Firm works on improving power
Colonie-- Intermagnetics will apply theories to making energy
better
DAVID ORENSTEIN
Business writer
Intermagnetics General Corp. said Thursday it is applying its
expertise in superconductivity to technologies that could make
electric power generation more efficient, reliable and
environmentally sound.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the market for
superconductivity-enhanced power equipment could be worth at
least $30 billion by 2020.
The company is in the thick of a chase to develop high-temperature
superconducting transformers and cables for the power-generation
industry. Scientists at corporations, utilities and government
scientists are competing to successfully develop the next generation
of equipment.
The advances, if realized, could recover as much as half of the 8
percent of electricity lost during the process of delivering power
from the plant to its destination.
The energy department plans to fund as many as six projects --
including three that involve Intermagnetics -- related to the
development of transformers and cables.
In one project, Intermagnetics has teamed up with Rochester Gas &
Electric Corp., Waukesha Electric Systems of Wisconsin, and Oak
Ridge National Laboratory to develop a high-temperature
superconducting transformer.
The companies announced Thursday that they have successfully
tested a 1-megavolt ampere transformer and believe they can build
a commercially useful 30-megavolt ampere transformer.
The transformers under development would be used in power
substations. At 24 tons they would weigh half of what current
30-megavolt ampere transformers weigh, the company said.
Intermagnetics is also a partner in efforts to develop a
superconducting cable and a flywheel energy-storage system that
uses superconducting bearings.
Each energy department-funded project could receive $2 million-$5
million in funding.
Intermagnetics Chairman and Chief Executive Carl Rosner said a
superconducting transformer is likely to be the first commercially
viable product based on the technological push.
Waukesha will be responsible for marketing the transformers.
Rosner said Intermagnetics would receive more than 50 percent of
the revenues generated by the transformers, however, because of its
contribution of superconducting technology and materials.
Superconductivity holds great potential for a variety of industries,
from transportation to computing to medical imaging. Truly
superconducting materials can carry electric current with no
resistance.
A major obstacle facing scientists, however, has always been that
materials do not become superconducting unless kept at very cold
temperatures.
Even the most advanced "high temperature'' superconductors still
require extraordinary cooling to work.
Superconductors can carry electricity without the losses of current
that copper wires incur. The enhanced efficiency and the ability to
produce more powerful electromagnetic fields is already used to
make magnetic resonance imaging systems work.
The transformers Intermagnetics is working to develop would be
smaller and lighter. They do not contain the thousands of gallons of
cooling oil that can sometimes combust, Rosner said. Also, the new
transformers could carry twice its normal capacity of power, Rosner
added, they would be more reliable at times of peak demand.
First published on Friday, May 22, 1998 |
