Analysis of the cooling system for a superconducting generator

초전도발전기의 냉각시스템 해석

The superconducting winding in rotor of a superconducting generator should be kept at extremely low temperature of 4-5 K to maintain the superconducting state. For this purpose the liquefied helium is used for the coolant and it is very important to analyze and design a cooling system making effective use of the coolant. In this paper, the typical heat exchanger of a superconducting generator with the flow passage is analyzed with regard to the thermal equilibrium. An experimental constant relevant to the flow condition in the flow passage is determined with heat exchange experiments in cryostat. Also a new heat exchanger with porous material is proposed and designed. Results of the numerical analysis for the temperature distributions for the torque tube and the coolant are reported and the efficiency of the heat exchanger is discussed from the viewpoint of amounts of coolant needed.