American Superconductor (AMSC) is the world’s leading developer and manufacturer of high temperature superconductor (HTS) wire.
AMSC currently has inventory of first generation (1G) HTS wire available for purchase and is scaling
manufacturing capacity for its second generation (2G) HTS wire called 344 superconductors
The HTS wires AMSC manufactures today conduct over 150 times the electrical current of copper wire of the same dimensions, which dramatically reduces the size and weight of electrical equipment and significantly increases the power throughput of power cables. These characteristics offer product developers the ability to design components with HTS wire -- such as coils for industrial and naval motors or generators -- that deliver much higher power density and can offer additional benefits such as reduced manufacturing and maintenance costs.
1G (1st Generation) HTS Wire
BSCCO 2223 is a commonly used name to represent the HTS material Bi(2-x)PbxSr2Ca2Cu3O10. This wire has a typical superconducting transition temperature around 110 Kelvin.
2G (2nd Generation) HTS Wire
Second generation wire has a significantly different architecture compared to 1G wire. The architecture of 2G HTS wire, which comprises multiple coatings on a base material, or substrate, is designed to achieve the highest degree of alignment possible of the atoms in the superconductor material. The objective is to achieve the highest possible electrical current carrying capacity. While the high degree of alignment of the atoms in an HTS material can be achieved by many different laboratory techniques, the business challenge is to achieve this alignment with a high volume, low cost manufacturing methodology. The AMSC wire’s “three-ply” architecture — consisting of slit 2G tape sandwiched between thin copper or stainless steel strips — is similar to that of AMSC’s commercial 1G HTS wire. AMSC’s 2G HTS wire is called 344 superconductors, as it relates to the 3-ply, 4.4 cm width of the finished wire.
More info
http://www.amsc.com/products/htswire/index.html
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