Theory of ac loss in power transmission cables with second generation high temperature superconductor wires

While a considerable amount of work has been done in an effort to understand ac losses in power transmission cables made of first generation high temperature superconductor (HTS) wires, use of second generation (2G) HTS wires brings in some new considerations. The high critical current density of the HTS layer in 2G wires reduces the surface superconductor hysteretic losses, for which a new formula is derived. Instead, gap and polygonal losses, flux transfer losses in imbalanced two-layer cables and ferromagnetic losses for wires with NiW substrates constitute the principal contributions. A formula for the flux transfer losses is also derived with a paramagnetic approximation for the substrate. Current imbalance and losses associated with the magnetic substrate can be minimized by orienting the substrates of the inner winding inward and the outer winding outward.