Development of a high speed HTS generator for airborne applications

K. Sivasubramaniam, T. Zhang, M. Lokhandwalla, E. T. Laskaris, J. W. Bray, B. Gerstler, M. R. Shah, J. P. Alexander

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

General Electric, under contract with the Air Force Research Labs (AFRL), has successfully developed and tested a high speed, multimegawatt superconducting generator. The generator was built to demonstrate high temperature superconducting (HTS) generator technology for application in a high power density Multimegawatt Electric Power System (MEPS) for the Air Force. The demonstration tested the generator under load conditions up to 1.3 MW at over 10,000 rpm. The new MEPS generator achieved 97% efficiency including cryocooler losses. All test results indicate that the generator has a significant margin over the test points and that its performance is consistent with program specifications. This demonstration is the first successful full-load test of a superconducting generator for the Air Force. In this paper we describe the development of the generator and present some key test results used to validate the design. Extrapolation to a higher power density generator is also discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number5109536
Pages (from-to)1656-1661
Number of pages6
JournalIEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity
Volume19
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2009
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • High power density
  • High-speed generator
  • Superconducting generator

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Development of a high speed HTS generator for airborne applications'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this