Cryogenic wound rotor for lightweight, high voltage generators

摘要

Liquid hydrogen is used to completely cool all elements of the generator including bearings, stator conductor, rotor conductor, magnetic flux shield, and excitation mechanisms. By essentially immersing the generator in liquid hydrogen, cryogenic interface problems are minimized. The conductor windings will utilize pure metals such as aluminum to minimize the weight and the ohmic heat loss in the machine. Complications of liquid helium cooling for superconducting windings and quench phenomena due to thermal instabilities in the superconductors are eliminated. The use of extremely low resistance of liquid hydrogen cooled aluminum permits heat removal in the confined space of the rotor field winding at magnetic field and current density that can exceed that of superconductors. Because iron is not required in the generator, very high voltages can be generated.