CRYOGENIC POWER CONVERSION

SYSTEMS
SEMINAR REPORT
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

For the degree of

Bachelor of Technology
By
MANNEM JEEVAN SANKAR
[Roll No U11EE090]
Guided by:
Prof. M. A. MULLA
Dept. of Electrical Engineering,
SVNIT, Surat.
Electrical

Electrical Engineering Department

Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology

Surat 395007
October 2014
i

SardarVallabhbhai National Institute of Technology

Surat-395 007, Gujarat, INDIA.

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

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This is to certify that the B. Tech. IV (7th Semester) SEMINAR REPORT
entitled CRYOGENIC POWER CONVERSION SYSTEMS presented
& submitted by Candidate MANNEM JEEVAN SANKAR bearing Roll
No.U11EE090 in the partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of
degree B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering.
She has successfully and satisfactorily completed his Seminar Exam in
all respect. We, certify that the work is comprehensive, complete and fit
for evaluation.

SEMINAR EXAMINERS:
Examiner

Signature with date

Examiner 1

__________________

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ii

ABSTRACT
Power electronics involves the conversion of electric power from one frequency, voltage and
current level to another, and has become widely used since the 1960s. This technology is
now a major part of power engineering: at least 25% of all power generated passes through
some form of power electronic system before being utilized.
However, the room-temperature operation of power electronics is a matter of convenience,
not optimisation. Lowering the operating temperature improves the performance and greatly
reduces the disruptive effects of thermal energy. The super cooling of power electronics,
though inconvenient, is therefore being considered more frequently as a means of boosting
performance, especially in applications where a cryo cooling system already exists, that is, in
superconductor applications. In recent years, rapid advances in high temperature
superconductors (HTS) increase the prospects for the development of cryogenic power
electronics.
In this report, the current research on cryogenic power electronics and superconducting
motors/generators is discussed for future aircraft and ships.

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am using this opportunity to express my gratitude to everyone who supported me

throughout the course of this seminar presentation. I am thankful for their aspiring guidance,
invaluably constructive criticism and friendly advice during the seminar work. I am sincerely
grateful to them for sharing their truthful and illuminating views on a number of issues
related to this seminar presentation.
I express my warm thanks to Prof. M. A. MULLA (Associate Professor in Electrical
Engineering) for his support and guidance throughout this presentation.

iv

Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1: Introduction.......................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER 2: Over view of Cryogenics and Superconductivity .................. 2
2.1 What is Cryogenics? ...................................................................... 2
2.2 Semiconductors at 77K ................................................................ 2
2.3 Superconductivity ........................................................................... 2
2.3.1 Zero dc resistance ............................................................... 3
2.3.2 Meissner effect .................................................................... 3
CHAPTER 3: Cryogenic Power electronics ...................................................... 4
3.1 PiN diode cryogenic characteristics ........................................ 4
3.2 BJT (bipolar junction transistor)
Cryogenic characteristics ........................................................... 5
3.3 Power MOSFET
Cryogenic characteristics ............................................................ 5
3.4 Power IGBT Cryogenic characteristics .................................. 6
CHAPTER 4: Cryogenic Power systems ........................................................... 7
4.1 Superconducting Rotating Machines ..................................... 7
CHAPTER 5: Cryogenic power applications ................................................... 9
5.1 Magnetic Resonance Imaging ................................................. 9
5.2 Rotating machinery ...................................................................... 9
5.3 High voltage transmission cables ............................................ 10
5.4 Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage ....................... 11
5.5 Power transformers ..................................................................... 11
5.6 Fault current limiters .................................................................... 11
5.7 Space power applications .......................................................... 12
5.8 Transportation................................................................................. 13
Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 14
References .................................................................................................................. 15

List of Figures
Fig 4.1 Schematic drawing of essential components
of the 400 kW model machine ............................................................. 8
Fig 5.1 The 36.5-MW HTS motor designed for
naval applications ................................................................................. 10
Fig 5.2 The ultra-high-speed superconducting
maglev train tested in Japan .............................................................. 13

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List of Abbreviations and Symbols

Abbreviation

Complete forms

HTS

High Temperature Superconducting

LN

Liquid Nitrogen

EV

Electric Vehicle

MOSFET

Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor

IGBT

Insulated Bipolar Gate Transistor

BJT

Bipolar Junction Transistor

MRI

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Doe

Department Of Energy

Nb-Ti

Niobium And Titanium Alloy

ONR

Office Of Naval Research

TEPCO

Tokyo Electric Power Corporation

Lhe

Liquid Helium

NASA

National Aeronautics And Space Administration

LDMOS

Laterally Double Diffused Metal Oxide Semiconductor

VDMOS

Vertically Diffused Metal Oxide Semiconductor

VMOS

V-Groove Double Diffused Metal Oxide Semiconductor

SMES

Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage

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CHAPTER 1
INRODUCTION
In transportation applications, lower weight and volume of the power conversion systems is very
important to achieve high power density, high efficiency, and superior performance. The thermal
management of these power conversion units plays a significant role in reducing the weight and
volume. The use of superconductive motors/generators, degaussing coils, energy storage
modules, and cables has been considered to increase power density and efficiency.
High-temperature superconducting (HTS) components combined with cryogenic power
converters will provide significant benefits in the electrification of transportation and high power
density power conversion systems. Cryogenic power converter modules offer other promising
benefits over their room temperature counterparts in terms of reduced size and weight (i.e.,
increased power density) and improved efficiency, switching speed, and reliability.
The performance of semiconductor devices, down to liquid nitrogen (LN) temperatures (6377.2
K), has been shown to improve with the decrease in temperature due to the improved thermal,
electrical, and electronic properties of the materials. In addition, low-temperature electronics
have potential uses in deep space and terrestrial applications that include magnetic levitation
based transportation systems, military all-electric vehicles (EVs), medical diagnostics, cryogenic
instrumentation and superconducting magnetic energy storage systems. Furthermore,
superconducting motors offer a significant advantage to cruise and cargo ships to significantly
expand their capacity. Because of the higher efficiency of superconducting motors and cryogenic
power electronics, the fuel consumption is reduced. This leads to hundreds of thousands of
dollars in fuel savings per year for an average cargo ship.

CHAPTER 2
Over view of cryogenics and superconductivity
2.1 What is Cryogenics?
Cryogenics is the study of the production and behavior of materials at very
low temperatures (below 150 C, 238 F or 123 K). The word cryogenics stems
from Greek and means "the production of freezing cold" however, the term is used today as
a synonym for the low-temperature state. At very low temperatures, certain materials take on
peculiar properties. Liquid helium acts as though it has no viscosity (resistance to flowing), and
its thermal conductivity is several hundred times that of copper or silver at room temperature.
Some metals become superconductive-they lose all resistance to electric current, and current will
continue to flow through them even after the power is cut off. These and other unique properties
created by cold give cryogenics its practical importance.

2.2 Semiconductors at 77K

Performance of semiconductor devices down to LN temperatures improves with decreasing
temperature due to improved thermal, electrical, and electronic properties of materials.
Specifically, the field-effect semiconductor devices at low temperatures down to LN have some
important advantages over room temperature operation such as:

Higher operational speed due to increased carrier mobility and saturation velocity.
Lower power dissipation due to reduced voltage supplies because of improved turn-on
and turn-off characteristics.
Shorter signal transmission time because of reduced interconnect resistance and also
because of the possibility of using superconducting thin-film as interconnections.
Improved reliability due to reduced electro migration and other thermally activated
degradation mechanisms, and also reduced susceptibility to latch-up.
Increased integration density because of the higher semiconductor substrate and metal
thermal conductivities.
Improved digital and analog circuit performance such as noise margins, gain-bandwidth
products or slew rates.

2.3 Superconductivity
Superconductivity is a phenomenon of exactly zero electrical resistance and expulsion
of magnetic fields occurring in certain materials when cooled below characteristic critical
temperature. It was discovered by Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes on April 8, 1911 in
Leiden. Like ferromagnetism and atomic spectral lines, superconductivity is a quantum
mechanical phenomenon. It is characterized by the Meissner effect, the complete ejection
of magnetic field lines from the interior of the superconductor as it transitions into the

superconducting state. The occurrence of the Meissner effect indicates that superconductivity
cannot be understood simply as the idealization of perfect conductivity in classical physics.

2.3.1 Zero dc resistance

The electrical resistivity of a metallic conductor decreases gradually as temperature is lowered.
In ordinary conductors, such as copper or silver, this decrease is limited by impurities and other
defects. Even near absolute zero, a real sample of a normal conductor shows some resistance. In
a superconductor, the resistance drops abruptly to zero when the material is cooled below its
critical temperature. An electric current flowing through a loop of superconducting wire can
persist indefinitely with no power source.
In 1986, it was discovered that some cuprate-perovskite ceramic materials have a critical
temperature above 90 K (183 C). Such a high transition temperature is theoretically impossible
for a conventional superconductor, leading the materials to be termed high-temperature
superconductors. Liquid nitrogen boils at 77 K, and super conduction at higher temperatures than
this facilitates many experiments and applications that are less practical at lower temperatures.

2.3.2 Meissner effect

When a superconductor is placed in a weak external magnetic field H, and cooled below its
transition temperature, the magnetic field is ejected. The Meissner effect does not cause the field
to be completely ejected but instead the field penetrates the superconductor but only to a very
small distance, characterized by a parameter , called the London penetration depth, decaying
exponentially to zero within the bulk of the material. The Meissner effect is a defining
characteristic of superconductivity. For most superconductors, the London penetration depth is
on the order of 100 nm.
The Meissner effect is sometimes confused with the kind of diamagnetism one would expect in a
perfect electrical conductor: according to Lenz's law, when a changing magnetic field is applied
to a conductor, it will induce an electric current in the conductor that creates an opposing
magnetic field. In a perfect conductor, an arbitrarily large current can be induced, and the
resulting magnetic field exactly cancels the applied field.
The Meissner effect is distinct from thisit is the spontaneous expulsion which occurs during
transition to superconductivity. Suppose we have a material in its normal state, containing a
constant internal magnetic field. When the material is cooled below the critical temperature, we
would observe the abrupt expulsion of the internal magnetic field, which we would not expect
based on Lenz's law.

CHAPTER 3
Cryogenic power electronics
The understanding of the characteristics and operation of power semiconductor devices at
cryogenic temperatures is necessary for integrating the power electronics with the
superconducting power applications. As reported in several research studies, the operation of
power semiconductor devices at cryogenic temperatures results in improved switching speed and
lower on-state voltage than when operated at room temperature. This is because the
semiconductor materials seem to demonstrate better electrical and thermal properties at lower
temperatures up to about 50 K. They also have higher carrier mobility and saturation velocity at
low temperatures, resulting in high-speed operation. It was also found that the thermal
conductivities of the device and substrate materials improve significantly at lower temperatures,
leading to simpler thermal management, lower on-state power loss, and improved reliability. In
addition to the conduction losses, the switching losses of power devices also decrease at
cryogenic temperatures, leading to increased overall power conversion efficiency.
Significant improvements in performance have been reported for many power devices when
operated at cryogenic temperatures: for power metaloxidesemiconductor field effect
transistors (MOSFETs) the on state resistance falls by about four to five times; for the diode, the
reverse recovery is reduced by an order of magnitude; and for insulated-gate bipolar transistors
(IGBTs), the tail current effects are reduced. It has been demonstrated that MOSFET operation
at low temperatures provides advantages such as reduced physical size, enhanced reliability, and
higher current density. It is also reported that the MOSFET threshold voltage and
transconductance increase at low temperatures. At 77 K, the threshold voltage has been found to
increase by 1 V due to carrier concentration reduction when compared to room temperature, and
the breakdown voltage of the power MOSFETs reduces up to 23%. The simulation results of
operating silicon power MOSFETs at room temperature and at liquid nitrogen temperature show
that when operating at liquid nitrogen temperature, the channel mobility increased ten times, the
drain current capability increased three times, and the onstate resistance reduced two to three
times, from 300 K to 77 K for that particular device, because of higher carrier mobility at lower
temperatures.
This section will give a review of the cryogenic characteristics of the main power devices,
including the power diode, bipolar transistor, MOSFET and IGBT, which are all made from
silicon.

3.1 PiN diode cryogenic characteristics

The PiN diode is one of the very first semiconductor devices developed for power circuit
applications. It consists of an intrinsic layer sandwiched between a pn junction, which has a very
low concentration, generally n-type, in the order of 10^13 cm-3. The thickness of the intrinsic
layer ranges from 10 to 500 um depending on the rated breakdown voltage. The wide intrinsic
region is flooded with minority carriers during forward conduction, so its resistance becomes

very small allowing a high current density. Almost all silicon diodes with a blocking voltage
over 200 V are PiN diodes.
Early experiments noticed an increase of diode forward voltage, a decrease of breakdown
voltage, and a slight decrease of junction capacitance as temperature reduces from 300 K to 77K.
Furthermore the authors concluded that diode doping must be carefully chosen to minimise the
effects of freezeout on the diode series resistance.
Detailed measurements and modelling work on PiN diodes were carried out to characterize and
optimise diode low temperature performance. Analyses and measurements proved that there is an
order of magnitude reduction in the intrinsic region stored charge from 300 K down to 77 K.
This results in a reduced switching loss at 77 K.

3. 2 Power bipolar junction transistor (BJT) cryogenic characteristics

A power BJT can be an n-p-n or p-n-p structure with a very highly doped emitter region, a thin
middle base region and a step lightly-heavily doped collector region. The main current is
controlled through the base terminal. While power BJTs provide a very low voltage drop, the
base current drive is continuously required for normal operation.
The relatively low current gain of power bipolar devices and the requirement for complex high
current drive circuits has resulted in the devices being superseded by MOSFETs and IGBTs.
Measurements performed on commercial bipolar junction transistors at 77 K show a large
reduction in current gain, a slight increase in forward voltage drop, an increase in collector
emitter breakdown voltage, and an order of magnitude reduction in the turn-off time. In addition,
numerical simulations indicated that an increased emitter current crowding occurs at 77 K. All
these variations were attributed to energy narrowing and carrier freezeout. Research efforts have
been exerted to avoid these degradations. The reoptimisation of the emitter, base and collector
dopings and an increase of the emitter area can offer improved performance at low temperatures.
A polysilicon emitter contact has been proved more efficient at lower temperatures than a metal
contact to avoid the degradation of current gain.

3. 3 Power MOSFET cryogenic characteristics

The power MOSFET is one of the most important devices for very large-scale integrated circuits
and power electronics. The principle of surface field-effect transistors was first proposed in the
early 1930s. In 1960, the MOSFET was first proposed and fabricated using a thermally oxidized
silicon structure. Many different structures have been developed. LDMOS is often used in large
scale integrated circuit and VDMOS is preferred when high frequency and high voltage
performance are needed. To a large extent, VMOS has been superseded by VDMOS for the
critical requirements in controlling etching processes. The review of power MOSFETs will
concentrate on VDMOSFET.
In a MOSFET, a control signal is applied to a gate electrode that is separated from the
semiconductor device surface by an intervening insulator (normally silicon dioxide). There is no

significant current flow during either on-state or off-state in the gate circuit. The high input
impedance is a primary feature of power MOSFETs, which greatly simplifies the gate drive
circuitry.
The possible advantages of operating MOSFETs at low temperatures began to be explored in the
1970s when it became clear that higher current density and lower power loss at low temperatures
would result in devices packaged in small, readily-cooled volumes. More experimental work and
numerical modelling resulted in a better understanding of the temperature dependence of
inversion, accumulation and bulk mobilities. The breakdown voltage and on-resistance were
found to decrease whereas the threshold voltage and transconductance were found to increase at
low temperatures. The analyses showed that a 77 K optimal VDMOSFET had a reduced
polysilicon gate length as compared with a 300 K optimal device.

3. 4 Power IGBT cryogenic characteristics

The basic difference between an IGBT and a MOSFET is the addition of a P+ substrate beneath
the N drift region. This structural difference offers a high current handling capability. This means
that the IGBT combines the advantages of a bipolar device and a MOSFET. However, the IGBT
has the disadvantages of a comparatively large current tail, which limits its applications at high
frequencies. The IGBT technology is certainly the choice of device for breakdown voltages
above 1000 V, while the MOSFET is for voltages below 250 V and frequencies above 100 kHz.
Between 250 to 1000V, there are many technical papers available from manufacturers, some
preferring MOSFETs, some IGBTs. Choosing between IGBTs and MOSFETs is very
application-specific and cost, size, speed and thermal requirements should all be considered.
Cryogenic explorations of PT and NPT IGBTs have been reported. At low temperatures, the gate
threshold voltages were found to increase, similar to the temperature characteristics of power
MOSFETs. Most devices showed reduced forward voltage drops at reduced temperatures and
reached minimum values around 100 K. The increase of forward voltage drops below 100 K was
caused by carrier freeze-out. The switching processes were found to be shorter at reduced
temperatures because of the variation of carrier lifetimes.
The maximum blocking voltages of IGBTs were found to decrease at low temperatures. For
example, a 1300 V NPT IGBT could block only 900 V at 5 K. This effect must be considered for
cryogenic applications.

CHAPTER 4
Cryogenic power systems
The advent of high-temperature superconductors created an important opportunity for the
commercialization of large electric machines. The high-temperature superconductors enable
practical operation at temperatures well above liquid nitrogen. Naturally, a higher operating
temperature reduces the cooling cost while maintaining the superconductivity of the coils. Also,
the reduced ohmic losses in HTS motors yield significant annual savings in electricity
consumption by a factor of 50%.
During the last years several program dealing with superconducting rotating machines are carried
out by different groups. These include basic programs to show the feasibility of the necessary
technical steps as well as programs that aim on (pre-) prototype machines. There are also plans
for large machines for future applications. Not only in the field of superconducting MRI-systems
where Siemens is one of the leading providers, but also in the field of rotating electric machines.
About 20 years ago a superconducting generator was constructed, however, at those times, LTStechnology was used. Mainly the extraordinary complexity in the necessary LHe-cooling system
prevented this machine from going to market. Nowadays dramatically reduced complexity of
cooling systems necessary for HTS-technology opens again the door for commercialization of
superconducting rotating machines. The two HTS-machines built up to now by Siemens will be
shown in some details in this paper.

4.1 Superconducting rotating machines

The main property of superconductivity that makes it so interesting for power applications is that
dc-current can be transported loss-free together with a high current density. This allows to build
devices with large B-fields produced by the rotor with nearly no losses. These large rotor-Bfields lead to several consequences:

Machinery can be built with a much higher power density than machines with
conventional copper windings in the rotor, leading to smaller and lighter machines. Here
often a factor of two and larger compared to conventional machines is claimed.
Due to the high magnetic field produced by the rotor the stator winding cannot have ironteeth. This leads on one hand to a further reduction in weight and on the other hand losses
due to eddy-currents in the stator iron are avoided (of course there still remains an iron
yoke with the corresponding eddy-current and hysteresis losses). Together with the lossfree excitation of the rotor-winding this leads to an increase in machine efficiency. This
even holds when the power consumption of the cooling-system, necessary to keep the
rotor in the superconducting state, is taken into account.
Since there are no iron teeth in the stator there is a large magnetic air gap between rotor
and back-iron. This leads to a small synchronous reactance Xd .A small Xd in turn has
some interesting consequences for the electrical behavior of such a machine. Firstly there
is a small load angle which allows a high overload capability. Secondly a small results in
a large short circuit current which enables an easy detection of a short circuit situation

and to switch off selectively the fault location in the grid. Thirdly a small Xd gives small
voltage drops with changing loads and so leading to a rather stiff behavior in the grid.
Fourthly machinery with small Xd can be operated even at a power factor under-excited
and consume a considerable amount of reactive power. Therefore such a machine can
operate as phase shifter. This kind of operation is also important for motors which can be
utilized in field weakening mode without the danger of loosing synchronization. Also
over-excitation is possible very easily and so the machine can supply reactive power to
the grid and act as a synchronous condenser.
Due to the fact that there are no stator iron teeth the stator winding is exposed to the
rotating B-field of the rotor and therefore this part of the machine cannot be
superconducting, at least with the superconductors available at present.

Fig 4.1 Schematic drawing of essential components of the 400 kW model machine.[1]

CHAPTER 5
Cryogenic power applications
5.1 Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
MRI is based on the principle of nuclear magnetic resonance, a spectroscopic technique used to
obtain microscopic chemical and physical information about molecules. MRI has become an
important medical tool for visualizing soft tissues within the human body since the early 1980s.
Superconductivity came into MRI from the very beginning of this technology in 1984. This is
because the early resistive magnets could only achieve a rather low magnetic field around 0.15
Tesla and had poor homogeneity. A high magnetic field, uniform both in time and space, is
required and is easy to achieve with a superconducting magnet.
With HTS, the MRI system could work more efficiently and cheaply. The next generation MRI
systems will be made with high temperature superconductors though HTS materials are still
expensive.

5.2 Rotating machinery

Superconducting rotating machines have looked promising since multifilament niobiumtitanium
(NbTi) superconductors became available in the mid-1960s. Three different 70-MW generators
were demonstrated by the SuperGM project in Japan. However, economic considerations did not
make these machines commercially attractive.
The advantage of high temperature superconductors has provided new impetus to the
development of superconducting rotating machines for commercial applications. Currently, large
high-torque ship propulsion motors, large generator prototypes, and synchronous condensers are
under development and are expected to be commercially available in the next few years. The
prospects for improved life cycle cost, smaller size, less weight, and higher efficiency benefits
are providing incentives for the development of these larger rating HTS machines. Four
superconducting rotating machine programs are in progress in the US. General Electric is
building a 100 MVA superconducting generator under a DoE (the US Department of Energy)
contract. American Superconductor has 3 programs on superconducting machines - a 10 MVAR
superconducting synchronous condenser, a 5 MW, 230-rpm ship propulsion motor for Office of
Naval Research (ONR) and a 36.5 MW, 120- rpm ship propulsion motor program also for ONR.
All superconducting machines employ high temperature superconductors in the field winding on
the rotor and a conventional ambient temperature copper winding in the stator.

Fig 5.1 The 36.5-MW HTS motor designed for naval applications.[4]

5. 3 High voltage transmission cables

With the rapid growth of electric power demand and environmental concerns in the 1970s, major
programs on underground superconducting transmission cables were initiated in the hope of
reducing or eliminating the 4% power loss in the conventional power transmission lines. The
most ambitious one, also being the one that proceeded furthest, was the 200 m long AC
transmission line at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, New York. The full power
testing of the prototype system in 1986 confirmed the technical feasibility. However, many of the
superconducting power transmission cable projects including this one were cancelled for
economic reasons.
The discovery of high-temperature superconductivity rekindled interest in superconducting
power transmission cables. In February 2000, the first industrial HTS power cable operation in
Carrollton, Georgia was announced, which utilized three single-phase, 30-m long cables carrying
1250 A at 12.5 kV. Prototype or industrial HTS cable projects were carried out in many
industrial countries, until 2003. The applications ranged from 12.5 to 225 kV. Most projects were
AC and used the HTS material BSCCO-2223, which has a transition temperature of around 110
K, so liquid nitrogen could be used as the coolant.

10

The present price of HTS cable is still well above the target price, $10 per kA-m for the HTS
tapes proposed by DoE. However, the cost of the cable itself may be insignificant compared with
the other cost issues for a particular application. For instance, using HTS cable, the capacity of
urban distribution lines could be upgraded without increasing voltage levels and adding new
transformers, which is very important to very crowded urban areas . Superconducting power
transmission cables could have a very significant impact on the power industry.

5. 4 Superconducting Magnet Energy Storage (SMES)

SMES systems use superconducting coils to store electrical energy by keeping a DC current
flowing through a lossless superconducting loop in a liquid cryogen tank. Electrical energy is
stored in the system by converting the input AC current into DC, and feeding it into the
superconducting coil. The withdrawal of energy is accomplished by switching the current
through an alternate path, which converts the DC to AC and supplies the grid.
SMES was initially conceived in the 1970s as a load-levelling device, that is, to store energy in
bulk to smooth a utilitys daily peak power demand. A 30 MJ SMES operated in the power grid
in 1982-83. However, the cost of SMES is too high compared with fossil fuel-based peaking
generation. Due to its rapid response (milliseconds), high power (megawatts) and high
efficiency, SMES was identified as a candidate technology to improve transmission stability,
frequency control and power quality at power and energy levels of 20-200 MW and 50-500 MJ.
In the long term, energy storage, SMES in particular, may play an important role in a new
deregulated power market with more renewable energy resources.

5.5 Power transformers

In a conventional power transformer, load losses represent approximately 80% of total losses. Of
the load losses, 80% are I2R losses and the remaining 20% consists of stray and eddy current
losses. To date, efforts to reduce load losses have been directed toward the latter. Unlike copper
and aluminum, superconductors present no resistance to the flow of DC electricity, with the
consequence that I2R losses become essentially zero, thereby creating the potential for a
dramatic reduction in overall losses. In AC operation, the superconductor in an HTS transformer
experiences a type of eddy current loss, which is extremely small in comparison to the energy
loss in conventional materials. Even with the added cost of refrigeration, HTS transformers in the
10 MVA and higher ranges are projected to be substantially more efficient and less expensive
than their conventional counterparts.
The benefits of smaller weight and size are expected to be major factors in the early introduction
of HTS transformers in Japan. In Europe there is growing interest in using compact HTS onboard
transformers in high-speed trains.

5.6 Fault current limiters

Superconducting fault current limiters normally operate with low impedance and are "invisible"
components in the electrical system. In the event of a fault, the limiter inserts impedance into the
circuit and limits the fault current. A high critical current density, probably at least 105 A/cm2,

11

will likely be required to achieve adequate switching speed and an acceptable superconductor
volume.
The development of high temperature superconductors enables the development of economical
fault current limiters. Fault current limiters can be applied in a number of distribution or
transmission areas: in the main position to protect the entire bus; in the feeder position to protect
an individual circuit on the bus; and in the bus-tie position to protect the unfaulted bus.
The most extensive FCL program in Japan has been the collaboration between TEPCO (Tokyo
Electric Power Corporation) and Toshiba. The long-term goal of this program is the development
of a 500 kV limiter with a rated current of 8,000 A. Initial development has been focused on a
distribution-level limiter designed for 6.6 kV. Introduction of a transmission-level FCL on the
grid is anticipated around 2010. By far the most comprehensive FCL program in Europe is that
being conducted by the collaboration between Electricit de France, GEC Alsthom, and Alcatel
Alsthom Recherche. The program's main goal is to provide FCLs for the 225 kV grid in France.

5.7 Space power applications

Planetary exploration missions and deep space probes require electrical power management and
control systems that are capable of efficient and reliable operation in very cold environments.
Presently spacecrafts carry radioisotope heating units to maintain the on-board electrical and
electronic systems at near room temperature. Systems capable of operating at cryogenic
temperatures will not only contribute to increasing efficiency, and improving the reliability, but
also reduce the system size by eliminating or reducing the heating units. Cryogenic programs
have been carried out with the support from NASA, Department of Defense (DoD) and the Air
Force in the US.
Cryogenic refrigerator and cryogenic integration programs have been reported by the Cryogenic
Technologies Group, Space Vehicles Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory in the
United States. The objective was to develop and demonstrate space cryogenic technologies
required to meet future requirements for Air Force and DoD missions. A variety of cryocoolers
were pursued to meet various requirements, and several advanced cryogenic integration
technologies were developed to meet the reduction in cryogenic system integration penalties and
design time.
Meanwhile, research and development activities on low temperature electronic devices and
systems have been carried out from room temperature down to around 190 C at the NASA
Glenn Research Centre. The goal was to develop and demonstrate reliable and efficient power
conversion techniques capable of surviving and exploiting the advantages of low temperature
environments. The target systems included converters, inverters, controls, digital circuits and
special-purpose circuits. Initial development efforts have produced the successful demonstration
of low temperature operation and cold-restart of several DC/DC converters (with outputs from 5
to 1000 W) using different design topologies. Some of these circuits employed superconducting
inductors.

12

Transportation
A few recent studies have focused on faster and more efficient rail transportation systems since
the traditional railway propulsion systems have mechanical limitations and maintenance issues
due to the dependence on friction between the wheels and railways. In particular, the
maintenance of the traditional systems is quite expensive and time consuming, thus leading the
researchers to look for alternative frictionless mass transportation systems that can exceed the
maximum speed (350 km/h) of conventional railway systems. For this purpose, research teams in
Japan and the United States have been working on superconducting maglev trains using linear
synchronous motor superconducting magnets and armature coil on the ground.
The superconducting maglev train is one of the most promising high-speed mass transportation
systems in the world, offering a fast, reliable, and environmentally friendly system that will
encourage people to use train transportation over aircraft and automobiles. It is also known as
one of the safest transportation alternatives with an accident-free safety record so far. The CO2
emissions are about one-third of traditional transportation systems. The recent trend for
superconducting maglev trains is to replace the low-temperature superconducting element with
high-temperature superconductors due to their cooling advantages.

Fig 5.2 The ultra-high-speed superconducting maglev train tested in Japan.[4]

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CONCLUSION
The interest of investigating cryogenic power electronics stems from the idea of building power
conditioning systems with higher efficiency by cooling electronics to cryogenic temperatures. As
can be observed from the reported literature, most of the research results are on the
characterization of the operating behavior of the devices instead of the entire power conversion
system. Significant advancements in cryogenic power conversion technology are required for
application in maglev trains, aircraft based on NASAs distributed propulsion system, ship
propulsion, and other high-power applications. With the advancement of cryogenic power
electronics, the manufacturing of a superconducting generator unit fully integrated with the
converter, cooling, and coupling components could become a real possibility. Several studies
have concluded that there is a great potential for cryogenic power conversion in applications
such as propulsion motors and power generators for ships, future military applications, and
aircraft where size and weight are the primary design considerations.

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REFERENCES
[1] N. Maki, M. Izumi, M. Numano, K. Aizawa, K. Okumra, and K. Iwata, Design study of
high-temperature superconducting motors for ship propulsion systems, in Proc. Int. Conf.
Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS 2007), 811 Oct. pp. 1523, 1527.
[2] B. Ray, S. S. Gerber, R. L. Patterson, and I. T. Myers, Power control electronics for
cryogenic instrumentation, Adv. Inst. Control, vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 131139, 1995.
[3] A. Caiafa, X. Wang, J. L. Hudgins, E. Santi, and P. R. Palmer, Cryogenic study and
modeling of IGBTs, in Proc. 2003 IEEE 34th Annu. Power Electronics Specialist Conf.
(PESC03), 1519 June 2003, vol. 4, pp. 1897, 1903.
[4] K.Rajashekar, B.Akin, Cryogenic power conversion system, Electrification magazine, vol.
1,no. 2, pp. 64-73,2013.
[5] R. K. Kirschman, Cold electronics: An overview, Cryogenics, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 115122,
Mar. 1985.

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