Superconducting Coil Thermal Autonomy
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electromechanical machines with superconducting coils face challenges in maintaining low temperatures, leading to bulky and complex cooling systems, which are unsuitable for onboard applications due to volume, mass, and reliability concerns, especially in aircraft.
Innovation Solution
An electromechanical machine with a thermally insulating, fluid-tight enclosure containing a superconducting coil, utilizing the machine's mass as a heat sink and combining thermal energy storage through high-specific-heat materials and latent heat of vaporization of cryogenic fluids to maintain temperatures below the critical temperature without external cooling means.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional cooling systems are used to maintain superconducting coils at low temperatures, then the coils can function as superconductors, but the cooling systems become heavy and bulky
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the cooling system with the superconducting coil assembly by integrating the cryostat directly around the coil, eliminating separate cooling equipment. The coil structure itself becomes part of the thermal management system, with the cryostat serving dual purposes as both structural support and thermal insulation barrier.
Solution Approach 2:
The cryostat structure performs multiple functions simultaneously: it provides thermal insulation to maintain low temperatures, serves as mechanical support for the superconducting coil, and acts as a vacuum chamber. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate dedicated cooling components, reducing overall system mass.
2Reliability
If conventional cooling systems are used to maintain superconducting coils at low temperatures, then the coils can function as superconductors, but the cooling systems become complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the complex active cooling mechanisms (compressors, heat exchangers, control systems) from the system and replaces them with a passive thermal management approach. Only the essential cryostat structure with its insulation and vacuum chamber remains, dramatically simplifying the system while maintaining superconducting operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The superconducting coil assembly serves its own cooling needs through the integrated cryostat design. The system uses the inherent thermal properties of the vacuum insulation and the phase change characteristics of the cryogenic fluid to automatically maintain operating temperatures without external active cooling control.
3Reliability
If sufficient mass of liquefied gas is carried for cooling, then the superconducting elements can be maintained at desired temperature, but the volume and mass increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes the phase transition of the cryogenic fluid (from liquid to gas) as a thermal regulation mechanism. The fluid circulates in liquid phase to absorb heat, then vaporizes to remove excess heat load, providing automatic temperature control. This phase change process eliminates the need for large gas storage volumes while maintaining reliable temperature control.
Solution Approach 2:
The cryogenic fluid continuously circulates through the coil assembly, providing ongoing cooling action. The system maintains a continuous cycle of heat absorption, vaporization, and condensation, ensuring uninterrupted thermal management without requiring large reserves of cryogenic gas.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design achieves optimal thermal autonomy with minimal mass penalty, ensuring the machine remains operational during prolonged missions by leveraging the heat storage capacity of high-specific-heat materials and cryogenic fluids, reducing the need for bulky cooling systems.
Implementation Method 1
Electrical superconductivity is a well-known phenomenon that arises in certain materials and makes their electrical resistivity practically zero. This property of certain materials is particularly advantageous because it results in the ability to produce windings for generating magnetic fields that can handle high electrical currents, as long as certain critical current densities are not exceeded, without joule heating
Implementation Method 2
a wall forming a thermally insulating, fluid-tight enclosure around a smaller internal volume in which the functional part is comprised
Implementation Method 3
The internal volume, given the elements it contains, has a total capacity for storing energy in the form of heat, considered when the temperature in the internal volume changes from the temperature of the cryogenic fluid to a temperature at most equal to the critical temperature Tc
Implementation Method 4
a capacity for storing energy via latent heat of vaporization of a quantity of the cryogenic fluid filling the reservoir
Data Source
AI summary
An electromechanical machine includes at least one coil made from a material that becomes electrically superconducting when its temperature is below a critical temperature. A functional part is contained in an internal volume of a thermally insulating and fluid-tight enclosure of the machine. A wall of the insulating enclosure is traversed in a fluid-tight fashion by at least one shaft for transmitting mechanical power between the functional part located in the internal volume of the insulating enclosure and a space outside the insulating enclosure. The functional part can be used as a heat sink, pre-cooled to maintain the temperature conditions for maintaining superconductivity inside the insulating enclosure.