A Review of Technology Readiness Levels for Superconducting Electric Machinery

Bárbara Maria Oliveira Santos (), Fernando Jorge Monteiro Dias, Frederic Trillaud, Guilherme Gonçalves Sotelo and Rubens de Andrade Junior
Additional contact information
Bárbara Maria Oliveira Santos: Electrical Engineering Department, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 20550-900, Brazil
Fernando Jorge Monteiro Dias: Electrical Engineering Department, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 20550-900, Brazil
Frederic Trillaud: Instituto de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
Guilherme Gonçalves Sotelo: Electrical Engineering Department, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro 24210-240, Brazil
Rubens de Andrade Junior: Department of Electrical Engineering, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-909, Brazil

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 16, 1-18

Abstract: Superconducting electric machines (SEMs) have the potential to be commercially available in the coming years. This commercialization depends on the availability of high-temperature superconductors (HTS) produced on a large scale. HTSs have high current densities and low losses, making them the leading technology choice for future light and compact high-power-density superconducting rotating machines, with a particular niche for high torque at low frequency. The advantages of SEM in its fully superconducting design or hybrid configuration (conventional stator, superconducting rotor) inherit from the characteristics of the superconductor material. So, they can show greater efficiency at a higher power density and lighter frame than their conventional counterparts for an equivalent power rating. Applications like electric aircraft, naval propulsion, and wind turbines, among others, are likely to use SEMs if the rated power has to be increased beyond what is technically available with conventional technology. In this context, this paper reviews SEMs and their applications. However, it also aims to highlight the main the literature projects with a minimal Technology Readiness Level (TRL) larger than three. Due to the diversity of the superconductors’ characteristics and the variety of machines, the modes of operation of SEMs can be quite distinct from conventional machines. Taking into account such diversity, SEMs are presented and sorted out by their operational principles and the choice of superconducting material. Finally, the future perspectives of SEM are discussed.

Keywords: superconductivity; superconducting machines; technology readiness levels (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/16/5955/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/16/5955/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:16:p:5955-:d:1215978

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().