Interesting article here on superconducting power cables, which sound to be more advanced that I would have guessed:
A tour of American Superconductor’s factory found the company creating flat metal tape out of “high-temperature superconducting” (HTS) oxide materials and costly silver, then slicing it into thin flat strips. The strips wrap around a pipe carrying liquid nitrogen, which cools the cable to minus 346 degrees Fahrenheit....I wonder what happens if the nitrogen supply leaks. The article says that being below ground, the cables are more terrorist proof, but I wouldn't be so sure.
Cost, however, has long been a major issue. However, the price gap is closing, American Superconductor says. A 1,000-mile length of superconducting cable capable of carrying 5,000 megawatts would cost about $8 million to $13 million per mile, a recent company white paper says. That’s about on par with the $7 million to $10 million cost per mile for an equivalent conventional 765 kilovolt line.
1 comment:
How terrorist proof they are, this can only be known when tested. As for nitrogent, I hope they do something like what PrincetonCryo has done and then all their worries would get solved.
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