Numerical Modeling of Dynamic Loss in HTS-Coated Conductors Under Perpendicular Magnetic Fields

© 2017 IEEE. High-Tc superconducting (HTS)-coated conductors are a promising option for the next-generation power devices. However, their thin-film geometry incurs dynamic loss when exposed to a perpendicular external ac magnetic field, which is difficult to predicate and estimate. In this paper, we propose and verify a numerical simulation model to predict the dynamic loss in HTS-thin-coated conductors by taking into account their Jc-B dependence and I-V characteristics. The model has been tested on a SuperPower YBCO-coated conductor, and we observed a linear increase of dynamic loss along the increasing field amplitude after the threshold field. Our simulation results agree closely with experimental measurements as well as an analytical model. Furthermore, the model can predict the nonlinear increase of dynamic loss at high current, while the analytical model deviates from the measurement results and still shows a linear correlation between the dynamic loss and the external magnetic field. In addition, we have used this model to simulate the distributions of magnetic field and current density when dynamic loss occurs. Results clearly show the flux traversing the coated conductor, which causes dynamic loss. These distributions have also been used to analyze the change of dynamic loss when either the transport current or the magnetic field increase individually, while the other factor remains constant. The simulation analysis on dynamic loss is done for the first time in this paper, and our results clearly demonstrate how dynamic loss changes as well as its dependence on transport current and magnetic field. © 2018 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works

Dynamic resistance measurement in a four-tape YBCO stack with various applied field orientation

The dynamic resistance which occurs when a superconductor carrying DC current is exposed to alternating magnetic field plays an important role in HTS applications such as flux pumps and rotating machines. We report experimental results on dynamic resistance in a four-tape coated conductor stack when exposed to AC magnetic fields with different magnetic field angles (the angles between the magnetic field and normal vector component of the tape surface, θ) at 77 K. The conductors for the stack are 4-mm-wide SuperPower SC4050 wires. The field angle was varied from 0° to 120° at a resolution of 15° to study the field angle dependence of dynamic resistance on field angle as well as wire Ic (B, θ). We also varied the field frequency, the magnetic field amplitude, and the DC current level to study the dependence of dynamic resistance on these parameters. Finally, we compared the measured dynamic resistance results at perpendicular magnetic field with the analytical models for single wires. Our results show that the dynamic resistance of the stack was mainly, but not solely, determined by the perpendicular magnetic component. Ic (B, θ) influences dynamic resistance in the stack due to tilting of the crystal lattice of the superconductor layer with regard to buffer layers. © 2019 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works

The dynamic resistance of YBCO coated conductor wire: Effect of DC current magnitude and applied field orientation

Dynamic resistance, which occurs when a HTS coated conductor carries a DC current under an AC magnetic field, can have critical implications for the design of HTS machines. Here, we report measurements of dynamic resistance in a commercially available SuperPower 4 mm-wide YBCO coated conductor, carrying a DC current under an applied AC magnetic field of arbitrary orientation. The reduced DC current, I t/I c0, ranged from 0.01 to 0.9, where I t is the DC current level and I c0 is the self-field critical current of the conductor. The field angle (the angle between the magnetic field and the normal vector of the conductor wide-face) was varied between 0° and 90° at intervals of 10°. We show that the effective width of the conductor under study is ∼12% less than the physical wire width, and we attribute this difference to edge damage of the wire during or after manufacture. We then examine the measured dynamic resistance of this wire under perpendicular applied fields at very low DC current levels. In this regime we find that the threshold field, B th, of the conductor is well described by the nonlinear equation of Mikitik and Brandt. However, this model consistently underestimates the threshold field at higher current levels. As such, the dynamic resistance in a coated conductor under perpendicular magnetic fields is best described using two different equations for each of the low and high DC current regimes, respectively. At low DC currents where I t/I c0 ≤ 0.1, the nonlinear relationship of Mikitik and Brandt provides the closest agreement with experimental data. However, in the higher current regime where I t/I c0 ≥ 0.2, closer agreement is obtained using a simple linear expression which assumes a current-independent penetration field. We further show that for the conductor studied here, the measured dynamic resistance at different field angles is dominated by the perpendicular magnetic field component, with negligible contribution from the parallel component. Our findings now enable the dynamic resistance of a single conductor to be analytically determined for a very wide range of DC currents and at all applied field angles. This is the Accepted Manuscript version of an article accepted for publication in 'Superconductor Science and Technology'. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6668/aaa49e

Dynamic Resistance Measurement of a Four-tape YBCO Stack in a Perpendicular Magnetic Field

Dynamic resistance occurs when HTS (high-temperature superconductor) coated conductors carry dc current under ac magnetic field. This dissipative effect can play a critical role in many HTS applications. Here, we report on dynamic resistance measurements of a four-tape YBCO stack comprising 4-mm-wide coated conductors, which experience an applied ac perpendicular magnetic field with an amplitude of up to 100 mT. Each tape within the stack carries the same dc current. The magnetic field amplitude, the frequency of the magnetic field, and the dc current magnitude are varied to investigate the influence of these parameters on the dynamic resistance. We find that the threshold field of the stack is significantly larger than that of a single tape when dc current is small, which we attribute to coherent shielding effects from circulating currents present in each wire in the stack. © 2018 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works

A proof-of-concept Bitter-like HTS electromagnet fabricated from a silver-infiltrated (RE)BCO ceramic bulk

A novel concept for a compact high-field magnet coil is introduced. This is based on stacking slit annular discs cut from bulk rare-earth barium cuprate ((RE)BCO) ceramic in a Bitter-like architecture. Finite-element modelling shows that a small 20 turn stack (with a total coil volume of <20 cm3) is capable of generating a central bore magnetic field of >2 T at 77 K and >20 T at 30 K. Unlike resistive Bitter magnets, the high-temperature superconducting (HTS) Bitter stack exhibits significant non-linear field behaviour during current ramping, caused by current filling proceeding from the inner radius outwards in each HTS layer. Practical proof-of-concept for this architecture was then demonstrated through fabricating an uninsulated four-turn prototype coil stack and operating this at 77 K. A maximum central field of 0.382 T was measured at 1.2 kA, with an accompanying 6.1 W of internal heat dissipation within the coil. Strong magnetic hysteresis behaviour was observed within the prototype coil, with ≈30% of the maximum central field still remaining trapped 45 min after the current had been removed. The coil was thermally stable during a 15 min hold at 1 kA, and survived thermal cycling to room temperature without noticeable deterioration in performance. A final test-to-destruction of the coil showed that the limiting weak point in the stack was growth-sector boundaries present in the original (RE)BCO bulk

A new benchmark problem for electromagnetic modelling of superconductors: the high- T c superconducting dynamo

Abstract: The high-T c superconducting (HTS) dynamo is a promising device that can inject large DC supercurrents into a closed superconducting circuit. This is particularly attractive to energise HTS coils in NMR/MRI magnets and superconducting rotating machines without the need for connection to a power supply via current leads. It is only very recently that quantitatively accurate, predictive models have been developed which are capable of analysing HTS dynamos and explain their underlying physical mechanism. In this work, we propose to use the HTS dynamo as a new benchmark problem for the HTS modelling community. The benchmark geometry consists of a permanent magnet rotating past a stationary HTS coated-conductor wire in the open-circuit configuration, assuming for simplicity the 2D (infinitely long) case. Despite this geometric simplicity the solution is complex, comprising time-varying spatially-inhomogeneous currents and fields throughout the superconducting volume. In this work, this benchmark problem has been implemented using several different methods, including H-formulation-based methods, coupled H-A and T-A formulations, the Minimum Electromagnetic Entropy Production method, and integral equation and volume integral equation-based equivalent circuit methods. Each of these approaches show excellent qualitative and quantitative agreement for the open-circuit equivalent instantaneous voltage and the cumulative time-averaged equivalent voltage, as well as the current density and electric field distributions within the HTS wire at key positions during the magnet transit. Finally, a critical analysis and comparison of each of the modelling frameworks is presented, based on the following key metrics: number of mesh elements in the HTS wire, total number of mesh elements in the model, number of degrees of freedom, tolerance settings and the approximate time taken per cycle for each model. This benchmark and the results contained herein provide researchers with a suitable framework to validate, compare and optimise their own methods for modelling the HTS dynamo

A new benchmark problem for electromagnetic modelling of superconductors: the high-Tc_{c} superconducting dynamo

The high-T$_{c}$ superconducting (HTS) dynamo is a promising device that can inject large DC supercurrents into a closed superconducting circuit. This is particularly attractive to energise HTS coils in NMR/MRI magnets and superconducting rotating machines without the need for connection to a power supply via current leads. It is only very recently that quantitatively accurate, predictive models have been developed which are capable of analysing HTS dynamos and explain their underlying physical mechanism. In this work, we propose to use the HTS dynamo as a new benchmark problem for the HTS modelling community. The benchmark geometry consists of a permanent magnet rotating past a stationary HTS coated-conductor wire in the open-circuit configuration, assuming for simplicity the 2D (infinitely long) case. Despite this geometric simplicity the solution is complex, comprising time-varying spatially-inhomogeneous currents and fields throughout the superconducting volume. In this work, this benchmark problem has been implemented using several different methods, including H-formulation-based methods, coupled H-A and T-A formulations, the Minimum Electromagnetic Entropy Production method, and integral equation and volume integral equation-based equivalent circuit methods. Each of these approaches show excellent qualitative and quantitative agreement for the open-circuit equivalent instantaneous voltage and the cumulative time-averaged equivalent voltage, as well as the current density and electric field distributions within the HTS wire at key positions during the magnet transit. Finally, a critical analysis and comparison of each of the modelling frameworks is presented, based on the following key metrics: number of mesh elements in the HTS wire, total number of mesh elements in the model, number of degrees of freedom, tolerance settings and the approximate time taken per cycle for each model. This benchmark and the results contained herein provide researchers with a suitable framework to validate, compare and optimise their own methods for modelling the HTS dynamo

Reduction Kinetics of Oxidized New Zealand Ironsand Pellets in H2 at Temperatures up to 1443 K

2020, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and ASM International. Direct reduction of iron ore pellets using hydrogen gas has the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions from the ironmaking process. In this work, green pellets of titanomagnetite ironsand from New Zealand were oxidatively sintered to form titanohematite. These sintered pellets were then reduced by H2 gas at temperatures ≥ 1043 K, and a maximum reduction degree of ~ 97 pct was achieved. Fully reduced pellets contained metallic Fe as the main product phase, but several different (Fe, Ti) oxides were also present as minor inclusions. The phase distribution of these oxides depended on the reduction temperature. With increasing temperature, the relative proportion of pseudobrookite in the final product increased, while the proportion of residual ilmenite and rutile decreased. The reduction kinetics were found to be well described by a pellet-scale single-interface shrinking core model, for reduction degrees up to 90 pct. At temperatures above 1143 K, the rate-limiting step was found to be solely an interfacial chemical reaction process, with a calculated apparent activation energy of 31.3 kJ/mol. For pellet sizes from 5.5 to 8.5 mm, the reaction rate was observed to increase linearly with decreasing pellet diameter, and this linear correlation extrapolated to intercept the axis at a pellet diameter of 2.5 mm. This is interpreted as the minimum length required for a shrinking core interface to develop within the pellet

Research data supporting "Modelling the Frequency Dependence of the Open-Circuit Voltage of a High-Tc Superconducting Dynamo"

Research data supporting [Modelling the Frequency Dependence of the Open-Circuit Voltage of a High-Tc Superconducting Dynamo]. The data were obtained from numerical models built in COMSOL Multiphysics 5.4 - see the main manuscript for more details