Study on high temperature superconducting magnetic bearing for 10 kWh flywheel energy storage system

Abstract

Flywheel energy storage systems with high temperature superconducting magnetic bearings are expected for load leveling use. A 1 kWh flywheel of 600 mm diameter was developed and the maximum energy storage of 1.4 kWh at 20,000 RPM was attained. For the development of a large capacity flywheel system, it is necessary to sophisticate the cooling system and improve the performance of the HTS magnetic bearing. So, an advanced cooling system of the bearing with a cryogenic refrigerator has been developed, and also the bearing characteristics in several cooling conditions have been investigated. It has been confirmed that the repulsive force of the bearing at 50 K was 1.5 times of its value at 80 K, and the rotating loss of the bearing at 50 K was one third of its value at 80 K, but the lateral magnetic stiffness at 50 K became small in comparison to that of 80 K. On the basis of the above results, an HTS magnetic bearing for 12.5 kWh flywheel system is under development.