Cost analysis of dielectric stems for ac superconducting power transmission line

The effect on the overall system economics of varying the maximum allowed dielectric stress through the use of pressurized helium, vacuum or a solid dielectric was investigated. It is concluded that for a reasonable choice of dielectric parameters the increase or decrease in the total system cost from that calculated for the pressurized helium system with E/sub B/ = 200 kV/cm would generally be less than 15 percent. For a given value of E/sub B/ the solid dielectric system will be more expensive than a pressurized helium or vacuum dielectric. Helium dielectric systems decrease monotonically as the value of E/sub B/ is increased. For the solid dielectric system the cost initially decreases as E/sub B/ is increased at high values of E/sub B/. The cost will increase with increasing E/sub B/