Development of 10 kA high temperature superconducting power cable for railway systems

The superconducting Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3Oy “Bi-2223” tapes made with a powder-in-tube process laminated with a copper alloy have been used to design and develop a 5 m long multilayer concentric cable to be applied in railway systems. The electrical performance of the conductor has been evaluated with DC transport current at an economical 77 K (liquid nitrogen temperature) in the self-field. The inner and outer sheet wires were able to sustain electric currents of 10 130 A and 10 910 A, respectively. These values are sufficient for several types of commercial applications. The current values are significantly higher than the earlier reported ones in Bi-2223 or YBa2Cu3Oy “Y-123” superconducting cables, indicating that the tape quality has considerably improved.