Superconductors heat up
High-temperature superconductors, discovered 10 years ago, have immense economic and energy-saving potential. Today, power applications are nearing commercialization. A decade after IBM researchers Georg Bednorz and Alex Mueller, working in Zurich, Switzerland, discovered the first high-temperature superconductors, substantial progress has been made in producing zero-resistance wires and high-field magnetic coils. The electric-power applications under development include current leads, fault-current limiters, transmission cables, motors, generators, and transformers. Electronics and thin-film technology based on high-temperature superconductors (HTSCs) are even more advanced. Investment analysts have predicted that the potential market for HTSC-based electric-power equipment will be $4 billion to $6 billion by the turn of the century.
- OSTI ID:
- 392277
- Journal Information:
- Mechanical Engineering, Journal Name: Mechanical Engineering Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 118; ISSN MEENAH; ISSN 0025-6501
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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