Current margin of 66 kV class HTS power cable against fault current

In practical applications, high temperature superconducting (HTS) power cables can be subjected to short-circuit fault currents. Further, these cables are assumed to operate over a period of 30 years. Therefore, it is important to investigate the current margin and aging degradation against the fault current. In order to ensure the over-current characteristics of 66 kV class HTS power cables against the fault current, preliminary experiments were carried out on some HTS model cables. Concurrently, numerical simulations were performed to clarify the electromagnetic and thermal behaviors of the HTS model cables under fault conditions. Moreover, the validity of our computer simulation was confirmed by comparing the experimental results with the simulation results. In this study, the maximum fault current in one GdBCO coated conductor assembled in the HTS power cable was numerically simulated. AC over-current experiments were carried out on an HTS model cable by using the maximum fault current of the simulation result to evaluate the current margin against the fault current under conduction cooling and liquid nitrogen bath cooling condition.