A SELF-SUPPORTING SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETIC ENERGY SYSTEM (SMES) CONCEPT

It has long been advocated that large-scale SMES can only be economica l with earth (or warm) support; that is, with the Lorentz forces trans mitted to the earth through cold-to-warm support members. This conclus ion was based on assumptions pertaining to the specific conductor and coil design. This paper shows that for certain design concepts, the re verse is true, and more economical systems can be built when using sel f-support (cold) instead of the earth to react the Lorentz loads. By u sing a cable-in-conduit conductor, and by combining structural and pro tection functions in a single aluminum member, it is possible to make a self-supported coil more economical than its earth-supported counter part.