Superconducting Current Carrier Cooling with Two-Channel Heat Shielding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for transmitting electrical energy with superconducting current carriers face inefficiencies in cooling long sections due to high equipment costs and heat input, necessitating separate cooling sections and multiple circulatory systems, which increase costs and reduce efficiency.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus with a first cooling channel for the superconducting current carrier and a surrounding heat shield connected to a second cooling channel, using supercooled liquefied gas as the first medium and allowing evaporation in the second channel, with a gas phase separator to remove the gas phase and maintain efficient cooling over long distances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of stationary object
If the length of the cooling section is increased, then the transmission distance is improved, but the heat input increases and cooling efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is divided into two functionally distinct channels: a first cooling channel that directly contacts the superconducting current carrier, and a second cooling channel that serves as a thermal barrier. This segmentation allows each channel to perform its specific function optimally, enabling longer transmission distances without compromising cooling efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The second cooling channel acts as an intermediary thermal barrier between the external environment and the first cooling channel. By introducing this intermediate layer, heat input from the surroundings is reduced, allowing the first cooling channel to maintain efficient cooling over longer distances without excessive heat load.
2Loss of energy
If the volumetric flow of cooling medium is increased, then the heat input is balanced, but the flow cross section and equipment costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The second cooling channel serves as a thermal barrier that reduces heat input from the surroundings into the first cooling channel. This intermediary structure decreases the heat load on the cooling medium in the first channel, allowing for lower volumetric flow rates and reduced equipment costs while still maintaining effective heat input balance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the thermal parameters by introducing a second cooling channel with different thermal properties. This channel is designed to resist heat transfer from the environment, thereby altering the heat input parameters to the first cooling channel and reducing the required cooling medium flow rate.
3Loss of energy
If separate cooling sections are used, then the heat input is managed, but the equipment expenditure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the cooling function and the thermal barrier function into a single integrated system with two channels. The second cooling channel serves dual purposes: it acts as a thermal barrier to reduce heat input while also providing a pathway for cooling medium circulation. This integration reduces the need for separate equipment and lowers overall equipment expenditure.
Solution Approach 2:
The second cooling channel performs multiple functions: it serves as a thermal barrier to reduce heat input from the environment, and simultaneously acts as a cooling medium circulation path. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate equipment and lowers overall system complexity and cost.
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 setup enables efficient cooling of superconducting current carriers over long distances with reduced equipment costs by using a two-channel system where the second channel acts as a heat shield, minimizing heat input and maintaining the superconducting state with minimal cooling medium consumption.
Implementation Method 1
a superconducting current carrier, in particular a superconducting cable or a superconducting conductor rail, comprises at least one electrical conductor element, which at a sufficiently low temperature (transition temperature, Tc) goes over into the superconducting state
Implementation Method 2
a supercooled, liquefied gas is used as the first cooling medium... the take-up of heat initially only brings about a temperature increase of the liquefied gas, without a change of the state of aggregation occurring
Implementation Method 3
allowing evaporation in the second channel... the second channel acts as a heat shield, minimizing heat input
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus for transmitting electrical energy with a superconducting current carrier, in which the superconducting current carrier to be cooled is accommodated in a first cooling channel, which first cooling channel is connected by way of a coolant feed line to a supply device for a first cooling medium and is surrounded by at least one second cooling channel, for conducting through a second cooling medium, which is flow-connected to a coolant-discharge line for heated second cooling medium, wherein a supercooled, liquefied gas is used as the first cooling medium, is characterized according to the invention in that a liquefied gas is used as the second cooling medium and the second cooling channel is equipped with means for removing a gas phase occurring due to evaporation of the second cooling medium.