On conduction-cooling of a high-temperature superconducting cable

Current generation high-temperature superconducting (HTS) power transmission cables use liquid nitrogen as a coolant that circulates along the cable. In this work, the use of axial conduction-cooling in attaining HTS temperatures in transmission lines is proposed. Liquid coolant use is envisioned only at periodic length intervals along the transmission lines, in combination with insulation and copper. The proposed concept is feasible due to the high thermal conductivity of pure copper at cryogenic temperatures. A basic design for the insulated cable is proposed and a detailed numerical simulation of heat transfer in such a cable is carried out for various case studies considering the superconducting materials MgB2 and BSCCO-2223.