POWER-CONTROL APPLICATIONS ON A SUPERCONDUCTING LVDC MESH

The behavior of a high current, low voltage dc system is studied. The dc system is made up of superconducting cables connected in a meshed configuration. The system could be made up of several large rectifiers feeding hundreds of small inverters connected to points in one or more ac systems. A unique aspect of this superconducting configuration is power transmission at the optimal generator voltage level. This voltage level is also close to the subtransmission system voltage, eliminating the need for high voltage insulation and transformers. A reduced system with one rectifier feeding three inverters is studied in this paper. The ability to control the output power from the inverters, both locally and globally is demonstrated. Power control on the circuit with the addition of a superconducting magnetic energy storage coil is also studied. The large inductance of the coil changes the dynamic response of the system, and requires a modification of the control system. This project is currently being funded by NSF grant #8818339 and EPRI Agreement RP7911-12.