2002/02/21 by Paul M. Grant, P. M. Grant, Grant, Paul M. +2 · 1 citation
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Superconducting Materials and Applications #Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con) #Thermal Analysis in Power Transmission #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #cond-mat.supr-con
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/0202386
6 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, paper presented at the Applied Superconductivity Conference, Palm Desert, CA, September 1998
arxiv created 2002/02/21 · openalex publication_date 2002/02/21 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
It is generally argued that for high-temperature superconductors (HTS) to be cost-competitive in power applications, the wire will have to sell for about 10 per kiloampere meter (10/kAm) for operation at 77 K (e.g., NbTi costs around 1/kAm and Nb3Sn around 8, each at 4.2 K). Given what is already known about the critical current performance of Pb-stabilized Bi-2223 (BSCCO), this cost target may be extremely difficult to realistically achieve for silver-sheathed BSCCO produced by the oxide-powder-in-tube (OPIT) technique. In this paper, we examine the cost of component materials, add reasonable estimates for labor and related costs, and arrive at a likely cost/performance (C/P) figure. We also estimate the capital cost of a factory to produce HTS conductor by a particular coated conductor method, and calculate the necessary production-output and performance parameters necessary to manufacture 10 km/yr of wire and its associated C/P. Our results indicate that the real C/P seen by the customer will remain substantially above this 10/kAm target for some time to come.