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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Brookhaven program to develop a helium-cooled power transmission system

Conference ·
OSTI ID:4169952
The particular system under design consists of flexible cables installed in a cryogenic enclosure at room temperature and cooled to the range 6 to 9$sup 0$K by supercritical helium, contraction of the cable is accommodated by proper choice of helix angles of the components of the cable. The superconductor is Nb$sub 3$Sn and at the present time the dielectric insulation is still the subject of intensive development. Two good choices appear to be forms of polyethylene and polycarbonate. Sample cables incorporating various dielectrics have been manufactured commercially in lengths of 1500 ft and tested in laboratory cryostats in shorter sections of about 70 ft. A test facility is under construction to evaluate cables and cryogenic components for this type of service, the first refrigerator uses a 350 H.P. screw compressor and three turbo- expander stages. It is hoped to achieve reliability of a very high order. The first three-phase tests will be conducted at 69 kV, although it appears that 230 to 345 kV is the most likely voltage range for future applications. (auth)
Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, N.Y. (USA)
NSA Number:
NSA-33-000517
OSTI ID:
4169952
Report Number(s):
BNL--20444; CONF-750950--1
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English