Experimental study of a transformer with superconducting elements for fault current limitation and energy redistribution

Numerous proposed and developed superconducting fault current limiters and self-limiting transformers limit successfully fault currents but do not provide uninterrupted supplying of consumers. A design investigated in the work combines the functions of a conventional transformer with the functions of fast energy redistribution and fault protection. The device constitutes a transformer containing an additional high-temperature superconducting (HTS) coil short-circuited by a thin film HTS switching element. Fault current limitation and redistribution of the power flow to a standby line are achieved as a result of a fast transition of the superconducting switching element from the superconducting into the normal state. Transient and steady-state characteristics were experimentally investigated. A mathematical model of the device operation was proposed, and the calculated results were found to be in good agreement with the experimental data. The application field and basic requirements to such devices were discussed and it was shown that the proposed device meets these requirements.Comment: 15 pages incl. 4 figures. Submitted to "Cryogenics

TYC 1031 01262 1: The First Known Galactic Eclipsing Binary with a Type II Cepheid Component

We present the discovery and CCD observations of the first eclipsing binary with a Type II Cepheid component in our Galaxy. The pulsation and orbital periods are found to be 4.1523 and 51.38 days, respectively, i.e. this variable is a system with the shortest orbital period among known Cepheid binaries. Pulsations dominate the brightness variations. The eclipses are assumed to be partial. The EB-subtype eclipsing light curve permits to believe that the binary's components are non-spherical.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, accepted to MNRAS Letter

Generalization of the Grad method in plasma physics

The Grad method is generalized based on the Bogolyubov idea of the functional hypothesis for states at the end of relaxation processes in a system. The Grad problem (i.e., description of the Maxwell relaxation) for a completely ionized spatially uniform two-component electron-ion plasma is investigated using the Landau kinetic equation. The component distribution functions and time evolution equations for parameters describing the state of a system are calculated, and corrections are obtained to the known results in a perturbation theory in a small electron-to-ion mass ratio.Comment: 10 pages, 2 table