Conceptual Design of the Cryogenic System for a 12 MW Superconducting Wind Turbine Generator

Abstract

A direct drive 12-MW superconducting wind turbine generator has been designed. The rotor of the generator is made of low temperature superconductor (LTS) coils, which are wound from NbTi/Cu cable-in-conduit conductors (CICC) cooled with forced flow supercritical helium at 4 K. To ensure the stability of the generator rotor, it is necessary to design a reliable cryogenic system. With consideration of the radiation heat loads, ac loss, conduction heat leak by residual gas, current leads and torque tube, the heat load of the cryogenic system is analyzed. Aiming at decreasing the heat load of the cryogenic system and enhancing the overall efficiency of the generator, new structures of torque tube and thermal shields are proposed, and the main parameters of the cryogenic system are determined.