5-Megawatt American Superconductor HTS Ship Propulsion Motor Passes Rigorous Load and Ship Mission Profile Dynamic Simulation Tests at the Center for Advanced Power Systems
WESTBOROUGH, Mass., June 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Superconductor Corporation ( AMSC), a leading electricity solutions company, today announced that the prototype 5-megawatt (MW) High Temperature Superconductor (HTS) ship propulsion motor it designed, developed, and built for the United States Navy has successfully completed the Navy's rigorous initial test program. Under the Navy's supervision, the 5-MW HTS motor successfully completed load and ship mission profile dynamic simulation tests which were conducted at the Navy's Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS) at Florida State University in Tallahassee. CAPS also repeated and confirmed the IEEE-115 no-load as well as partial load tests that had been previously conducted at the ALSTOM facility in Rugby, England.
The tests were designed to evaluate three Navy goals: to establish the full power capability of the motor with several longer heat or endurance runs; to establish as accurately as possible important machine parameters by a variety of methods; and to investigate its dynamic performance in a simulated at-sea environment.
The motor was developed by AMSC under contract with the Navy's Office of Naval Research (ONR) to prove the viability of HTS technology for both military and commercial marine propulsion. AMSC manufactured the HTS rotor system integrated with a cryogenic refrigeration system. ALSTOM Power Conversion (ALSTOM) designed and manufactured the stator, marine drive electronics and performed the factory testing of the HTS motor and drive system.
"Reports on the performance of the 5-megawatt HTS motor under both full power and realistic operating conditions continue to be impressive," said Rear Admiral Jay Cohen, Chief of Naval Research. "The successful application of HTS technology to naval ship propulsion would provide the Navy with unique design options for our All-Electric Ship Programs."
The cumulative positive test results achieve yet another important benchmark in the development of HTS rotating machinery, and provide important validation for the follow-on ONR Program, in which a 36.5-MW (49,000 hp), 120 RPM HTS motor currently being built by AMSC and Northrop Grumman will be delivered to the Navy in the summer of 2006. Additional specialized testing for the 5-MW motor is planned to take place at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division in Philadelphia.
This larger motor, sized for the Navy's future DD(X) ship, benefits from the successes achieved in the earlier ONR 5-MW development and test program. AMSC and Northrop Grumman have already successfully completed the first two phases of the three-phase development process with successful preliminary design and detailed design reviews. The third phase, which is currently in progress, is the actual fabrication, factory acceptance testing, and delivery of the 36.5-MW motor to the Navy.
"Our alliance with the Navy has been an outstanding experience and we are pleased with the results of the thorough development and testing process for the 5-MW motor," noted Greg Yurek, CEO of American Superconductor. "In fact, the test results for this motor are drawing worldwide attention from both military and commercial ship builders. American Superconductor is meeting with prospective customers to identify their specific requirements for electric ship propulsion motors and we are targeting a launch customer in calendar year 2006."
HTS motors are ultra-compact, measuring as little as one-third the weight and one-half the size of copper-based motors of the same power and torque rating, which means Navy ships could carry more fuel and munitions and could have more room for crew's quarters and weapons systems, and commercial ship owners and operators could carry more passengers and cargo. In addition, HTS motors operate with higher fuel efficiency and are expected to have lower maintenance costs than their conventional copper counterparts. The substantial advantages offered by HTS ship propulsion motors are expected to be provided at a production cost equivalent to conventional motors of the same power and torque rating.
Test Program and Results:
CAPS operated the motor at full load (5-MW) and at full speed (230 RPM) for a total of 21 hours, and confirmed that the motor achieved steady state temperature both in the rotor and in the stator. The actual temperatures measured correlated closely to results predicted by AMSC and ALSTOM for the machine. This load testing demonstrated that the HTS motor meets its specified performance and power rating under the stresses of operating conditions. An important aspect of the new results obtained at CAPS on the 5-MW motor is the validation of AMSC's electromagnetic, mechanical and thermal analytical models for HTS ship propulsion motors - a vital step in the development cycle for advanced electrical machines.
To simulate operation of the motor in an at-sea environment up to Sea State 5 (simulating a moderately strong sea), the CAPS testing imposed an increasing scale of 0.5% to 10% in torque variations on the motor. The test results confirmed that the motor should perform as designed in representative sea states. To complete the test program, CAPS performed "hardware-in-the- loop" simulation tests. In this test phase, direct control of the motor system emulated the way the motor, drive, and entire ship's integrated power system (IPS) would respond during transients.
For additional information about AMSC's marine propulsion HTS motors, please see amsuper.com.
About the Office of Naval Research
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) coordinates, executes, and promotes the science and technology programs of the United States Navy and Marine Corps through schools, universities, government laboratories, and nonprofit and for- profit organizations. It provides technical advice to the Chief of Naval Operations, Commandant of the US Marine Corps and the Secretary of the Navy and works with industry to improve technology manufacturing processes. For more information go to onr.navy.mil.
About FSU's Center for Advanced Power Systems
The Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS) has been established by Florida State University, in cooperation with the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, in Tallahassee, Florida. Also CAPS is one of the leading academic partners in the Electric Ship Research and Development Consortium, developed and funded by ONR. The Center focuses on advanced power system technologies with emphasis on the needs of the future naval ship power systems and the Nation's electricity supply grid. The Center works closely with industrial partners and conducts research on advanced modeling and simulation of power systems, advanced power system concepts, advanced controls, and superconductivity applied to power system technologies. More information can be found at caps.fsu.edu.
About American Superconductor Corporation ( AMSC)
AMSC is the world's principal vendor of high temperature superconductor (HTS) wire and large rotating superconductor machinery, and it is a world- leading supplier of dynamic reactive power grid stabilization products. AMSC's HTS wire and power electronic converters are at the core of a broad range of new electricity transmission and distribution, transportation, medical and industrial processing applications, including dynamic reactive power grid stabilization solutions, large ship propulsion motors and generators, smart, controllable, superconductor power cables and advanced defense systems. The company's products are supported by hundreds of patents and licenses covering technologies fundamental to Revolutionizing the Way the World Uses Electricity(TM). More information is available at amsuper.com.
American Superconductor and Revolutionizing the Way the World Uses Electricity are trademarks of American Superconductor Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Any statements in this release about future expectations, plans and prospects for the Company, including statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will" and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include: uncertainties regarding the Company's ability to obtain anticipated funding from corporate and government contracts, to successfully develop, manufacture and market commercial products, and to secure anticipated orders; the risk that a robust market may not develop for the Company's products; the risk that strategic alliances and other contracts may be terminated; the risk that certain technologies utilized by the Company will infringe intellectual property rights of others; the competition encountered by the Company, including several large Japanese companies. Reference is made to these and other factors discussed in the "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation" section of the Company's most recent quarterly or annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this release. While the Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments may cause the Company's views to change, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date this press release is issued.
SOURCE American Superconductor Corporation |
