Berlin 2015 – scientific programme

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TT: Fachverband Tiefe Temperaturen

TT 51: Focus Session: Electric Power Applications of Superconductivity

TT 51.3: Topical Talk

Wednesday, March 18, 2015, 10:30–11:00, H 0104

Power Transmission via Superconducting Lines — •Amalia Ballarino — CERN, 1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland

Superconductivity is an enabling technology for high energy physics. Accelerators made with high field superconducting magnets have allowed ever deeper exploration of the structure of matter over the years culminating in the recent discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. This particle accelerator contains 1200 tons of high-performance Nb47Ti superconductor operated at superfluid helium temperature, and it represents today the largest application of superconductivity for high energy physics. An accelerator requires magnets for steering and focusing of the particle beams, but also requires sophisticated equipment for feeding the current from the room temperature environment of the power converters to the cryogenic environment of the associated electrical circuits. To cover this function, novel electrical transfer lines are being developed at CERN in the framework of an upgrade of the LHC to increase the brightness of the interactions. These lines are made using magnesium diboride (MgB₂) and high temperature superconductors, are several hundred meters long, are operated in helium gas at temperatures of up to 25 K, and have a total current-carrying capability of greater than 150 kA. The development done at CERN in the framework of superconducting power transmission for accelerators is presented. The application of this technology to other power transmission systems is also discussed, as well as other electric power applications of superconductivity.