Open Competition 1 - Chemistry and Materials

Advanced Thermal Processing and Equipment for Wide-Web YBCO Coated Conductor Composite Wire

Sponsor: American Superconductor Corporation

• Project Performance Period: 11/1/2002 - 4/30/2005
• Total project (est.): $6,130,738.00
• Requested ATP funds: $2,000,000.00

Modern society runs on electricity, for which the demand continues to grow. Current commercially available multi-filamentary composite (MFC) high temperature superconductor (HTS) wire can transmit more than 140 times the electric current of traditional copper wires. These wires are being used in a number of demonstration projects including power cables, utility generators, and ship propulsion systems. Coated conductor composite (CCC) HTS wire is expected to be the form-fit-function replacement for MFC wire at a price that is competitive with copper wire. American Superconductor (AMSC) plans a two-year project to design, construct, and test innovative thermal processing equipment for low-cost manufacturing of HTS wires offering a superior price/performance ratio to that of copper. The company has already demonstrated a feasible process for making continuous lengths of composite wire coated with superconducting material made of yttrium, barium, copper, and oxygen (YBCO) with critical current densities ranking among the world's best. The challenge in this ATP project is to take this laboratory-scale process and solve the fundamental engineering issues required for large-scale production of 100-meter lengths of coated conducting composites. This will require combining the process control and cleanliness typical of semiconductor fabrication, the reel-to-reel web handling and process throughput of the textile industry, and the temperature capabilities of a high-temperature ceramics foundry in a single manufacturing-scale process. The company plans to use sophisticated computer modeling to analyze the processing of large-area YBCO films and then design and fabricate process equipment that will achieve the precise control of multiple reaction parameters needed to optimize the wire performance. AMSC intends to make composite conductors with critical currents that are twice the level achievable now--the minimum necessary to enable widespread use. Because of the long-term, high-risk nature of the project, ATP funding is needed to pursue the development work. If successful, the technology could help the United States gain a leadership position in the competitive global market for HTS technologies. Lower-cost, high-performance superconducting wire will greatly increase the market for HTS products and could provide the foundation for a new generation of electric power equipment that is more economical, compact, and environmentally friendly as well as safer than existing systems. The world market for the primary application (electric power) is estimated at $5 billion. Other applications for this enabling technology could include high-speed trains and medical imaging.

For project information:

Lisa-Marie Barker, (508) 621-4375
lbarker@amsuper.com

ATP Project Manager

H. Felix Wu, (301) 975-4685
felix.wu@nist.gov