Characteristics of Bi-2223 HTS Tapes Under Short-Circuit Current Impacts in Hybrid Energy Transmission Pipelines

A hybrid energy transmission pipeline is proposed with the aim of long-distance cooperative transmission of electricity and chemical fuels, which is composed of an inner high-temperature superconducting (HTS) power cable and outer liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipeline. The flowing LNG could maintain the operating temperature of the inner HTS power cable within the range of 85 K-90 K, thus the Bi-2223 superconductors in the HTS power cable produce little Joule loss with the transmission current below the critical current. Owing to the advantages of high power density, low transmission losses and economical manufacturing costs, the hybrid energy transmission pipeline is expected to be widely utilized in the near future. In order to ensure the safety of the HTS power cable and explosive LNG in case of short-circuit faults, this paper tests and analyzes the characteristics of Bi-2223 HTS tapes of the Type HT-CA, Type HT-SS and Type H models under short-circuit current impacts at the LNG cooling temperature (85 K-90 K). An experimental platform is designed and established for the ampacity tests of HTS tapes above LN2 cooling temperature (77 K). The AC over-current impact tests at 85 K-90 K are carried out on each sample of Bi-2223 tapes respectively, and the experimental results are analyzed and compared to evaluate their performances under different operating conditions. The results indicate that the Type HT-CA tape can withstand 50 Hz short-circuit current impact with the amplitude of 1108 A (10 times of critical current
$I_{\mathrm{c}}$
) for 100 ms at 90 K, and its resistance is the smallest of the three tested samples under similar current impacts. Therefore, the Type HT-CA Bi-2223 tape is the optimal superconductor of the HTS power cable in the hybrid energy transmission pipeline.