without regular maintenance, reduce the heat leakage of the cable terminal, improve the utilization efficiency of the cooling capacity of the refrigerator, and effectively ensure the stable operation of the cable for a long time.

The invention relates to a method for cooling a superconducting cable (1) using a coolant containing or consisting of liquid nitrogen, wherein at least a part of the coolant is subjected to a subcooling step and thereafter brought into thermal contact with the superconducting cable (1) in a cooling cycle, wherein said subcooling step is at least in part performed using a refrigerant provided in a Brayton process in which at least a part of the refrigerant is cooled and heated in a main heat exchanger (11). According to the present invention, a part of the coolant is withdrawn from the cooling cycle and heated in the same main heat exchanger (11) in which at least a part of the refrigerant is cooled and heated in the Brayton process. A corresponding device and a corresponding system are also part of the present invention.

The invention relates to a method for cooling a superconducting cable (1) using a coolant containing or consisting of liquid nitrogen, wherein at least a part of the coolant is subjected to a subcooling step and thereafter brought into thermal contact with the superconducting cable (1) in a cooling cycle, wherein said subcooling step is at least in part performed using a refrigerant provided in a Brayton process in which at least a part of the refrigerant is cooled and heated in a main heat exchanger (11). According to the present invention, a part of the coolant is withdrawn from the cooling cycle and heated in the same main heat exchanger (11) in which at least a part of the refrigerant is cooled and heated in the Brayton process. A corresponding device and a corresponding system are also part of the present invention.

A superconducting electrical power distribution system has a superconducting bus bar and one or more bus bar thermal conductor lines extending in thermal proximity along the bus bar to receive heat from the bus bar over the length of the bus bar. The system further has superconducting cables electrically connected to the bus bar at respective electrical joints distributed along the bus bar. The system further has a cryogenic cooling sub-system. The system further has a network comprising first and second thermal conductor lines, each line comprising a cold end which is cooled by the cryogenic cooling sub-system, and an opposite hot end, whereby heat received by each line is normally conducted along the line in a direction from its hot end to its cold end.

In the connection portion for a superconducting wire, a plurality of superconducting wires are integrated by a sintered body containing MgB.sub.2, end portions of the superconducting wires each having an outer peripheral surface of a superconducting filament exposed are inserted into a container in parallel. The container has an opening having a diameter larger than a wire diameter of the superconducting wires on at least one side in a longitudinal direction of the superconducting wires, and the sintered body is in contact with the outer peripheral surfaces of the superconducting filaments. The method for connecting a superconducting wire includes: exposing the outer peripheral surfaces of the superconducting filaments; inserting the superconducting wires into the container; filling the container with a raw material; and heat-treating the raw material to generate the sintered body. The raw material is pressurized in parallel to the longitudinal direction of the superconducting wires and then heat-treated.

A high temperature superconducting (HTS) cable terminator including a first chamber having disposed therein a terminator block electrically connected to an HTS cable conductor received within the first chamber, a cryogenically sealed chamber, a cryogenically sealed chamber conductor electrically connected to the HTS cable conductor via the terminator block, where the cryogenically sealed chamber conductor has a first portion cryogenically sealed within the cryogenically sealed chamber and an end electrically connected to one or more electrical output conductors, and one or more refrigerant lines configured to feed gas refrigerant into the cryogenically sealed chamber, where the gas refrigerant configured to absorb heat from the cryogenically sealed chamber. Also included is a second chamber connected to the first chamber, the second chamber having disposed therein a heat exchanger thermally coupled to the one or more refrigerant lines and configured to extract heat from the gas refrigerant.

A high temperature superconducting (HTS) cable terminator including a first chamber having disposed therein a terminator block electrically connected to an HTS cable conductor received within the first chamber, a cryogenically sealed chamber, a cryogenically sealed chamber conductor electrically connected to the HTS cable conductor via the terminator block, where the cryogenically sealed chamber conductor has a first portion cryogenically sealed within the cryogenically sealed chamber and an end electrically connected to one or more electrical output conductors, and one or more refrigerant lines configured to feed gas refrigerant into the cryogenically sealed chamber, where the gas refrigerant configured to absorb heat from the cryogenically sealed chamber. Also included is a second chamber connected to the first chamber, the second chamber having disposed therein a heat exchanger thermally coupled to the one or more refrigerant lines and configured to extract heat from the gas refrigerant.

The invention relates to a power supply (110, 110′ . . . ) for transporting electrical energy from an energy source (144) to a device (148) or from the device (148) to the energy source (144), the energy source (144) being arranged in a warm region (142) and the device (148) being arranged in a cold region (146). The power supply (110, 110′) has a stack (118) comprising at least two films (120, 120′ . . . ), each film (120, 120′ . . . ) comprising an electrically conductive material which is designed to transport the electrical energy, ach film (120, 120′ . . . ) having an electrical connection which is designed to receive the electrical energy or to deliver the electrical energy, and each film (120, 120′ . . . ) comprising a plurality of flow channels (128) for conveying a fluid stream, and the fluid stream comprising a refrigerant mixture or a gas stream to be cooled or a gas stream to be liquefied. The films (120, 120′, . . . ) comprised by the stack (118) have a first flow path (134) through the flow channels (128) which is designed to receive the fluid stream at a high-pressure level from the warm region (142), and a second flow path (134′) through the flow channels (128) which is designed to receive the fluid stream at a low-pressure level from the cold region (146).

The invention relates to a power supply (110, 110′ . . . ) for transporting electrical energy from an energy source (144) to a device (148) or from the device (148) to the energy source (144), the energy source (144) being arranged in a warm region (142) and the device (148) being arranged in a cold region (146). The power supply (110, 110′) has a stack (118) comprising at least two films (120, 120′ . . . ), each film (120, 120′ . . . ) comprising an electrically conductive material which is designed to transport the electrical energy, ach film (120, 120′ . . . ) having an electrical connection which is designed to receive the electrical energy or to deliver the electrical energy, and each film (120, 120′ . . . ) comprising a plurality of flow channels (128) for conveying a fluid stream, and the fluid stream comprising a refrigerant mixture or a gas stream to be cooled or a gas stream to be liquefied. The films (120, 120′, . . . ) comprised by the stack (118) have a first flow path (134) through the flow channels (128) which is designed to receive the fluid stream at a high-pressure level from the warm region (142), and a second flow path (134′) through the flow channels (128) which is designed to receive the fluid stream at a low-pressure level from the cold region (146).

Described are cable joints and related structures and techniques for coupling high temperature superconducting (HTS) cables. A cable joint includes a conductive member having a length which defines the length of the joint and having first and second mounting regions shaped to accept first and second HTS cable with an interface layer comprised of a malleable metal disposed between a surfaces of the first and second mounting regions and surfaces of the first and second HTS cables.