Development and testing of HTS cables and terminations at ORNL

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the Southwire Company have use d the ORNL 5-m cable test facility to develop high-temperature superconduct ing (HTS) cables and terminations to support the first industrial demonstra tion of an HTS cable at the Southwire manufacturing complex. Two 5-m, cold dielectric. cables have been tested for direct current (dc) voltage, altern ating current (ac) losses, ac withstand at 18 kV, thermal-hydraulic perform ance, heat load, and long-term operation at rated voltage (7.2 kV) and curr ent (1250 A). Two separate termination concepts, one operating at 10(-4)-10 (-5) mbar vacuum and the other operating with pressurized nitrogen gas at < 10 bar, have been developed and tested with the 5-m cables, A 5-m cable ha s been removed from the facility and bent in a test rig to simulate transpo rt in a spool, A testing program for a third 5-m cable with a splice is in progress, The test program at ORNL has validated the basic design of the ca bles and terminations and indicated areas for further R&D to optimize this technology for electric utility applications.