A modular and cost-effective superconducting generator design for offshore wind turbines


KEYSAN O., Mueller M.

SUPERCONDUCTOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, cilt.28, sa.3, 2015 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 28 Sayı: 3
  • Basım Tarihi: 2015
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1088/0953-2048/28/3/034004
  • Dergi Adı: SUPERCONDUCTOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: renewable energy, superconducting generator, finite element analysis
  • Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Superconducting generators have the potential to reduce the tower head mass for large (similar to 10 MW) offshore wind turbines. However, a high temperature superconductor generator should be as reliable as conventional generators for successful entry into the market. Most of the proposed designs use the superconducting synchronous generator concept, which has a higher cost than conventional generators and suffers from reliability issues. In this paper, a novel claw pole type of superconducting machine is presented. The design has a stationary superconducting field winding, which simplifies the design and increases the reliability. The machine can be operated in independent modules; thus even if one of the sections fails, the rest can operate until the next planned maintenance. Another advantage of the design is the very low superconducting wire requirement; a 10 MW, 10 rpm design is presented which uses 13 km of MgB2 wire at 30 K. The outer diameter of the machine is 6.63 m and it weighs 184 tonnes including the structural mass. The design is thought to be a good candidate for entering the renewable energy market, with its low cost and robust structure.