Numerical analyses of magnetic field and force in toroidal superconducting magnetic energy storage using unit coils (abstract)

Superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) is more useful than other systems of electric energy storage because of its larger amounts of stored energy and its higher efficiency. There are two types of SMES. One is the solenoid type and the other is the toroidal type. Some models of solenoid-type SMES are designed in the U.S. and in Japan. But the large scale SMES causes a high magnetic field in the living environment, and causes the erroneous operation of electronic equipment. The authors studied some suitable designs of magnetic shielding for the solenoidal-type SMES to reduce the magnetic field in the living environment. The toiroidal type SMES is studied in this article. The magnetic leakage flux of the toiroidal-type SMES is generally lower than that of the solenoid-type SMES. The toroidal-type SMES is constructed of unit coils, which are convenient for construction. The magnetic leakage flux occurs between unit coils. The electromagnetic force of the coils is very strong. Therefore analyses of the leakage flux and electromagnetic force are important to the design of SMES. The authors studied the number, radius, and length of unit coils. The storage energy is 5 G Wh. The numerical analyses of magnetic fields in the toroidal type SMES are obtained by analytical solutions. copyright 1997 American Institute of Physics