Superconducting Current Limiter With Electroconductive Spacer

Abstract

A superconducting current limiter having at least one superconducting conductor (3) wound so as to form a coil (2) extending in a single plane and connecting a first electrical connection terminal to a second electrical connection terminal, an electrically insulating spacer (8) being arranged between two turns of the coil. The superconducting conductor (3) consists of at least two separate superconducting cables (5) wound in parallel and whose ends are electrically connected by the first electrical connection terminal and by the second electrical connection terminal, respectively. An electrically conductive spacer (12) is arranged between two of said separate superconducting cables (5), this electrically conductive spacer (12) being able to be traversed by a cooling fluid.

Claims

1. A superconducting current limiter (1) having at least one superconducting conductor (3) wound so as to form a coil (2) extending in a single plane and connecting a first electrical connection terminal (T1) to a second electrical connection terminal (T2), an electrically insulating spacer (8) being arranged between two turns of the coil (2), the current limiter (1) being characterized in that: the superconducting conductor (3) consists of at least two separate superconducting cables (5) wound in parallel and whose ends are electrically connected by the first electrical connection terminal (T1) and by the second electrical connection terminal (T2), respectively; and in that an electrically conductive spacer (12) is arranged between two of said separate superconducting cables (5), this electrically conductive spacer (12) being able to be traversed by a cooling fluid.

2. The current limiter as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the coil (2) is a bifilar coil.

3. The current limiter as claimed in either one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it has an inter-turn space (6) between two windings of the superconducting conductor (3), and in that it has an inter-cable space (7) between two superconducting cables (5) of the same superconducting conductor (3), the electrically insulating spacer (8) being arranged along the inter-turn space (6) and the electrically conductive spacer (12) being arranged along the inter-cable space (7).

4. The current limiter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electrically conductive spacer (12) is made of metal.

5. The current limiter as claimed in one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the electrically conductive spacer (12) consists of a semiconductor material.

6. The current limiter as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the metal of the electrically conductive spacer (12) has a thermal conductivity greater than 150 W/m/K.

7. The current limiter as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electrically conductive spacer (12) is in the form of a folded or corrugated strip.

8. The current limiter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electrically conductive spacer (12) has flow gaps (13) for the cooling fluid.

9. The current limiter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electrically conductive spacer (12) and the electrically insulating spacer (8) have substantially the same shape.

10. The current limiter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electrically conductive spacer (12) exhibits anisotropic electrical conduction behavior that promotes electrical conduction between said two superconducting cables (5).

11. The current limiter as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the electrically conductive spacer (12) is discontinuous and formed of discrete spacers (15).

12. The current limiter as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the electrically conductive spacer (12) is formed by juxtaposing conductive spacers (16) and insulating spacers (17).

13. The current limiter as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the electrically conductive spacer (12) has metal bridges (18) between said two superconducting cables (5) and struts (19) arranged between these metal bridges.

14. The current limiter as claimed in claim 13, characterized in that the struts (19) are electrically conductive.

15. The current limiter as claimed in claim 13, characterized in that the struts (19) are electrically insulating.

16. The current limiter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it furthermore has a cooling device comprising a cooling fluid in contact with the electrically insulating spacers (8), between the turns of the coil (2), and with the electrically conductive spacers (9), between the superconducting cables (5).

17. The current limiter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the conductive spacer (12) has soles (20) or bases (21) that increase the contact area with the two superconducting cables (5).

18. The current limiter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the conductive spacer (12) has additional heat exchangers (22) for exchanging heat with the cooling fluid.

Description

[0020] Preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

[0021] FIG. 1 schematically shows a current limiter according to the invention, formed by a stack of coils;

[0022] FIG. 2 schematically shows one of the coils, seen from above, of the current limiter from FIG. 1;

[0023] FIG. 3 is a magnified schematic view of the frame III in FIG. 2;

[0024] FIG. 4 is a magnified schematic view of the frame IV visible in FIGS. 2 and 3;

[0025] FIG. 5 is a perspective partial schematic view of a stack of superconducting cables of the coil from FIG. 2;

[0026] FIG. 6 is a detailed view of FIG. 5, showing a situation with a flow of current in the case of a local hotspot defect;

[0027] FIGS. 7 to 20 illustrate variant embodiments of the conductive spacers shown in FIGS. 4 to 6;

[0028] FIG. 21 shows a variant of a coil, seen from above, for the current limiter from FIG. 1.

[0029] FIG. 1 schematically shows a superconducting current limiter according to the invention. This current limiter 1 has at least one coil formed of at least one superconducting conductor wound in a single plane. In the example of FIG. 1, the current limiter 1 has five wound coils. The current limiter 1 has as many coils 2 as required, depending on the current and the voltage to be handled.

[0030] FIG. 2 schematically shows, seen from above, one of the coils 2 forming the current limiter 1. The coil 2 is in this case a dipole having a first connection terminal T1 and a second connection terminal T2. If the coil 2 is the only coil of the current limiter 1, the connection terminals T1 and T2 are the terminals of the current limiter 1 via which it will be connected to the electrical circuit to be protected. If the current limiter 1, as in the example of FIG. 1, has a plurality of coils 2, these will be placed in series and/or in parallel through an appropriate connection of their respective connection terminals T1, T2.

[0031] In the present example, the coils 3 are bifilar coils, that is to say that the conductor forming them makes one or more round trips between the periphery of the coil and the center of the coil.

[0032] In the coil 2, a superconducting conductor 3 connects the first connection terminal T1 to the second connection terminal T2, forming a winding. In this simplified example, the conductor 3 starts from the first connection terminal T1, is wound around forming two turns and then, at the center of the spiral, forms a bend 4 so as then to form two turns again and, at the periphery of the spiral, joins the second connection terminal T2.

[0033] In the example of FIG. 2, which is a simplified example for the purposes of the description, the coil 2 has a single superconducting conductor 3 and its two terminals T1, T2, the conductor 3 being formed of three assembled superconducting cables 5. The three superconducting cables 5 each have a first end and a second end, the three first ends being connected together at the first terminal T1 and the three second ends being connected together at the second terminal T2. The three superconducting cables 5 forming the conductor 3 are wound in parallel in the bifilar coil.

[0034] The length of the superconducting conductor, and therefore the number of turns of the winding, is also simplified in the drawings. By way of example, for a current limiter or a current limiter portion intended for 25 kV and whose superconducting conductor has a line resistance allowing a voltage drop of 50 V/m when it becomes resistive, this conductor will have to have a length of the order of 500 m, thereby leading to a coil with a diameter of several meters and with a very high number of turns.

[0035] The spaces situated between two turns of the coil 2, that is to say the spaces between two turns of the conductor 3, are called “inter-turn spaces 6”. The spaces situated between two superconducting cables 5 within the conductor 3 are called “inter-cable spaces 7”.

[0036] The inter-turn spaces 6 contain electrically insulating spacers, and the inter-cable spaces 7 contain electrically conductive spacers. These spacers have not been shown in the simplified view of FIG. 2 and will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

[0037] FIG. 3 is a magnified view of the frame III visible in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 therefore shows three portions of turns of the conductor 3. An insulating layer consisting of an electrically insulating spacer 8 is arranged between each turn of the conductor 3. In this example, a current flows from the first connection terminal T1 to the second connection terminal T2, and arrows in FIG. 3 show the flow direction of this current. Although the current in this example always flows in the same direction along the conductor 3, the coil-shaped winding leads to the formation of turns, such that the current flows in the opposite direction between a portion of the conductor 3 and another portion of the conductor 3 situated on an adjacent turn. For the portions of the conductor 3 or the cables 5 that are shown, the flow of the current in one direction (from left to right in the figures) will be shown schematically by arrows 9, whereas the flow of the current in the other direction (from right to left) will be shown schematically by arrows 10. In the turn portion at the top of FIG. 3, the current flows from left to right along the arrows 9; in the turn portion in the middle, the current flows from right to left along the arrows 10; and in the turn portion at the bottom, the current flows from left to right along the arrows 9.

[0038] The insulating spacer 8 has a shape designed to maintain the inter-turn space 6, to electrically insulate the two corresponding adjacent turns, and to be able to be traversed by a cooling fluid. The insulating spacer 8 is made from any insulating material that is rigid enough to allow the spacing of the inter-turn space 6 to be maintained. The insulating spacer 8 is formed here by a sheet of insulating material that is folded, that is to say folded in a triangle, or corrugated, thereby forming gaps 11 allowing the cooling fluid to flow.

[0039] The current limiter 1 is cooled to the appropriate temperature for maintaining the superconducting properties of the conductor 3. The coil or coils 2 are thus bathed in a fluid such as liquid nitrogen, or this fluid is put into circulation by a cooling circuit. This cooling fluid is in contact with the conductor 3 by virtue of the gaps 11 in the insulating spacers 8 and by virtue of the gaps 13 in the conductive spacers 12.

[0040] FIG. 4 is a magnification of the frame IV visible in FIGS. 2 and 3. This magnification shows a portion of the conductor 3. In the three cables 5 forming the conductor 3, the flow direction 9 of the current is the same. Conductive spacers 12 are arranged between these cables 5, within the conductor 3, in the inter-cable spaces 7.

[0041] The conductive spacers 12 have three functions:

maintaining the spacing between two cables 5;
channeling the current between the two cables 5;
being able to be traversed by the cooling fluid.

[0042] The conductive spacers 12 have the same shape in terms of structure, in the present example, as the insulating spacer 8, and have gaps 13 allowing the cooling fluid to flow and allowing heat exchanges directly with the cables 5 and indirectly via the conductive spacers 12.

[0043] The conductive spacers 12 are made from an electrically conductive material, for example a metal or a semiconductor material. The conductive spacers 12 are each in contact with two cables 5 and thus create electrical continuity between these two cables 5. In steady state, the cables 5 have superconducting properties, whereas the conductive spacers 12 have the properties of a conventional conductor. The current will therefore preferably flow in the superconducting cables 5, which have a resistance of virtually zero, rather than in the conductive spacers 12 which, although they are conductive, have a certain resistance. The conductive spacers 12 will however balance the distribution of the current and the potentials, and guarantee that a significant potential difference is not able to develop between two superconducting cables 5 of the same conductor 3.

[0044] The whole coil 2 is cooled by the same cooling fluid that flows both through the insulating spacers 8 and through the conductive spacers 12. The metal forming the conductive spacers is preferably a metal having a high thermal conductivity, for example greater than 150 W/m/K, such as copper or aluminum. The thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity functions are thus optimally ensured by the conductive spacers 12.

[0045] Use will advantageously be made of the geometries of conductive spacers 12 that optimize heat exchanges between the conductive spacers 12 and the cooling fluid, and that optimize heat exchanges and electrical conduction between two cables 5. Fin-shaped structures may in particular be used, as may any method that reduces contact resistances.

[0046] FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a portion of the coil 2 showing two adjacent turns of the conductor 3 and the arrangement of the insulating spacers 8 and conductive spacers 12. In this figure, the inter-turn spaces 6 and the inter-cable spaces 7 have the same spacing. The insulating spacer 8 and the conductive spacers 12 have the same shape and the same dimensions here, and differ in terms of their basic material, which is respectively insulating and electrically conductive. As a variant, the sizes of the spacers 8 and 12 may be different from one another if it is desired to create variable spacings between the cables 3 and/or between the conductors 5 within the coil.

[0047] in the schematic three-dimensional depiction in FIG. 5, the superconducting cables 5 forming the conductor 3 are conventional superconducting strips, for example REBCO strips. The insulating spacer 8 and the conductive spacers 12 are folded strips.

[0048] FIG. 5 therefore shows: at the top of the figure, a first portion of the conductor 3, with the three portions of cables 5 forming it: and at the bottom of the figure, a second portion of the conductor 3, corresponding to the adjacent turn, with the three portions of cables 5 forming it. Two portions of conductive spacers 12 appear within each conductor 3, between the cables 5. One portion of insulating spacer 8 is visible between the two conductors 3, as well as above the portion of the conductor 3 at the top and below the portion of the conductor 3 at the bottom, so as to interact with the adjacent turns, not shown.

[0049] This stack of superconducting cables 5 and spacers 8, 12 is flowed through by the cooling fluid.

[0050] In the cables 5 of the portion of the conductor 3 at the top, the current flows in the direction 10, whereas, in the cables 5 of the portion of the conductor 3 at the bottom, the current flows in the direction 9. The flow directions 9 and 10 of the current have been shown for each superconducting cable 5.

[0051] FIG. 6 shows a portion of the conductor 3 and shows the three cables 5A, 5B, 5C forming it, as well as the two conductive spacers 12 maintaining the spacing and the electrical conductivity between these three cables 5. The current flows in the direction of the arrows 9. This FIG. 6 illustrates the behavior of the conductor 3 in the event of the occurrence of a hotspot 14.

[0052] In this example, the hotspot 14 occurs on the cable 58 in the middle. Upstream of the hotspot 14, the current flows in the same way in the cables 5A, 5B, 5C, benefiting from their superconducting properties. In the cable 5B, the current, arriving at the hotspot 14, no longer benefits from the superconducting properties of the cable, which may even become locally highly resistive.

[0053] Upstream of the hotspot 14, at least some of the current will be diverted by the conductive spacers 12 and will thus bypass the hotspot 14 via the other cables 5A, 5C. Downstream of the hotspot 14, the conductive spacers balance the currents by allowing a portion of the current to return to the cable 5B.

[0054] FIGS. 7 to 20 relate to variant embodiments of the conductive spacers 12. In the various embodiments and variants, elements having the same function bear the same reference number in the figures.

[0055] FIG. 7 is a simplified view showing a portion having two superconducting cables 5 of one and the same conductor 3 and the conductive spacer 12 arranged between these two cables 5. FIG. 7 illustrates the implementation of the conductive spacers 12 described in FIGS. 5 and 6. The conductive spacer 12 in FIG. 7 therefore consists of a folded metal strip in contact on either side with the two cables 5.

[0056] The variant in FIG. 8 illustrates a case in which the conductive spacer 12 is discontinuous. It is formed of a plurality of discrete spacers 15 distributed over the entire length of the inter-cable space 7. The conductive spacer 12 therefore creates electrical conduction between the two cables 5, in particular in order to balance the currents and bypass a possible hotspot. However, the conductive spacer 12 is able to contribute to channeling the current only over certain portions of the length of the inter-cable space 7, thereby bestowing on the conductive spacer 12 anisotropic electrical conduction behavior, that is to say behavior exhibiting high conductivity between two cables 5 but low or even zero conductivity in the flow direction of the current along the cables 5.

[0057] This anisotropic conduction behavior avoids an excessive reduction in the electrical resistance of the coil 2 when it is in current-limiting mode.

[0058] FIG. 9 illustrates another variant for the conductive spacer 12, bestowing on it anisotropic electrical conduction behavior. According to this variant in FIG. 9, the conductive spacer 12 is produced from a set of metal spacers 16 and insulating spacers 17 (shown in hatched form in FIG. 17) arranged alternately along the inter-cable space 7. The conductive spacer 12 thus creates a spacing over the entire length of the inter-cable space 7 while at the same time limiting the flow of current along the conductive spacer 12 by virtue of the insulating spacers 17, which consist for example of an electrically insulating polymer.

[0059] FIG. 10 illustrates a variant similar to the variant in FIG. 9, in which the conductive spacer 12 consists of an alternation of a conductive portion 12A (in the shape of an inverted V in the figure) and of an insulating portion 12B (in the shape of an inverted V).

[0060] FIG. 11 shows another variant in which the alternation of the conductive and insulating portions is produced by virtue of the fact that one 12A of the branches of the inverted V is conductive and the other branch 12B is insulating.

[0061] FIG. 12 illustrates another variant for producing the conductive spacer 12, also bestowing on it anisotropic electrical conduction behavior. The conductive spacer 12 is formed here by a succession of metal bridges 18 and struts 19 arranged between these bridges 18. The metal bridges 18 create electrical conductivity between the cables 5, and the struts 19 keep the bridges 18 in position. The struts 19 may be made from insulating material, and the behavior of the conductive spacer 12 will then be similar to that of the variant in FIG. 9. The struts 19 may also be made from conductive material, for example metal material, the conductive spacer 12 then exhibiting anisotropic behavior in any case, preserving the conduction between the cables 5 while at the same time reducing it along the inter-cable space 7.

[0062] FIG. 13 illustrates an alternative arrangement of the struts 19, in which the struts 19 each connect two bridges 18, the struts 19 at the top being arranged offset with respect to the struts 19 at the bottom.

[0063] FIG. 14 illustrates a variant in which the bridges 18 are connected by soles 20, respectively to the cable 5 at the top and to the cable 5 at the bottom. Optionally, some of the bridges 18 (in this case one out of two) are insulating (the insulating bridges 18 are shown in hatched form).

[0064] FIGS. 15 and 16 illustrate variants in which the bridges 18 consist of cylinders connecting the two cables 5. In the variant of FIG. 15, the bridges 18 directly connect the cables 5. In the variant of FIG. 16, the bridges 18 connect the cables 5 via a sole 20 that is arranged against each of the cables 5.

[0065] The soles 20 in FIGS. 14 and 16 also increase the contact area between the conductive spacer 12 and the cables 5, and thus promote heat exchange, thereby making the cooling of the cables 5 by the cooling fluid more efficient.

[0066] FIG. 17 illustrates another embodiment in which the insulating spacer 12 consists of a material formed alternately of conductive layers 12A and of insulating layers 12B.

[0067] FIGS. 18 to 20 illustrate variants of the conductive spacer 12 in relation to the heat exchange capacity of the conductive spacer 12.

[0068] FIG. 18 illustrates a variant of the conductive spacer 12 from FIG. 7. According to this variant, the conductive spacer 12 has bases 21 attaching the tops of the folds forming the spacer 12 to the cables 5. These bases 21 increase the contact area between the conductive spacer 12 and the cables 5 and thus promote heat exchange, thereby making the cooling of the cables 5 by the cooling fluid more efficient.

[0069] FIG. 19 is similar to FIG. 18, the conductive spacer 12 in this case being corrugated. This corrugated shape of the spacer 12 may optionally be provided without the bases 21.

[0070] FIG. 20 illustrates a variant of the conductive spacer 7 in which the spacer 12 has an additional heat exchanger consisting of fins 22 that increase the contact area with the cooling fluid. The additional heat exchanger is defined here as a device for increasing the exchange area of the spacer 12.

[0071] FIG. 21 illustrates a variant embodiment of the coil 2 designed to form a current limiter 1. According to this variant, the superconducting conductor 3 is designed to perform two round trips between the periphery of the coil and the center of the coil. Regardless of the arrangement and the number of conductors 3, conductive spacers are arranged in the inter-cable spaces 7 and insulating spacers are arranged in the inter-turn spaces 6.

[0072] Other variant embodiments of the current limiter may be contemplated without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, a superconducting conductor of the current limiter may have any number of superconducting cables in order to form it, one or more conductive spacers being arranged between these cables or groups of cables.

[0073] Likewise, a coil may have any number of superconducting conductors wound so as to form the coil and the corresponding number of connection terminals, one or more insulating spacers being arranged so as to separate each turn formed by these various superconducting conductors.

[0074] The coil may be any type of bifilar or non-bifilar coil. It may have a cylindrical, oval or rectangular shape.

[0075] The current limiter may also have any number of stacked coils, whose connection terminals are connected to one another in series or in parallel.

[0076] The material and the shape of the conductive spacers may vary while still allowing both the electrical conduction over at least some portions of the conductive spacer and the ability of the cooling fluid to traverse. The conductive spacers may be made from a porous conductive material, or have flow ducts for the cooling fluid, for example.

[0077] The anisotropic electrical conduction behavior may be bestowed on the electrically conductive spacers by other means, such as by virtue of intrinsically anisotropic crystalline materials. These materials will advantageously be used by arranging them such that they have greater electrical conduction in the transverse direction, that is to say between two cables 3, than in the longitudinal direction, that is to say along the inter-cable spaces 7.

[0078] The various embodiments and variants of the conductive spacer 12 may be combined.