Hybrid Energy Transfer Line with Liquid Hydrogen and
Superconducting M_gB₂ Cable – First Experimental Proof of Concept

 V. S. Vysotsky¹, Senior Member IEEE, A. A. Nosov¹, S. S. Fetisov¹, G. G. Svalov¹,
V. V. Kostyuk², E. V. Blagov³, I. V. Antyukhov⁴, V. P. Firsov⁴,  B. I. Katorgin⁴, A. L. Rakhmanov⁵

¹Russian Scientific R&D Cable Institute,
111024, Moscow, Russia
(V.S.V. is the corresponding author,
phone: +7-985-766-2634; fax: +7-495-542-2270,
e-mail: [email protected]).
²Russian Academy of Science,
119991, Moscow, Russia.
³Institute of Nanotechnology for Microelectronics,
Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991 Russia
(e-mail: [email protected]).
⁴Moscow Aviation Institute – Technical University,
125993, Moscow, Russia, A-80, GSP-3
(V.P.F. e-mail: [email protected])
⁵Institute of Theoretical and Applied Electrodinamics of RAS,
125412, Moscow, Russia,
(e-mail: [email protected]).

Abstract - Transfer of high power flow over long distances will be the one of the major task for energetics in this century. Liquid hydrogen's attraction is clear -- it has the highest energy content of any known fuel and when it's burned, the "waste" is water. It could be transferred via cryogenic tubes like other cryogen liquids. Moreover, with the use of “gratis” cold to cool a superconducting cable an extra electrical power can be delivered with the same line. One of solutions is to use of M_gB₂ based DC power cables with single phase liquid hydrogen as a cooler and energy carrier. The team of Russian researchers developed and tested the first experimental prototype of the future hydrogen and superconducting energy transport system. In the paper presented the analysis of superconducting materials to work at temperatures ~20K are considered and choice of M_gB₂ is justified. Experimental M_gB₂ cable design and test facility are described. Test results of the first proof of concept of hybrid energy systems are presented. Future prospective of hybrid energy transfer systems is discussed.

IEEE/CSC & ESAS European Superconductivity News Forum (ESNF) No. 22 October/November 2012. ESNF Reference No.STP309 Categories 2, 5.
The published version of this preprint appeared in IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity 23, 5400906 (June 2013).