Testing a 5 MW high-temperature superconducting propulsion motor

A prototype marine propulsion motor manufactured by American Superconductor Corporation has been tested in the advanced test facility at the Center for Advanced Power Systems at Florida State University. The rotor of this 5 MW synchronous machine is constructed of high-temperature superconducting wire; the three-phase stator is of conventional wire. Testing was conducted with a dynamometer consisting of two 2.5 MW induction motors which permitted a wide range of conventional and novel procedures to be carried out for the characterization of the HTS motor. These tests and some of their results are discussed. The HTS motor functioned satisfactorily in all tests.