Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) is a potentially cost effective technology for electric utility load leveling. Design concepts and cost estimates of SMES plants capable of delivering 5000 MWh daily have been previously identified. An important feature of a large commercial plant is a system that will reliably shut down the magnet by thermally dissipating the stored energy in the event of an imminent or actual loss of superconductivity. To prevent damage to the coil during such a protective energy dump, the entire coil must be driven ''normal'', i.e., resistive rather than superconducting, in a short period of time. This …
continued below
Serving as both a federal and a state depository library, the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department maintains millions of items in a variety of formats. The department is a member of the FDLP Content Partnerships Program and an Affiliated Archive of the National Archives.
Descriptive information to help identify this article.
Follow the links below to find similar items on the Digital Library.
Description
Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) is a potentially cost effective technology for electric utility load leveling. Design concepts and cost estimates of SMES plants capable of delivering 5000 MWh daily have been previously identified. An important feature of a large commercial plant is a system that will reliably shut down the magnet by thermally dissipating the stored energy in the event of an imminent or actual loss of superconductivity. To prevent damage to the coil during such a protective energy dump, the entire coil must be driven ''normal'', i.e., resistive rather than superconducting, in a short period of time. This requires rapid removal of the liquid helium coolant surrounding the coil. This paper describes a simple system that has been developed to rapidly remove the liquid helium from the helium vessel. The system requires only a small number of active components, no external helium storage, and is practical to reset and maintain.
This article is part of the following collection of related materials.
Office of Scientific & Technical Information Technical Reports
Reports, articles and other documents harvested from the Office of Scientific and Technical Information.
Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) is the Department of Energy (DOE) office that collects, preserves, and disseminates DOE-sponsored research and development (R&D) results that are the outcomes of R&D projects or other funded activities at DOE labs and facilities nationwide and grantees at universities and other institutions.
Schoenung, S. M.; Loyd, R. J.; Nakamura, T.; Rogers, J. D. & Purcell, J. R.Liquid helium dump concept for a large scale superconducting magnetic energy storage plant,
article,
January 1, 1985;
United States.
(https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1057597/:
accessed July 11, 2026),
University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu;
crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
