A Study on Basic Insulation Characteristics of 2.5 MJ Class Conduction-Cooled HTS SMES

Superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) is a cutting-edge electric power storage system which transforms electric energy to magnetic energy for storage, and again to electric energy for use. Especially, 1~3 MJ class SMES for power compensation does not cost much initial production expenses, and can be used as alternative electric power upon emergency situations such as power failure. Moreover, toroidal coil is used instead of solenoid coil to reduce the effect of magnetic field on environment. In general, toroidal coil is cooled down by cryogen, but in this study, adopted was the conduction cooling method, which cools down the coil by the cryocooler. For this method, electric insulation to protect the cryocooler from current lead is very important. Thus, this study clarified the insulation elements of 2.5 MJ class conduction-cooled high temperature superconducting SMES, and investigated the basic insulation characteristics of each element.