Speakers
- Ir. Wim Boone (Chairman)
- Prof. Dr. Johan Smit (Technical University of Delft)
- Dr. Marc Dhallé (University of Twente)
- Dr. Dag Willén (NKT Cable)
- Dr. Kevin Albaugh (Praxair)
- Ir. Alex Geschiere (NUON)
- Ing. Gert Aanhaanen (TenneT)
- Dr. Joachim Bock (Nexans)
Ir. Wim Boone (KEMA)
Biography
Wim Boone obtained his Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. He joined KEMA and has almost 40 years of experience in the field of electrical insulation and underground power transmission and distribution. After several positions within KEMA he is now international senior consultant. He is recognized world-wide as an expert in power cables and has made significant contribution to the development of (diagnostic) testing methods and related international standards for the electrical industry. He is the author of about 100 technical papers. He was an active member of the International Electro technical Committee and is still active in CIGRE, as member of Study committee B1 and chairman of WG B1-09 Remaining Life Management and in the Insulated Conductors Committee of IEEE, as chairman of the Trans National Luncheon Committee.
Prof. Dr. Johan Smit (Technical University of Delft)
Superconductivity, from a Dutch invention into world wide activities in 2007
Superconductivity has experienced two major scientific inventions of the 20th century. The great invention of the phenomenon was in 1911 by Kamerlingh Onnes in Leiden for metallic mercury. Interestingly it took 75 years to broke up conventional insights in materials science to pave the way towards high temperature ceramic superconductors. The inventors J.Bednorz and K. Müller have been honoured with the Nobel price in Physics in 1987, however the HTS material had still to go a long way from research to application. The revolution in superconductors compares quite well with the one in semiconductors, i.e. that it takes decades to become a mature industrial material technology. The deregulation/privatization of the electric power industry necessitates a better utilization of existing assets in the transmission grids. Increasing consumption and need for transmission has to be managed with minimum investments. In this context the HTS seem to offer interesting possibilities to increase the grid capacity at reasonable costs. With the availability of long lengths of tapes and wires it is now generally felt, that the progress is so fast, that it will probably lead to substantial large-scale power applications in the upcoming years, serving our increasing technological, environmental and social requirements. The options of Superconductivity have changed considerably since 1986. At that time the power sector as coordinated through CIGRE even declined from going into such risky research. Nowadays we see rapidly increasing R&D activities of CIGRE and other international bodies in this field, fitting nicely within the smart and future power system ambitions of international and national research programs.Biography
Johan J. Smit is professor at the Delft University of Technology in High Voltage Technology & Management since 1996. After his masters degree in Experimental Physics at the University of Amsterdam he received his PhD degree for his investigations of cryogenic magnetic materials, using superconducting and 50 T-pulsed magnets at the Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory at the State University of Leiden in 1979. Over two decades of years he was employed in different research and management functions at KEMA's testing, consultancy and engineering company, Arnhem. Additional functions were supervisory board member of the power grid company of South Holland, Director of Education in Electrical Engineering at TU-Delft, steering committee chairman of the ISH, International Symposium on High Voltage Engineering, 12 years of international secretary and chairmanship of Cigré Study Committee D1, Materials and Emerging Technologies, honorary member of CIGRE, Paris. He currently represents the Netherlands in the IEC Technical Committee on Electrical Insulation Systems and he is active member in working & advisory bodies of CIGRE B3 (substations) and D1 (Materials and Emerging Technologies). Currently he is unit manager HV components and power systems and chairman of the international foundation for Knowledge Sharing and Research in the field of High Voltage Asset Management, KSANDR.
Back to top.Dr. Marc Dhallé (University of Twente)
Superconductivity, technical limitations and opportunities now and in the future
Technical superconductors are composite materials that are designed to satisfy a number of application-specific boundary conditions. First we discuss some of the lesser-known of these issues such as AC loss, thermal stability and mechanical behavior. Next we give an overview of the materials that are presently available, comparing their respective merits and disadvantages and illustrating their typical use. After this introduction a number of superconducting applications in electrical networks are reviewed. For each of these, the technical issues introduced before are discussed in more detail and are shown to lead to a 'natural' material choice. Finally, present research focus in superconductivity is highlighted and emerging possibilities are discussed.Biography
Marc Dhallé obtained his PhD in Physics (1994) from the K.U. Leuven for research into HTS materials. From 1993 to 1996 he was Research Associate at Imperial College London, studying the physical properties of HTS. From 1996 to 2001 he was Maitre Assistant at the University of Geneva, developing both classical metallic and high-temperature ceramic superconductors. Since 2001 he is at the University of Twente, working on the development and application of various superconducting materials. As Universitair Hoofddocent he is presently heading the research group High Current Superconductivity, which focuses on physical and technological issues that are crucial for developing a superconducting material into a fully functional technical conductor.
Back to top.HTS Triax Energy Cables - A new intelligent cable concept
1) Immediate commercial applications: In urban centers with high power densities, it is possible to replace HV lines and HV substations with MV supercables and MV switchgear. Some high-power connections can benefit from more flexibility in the placement of the HV station, for example increased safety distance in the connection of a nuclear power block to the step-up transformers.
Utilities are faced with increasing demands on the performance and reliability of electric grids: The public wants the infrastructure to be invisible, losses shall be reduced and magnetic fields are less tolerated. Electricity is the principal energy carrier, with an increasing share expected from plug-in car parks and clean energy production. The grid is expected to become smarter and more flexible. Renewable energy, distributed generation, and free energy trading creates rapid changes and reversals of the load-flow, creating new bottleneck issues at all power levels. High-temperature superconducting energy cables (HTS cables, supercables) is a part of the solution to these issues. Although it is a new technology, nkt cables has now accumulated nine years of operation experience. This presentation will point at three main applications:
2) Break-through, high-performance applications: With improvements in the performance of the thermal insulation, the high-amperage conductor and the cooling machinery, it will be possible to reach farther between the cooling stations. With the additional functionality of fault-current limitation, FCL, new solutions for network protection and reliability become possible. Examples include increased meshing in New York City and the application in Amsterdam that is described in more detail at this symposium.
3) Transmission over long distances: The increased performance and use results in larger production volumes and lower component prices. The high amperage rating and low reactive power production of HTS energy cables then allow the transmission of 1000 MVA at voltages of 132-150 kV over long distances of several hundred km. This will enable the integration of larger amounts of renewable energy sources over longer distances and the removal of bottlenecks in the European grid without impairing the citizens' quality of life.Biography
Dag Willén was born in Uppsala, Sweden, on June 26 1965. He received his MSc in Engineering Physics from the Uppsala University and his MSc in Materials Engineering from the University of Houston, both in 1991. At IREQ - the research institute of Hydro Québec, Canada - he developed processing methods for HTS materials and applications such as fault-current limiters from 1992 to 1998. He then joined the NKT Research Center, where he was the program manager for the Danish effort to realize a 30 m demonstrator of a superconducting cable in a public grid. In 2001, he completed an MBA degree in management of technology at the Danish Technical University. Since 2002, he is the assistant director of Ultera - a joint effort by nkt cables and Southwire Co to commercialise HTS cable technology. Mr. Willén is a member of the IEEE Power Engineering society.
Back to top.Dr. Kevin Albaugh (Praxair)
Cooling Technology for HTSC Cable Applications
The cooling system plays a critical role in the operation of the HTSC cable application, and several factors that are significant in cooling system design will be reviewed. The length of the cable and the layout of the terminations constrain the operation of the cooling system, which must provide sub-cooled liquid nitrogen. For many proposed locations, relatively long cables (i.e. 1-10 km) are required. This causes the operating pressure at the cable inlet to approach the pressure limit for the cryostat, in order to overcome the flow resistance. The operating temperature for a long cable ranges from just above the freezing point of liquid nitrogen at the inlet to a temperature near its boiling point at the cable outlet. The total cooling load includes the heat "leak" through the cryostat, the terminations, and the cooling system, as well as the AC losses from the cable itself. The cryogenic cooling system must reliably provide the required cooling with acceptable efficiency and fit within a small footprint. A variety of cooling technologies are available, and these cooling technology options are reviewed with an emphasis on the Stirling-type pulse tube cryocooler. Finally, the status of the cooling system at the Bixby Road demonstration site in the U.S. will be discussed.Biography
Kevin Albaugh (1958) received the B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the Clarkson College of Technology in 1980 and the Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University in 1987. From 1980 to 1995 he was employed by IBM Corp. where he was a process development engineer for integrated circuit production. In 1995, he joined Praxair, Inc. and is currently Director of R&D. His research interests include cooling technology for HTS applications, as well as technology development for electronics production and specialty gas applications.
Back to top.Ir. Alex Geschiere (NUON)
First application of HTSC cables in the Netherlands by NUON
Nuon Tecno has joint strategic knowledge and skills in the fields of power production, storage and infrastructures. Some of our departments concentrate their business on transmission and distribution infrastructures. Their core activities are project management, engineering, maintenance and refurbishment. Furthermore, Nuon Tecno is specialized in integrated solutions for efficient network management. In cooperation with network operators and third parties we achieve innovative results. One of our main innovations is the superconducting project in Amsterdam. We also participate actively on seminars, conferences, congresses and symposia. In this symposium that focuses on superconducting, our 6 km long HTS project in Amsterdam will be presented.Biography
Alex Geschiere was born in Nieuwdorp, the Netherlands on February 28th 1969. He received his MSc.-degree in electrical engineering from the Delft University of Technology (TUD) in 1993. In 1995 he joined PEN, a medium sized utility in the Netherlands. After some merges with other utilities he now works at Nuon, one of the largest utilities in the Netherlands. Now he is partly responsible for the technical consultancy department. This consultancy department provides advise to other departments and external parties and carries out research and innovation at system level as well as at component level. Examples of our activities at system level are: voltage control, reactive power compensation, dispersed generators, short circuit problems, reliability, risk management tools, maintenance concepts, network analyzing tools, grounding and power quality. At component level the department concentrates on transformers, cables, overhead lines and switchgears. Within the framework of the R&D activities of Nuon he is responsible for the superconducting project in Amsterdam.
Back to top.Ing. Gert Aanhaanen (TenneT)
Cost/benefit analysis of HTSC cable systems
Can we predict the future of HTSC without knowing the exact cost? As we all know success of technical innovations depends on the benefits and costs. As long as cables are not made out of silver or gold there is a chance that the benefits can beat the higher costs. Generally cables have a very long lifetime and there annual maintenance costs are very low compared to the initial cost. Due to the increasing cost of energy, cables losses become a more and more important issue today. Also from a perspective of responsibility for the environment. HTSC cable systems have to overcome pump losses, which arise from the cooling. To be successful, the energy balance must be at least equal to a conventional cupper cable. Also the pumps must have an acceptable lifetime. The ratio between cable and civil costs is a growing factor. Cables are mainly applied in urban areas and civil works are expensive there. Open trenches are very inconvenient for the municipalities and often installation of cables in ducts is compulsory. In this kind of areas pre installation of tubes can solve a lot of problems and could be an economically attractive solution. In this field the benefits of HTSC cables must be found. An also very positive benefit is the extreme low EMF. But there are risks and concerns too. They must be controlled or mitigated and that has a price. Things like, reliability, availability, current distribution over parallel lines, damage due tot short circuit, maintenance costs, leakage of liquid nitrogen, safety for the public and so on. Put an innovation in a business case and you can make it or break it. Nevertheless and above all give it a chance for example by subsidizing and creating an experimental project.Biography
Gert Aanhaanen (1963) received the B.Eng. degree in Electrical Engineering from the H.T.S. of The Hague, The Netherlands. After he served the Royal Dutch Navy he started as a cost engineer at an electrical contractor, but not for long. In 1984 he started as an Operator (economic dispatch) at Electriciteitsbedrijf Zuid-Holland (EZH). In 1999 during the splitting up of EZH he chose for the High Voltage grid and from that moment he fulfilled different jobs as project manager. Today at TenneT he works as Grid Strategist. Coming from a company with a lot of different cable techniques he has special interest in them. Not the cable technique only but also the environmental and social aspects.
Back to top.Dr. Joachim Bock (Nexans)
Application of superconducting short circuit limiting coils
Even higher electrical fields can be achieved based on a recently developed protection technique using the strong magnetic field dependence of the critical current density in the BSCCO 2212 material. In such elements a resistive coil is physically wound around a superconducting tube or coil and electrically connected in parallel. If a hot spot develops, a part of the current goes to the resistive coil and the resulting magnetic field brings the superconductor to a rapid and homogeneous quench. This concept is used in the government (BMBF) funded project CULT 110, actually the largest European current limiter project which aims at the development of a one-phase demonstrator for the 110 kV level. Superconducting fault current limiters for medium voltage applications are already today mature for real grid applications and are now entering the commercial level.
Fault current limiters are one of the most attractive applications of High Temperature Superconductors in power engineering as they represent a unique device offering a radical new approach to manage high short circuit currents. Especially resistive concepts based on BSCCO 2212 bulk material are very much advanced and have excellent chances for economical and technical viability. This was demonstrated in the successful German limiter project CURL 10 (10 kV/10 MVA) by using bifilar coils as HTS elements. In these elements the stabilisation against hot spot formation has been made with a metal shunt contacted continuously over the whole superconducting length allowing an applicable voltage up to approx. 115 V/m.Biography
Dr. Joachim Bock has been in the field of HTS since 1988 when he joined Hoechst AG. He developed the melt cast process for HTS bulk parts and was also responsible for the manufacturing of C60-fullerenes in a pilot plant of the former Hoechst AG before becoming the Program Manager HTS in 1995. Since 1999 he is Managing Director of the newly established Alcatel High Temperature Superconductors GmbH, now Nexans SuperConductors GmbH (NSC), a leading manufacturer of HTS materials and components. The first HTS fault current limiter (FCL) in the field was based on the HTS components from NSC and Nexans also demonstrated the first HTS bearing for industrial application. NSC is a HTS material supplier and now also offering complete systems for FCLs and HTS bearings. Bock studied Chemistry at the RWTH Aachen and received a Ph.D. from the University Dortmund.
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