Inorganic dielectric insulation for superconductors and conventional conductors in space reactor environments
Abstract
The need for high current, stable superconductors had led to the development of Nb3Sn as the most promising candidate for use in superconducting machines. However, its brittle nature and the high reaction temperature (973 K) required to form it preclude the use of standard organic insulation systems. A recently developed class of high temperature dielectric materials, which are characterized by unusually large specific heats and thermal conductivities at cryogenic temperatures, offers increased enthalpy stabilization in a superconducting winding, as well as the required dielectric strength. In recent years, the Air Force supported a series of programs to develop a film-type dielectric insulation system for superconductors using these materials incorporated in a glassy matrix. The development of this composite insulation system is described, and its application is extended to ordinary conductors for space nuclear power systems.
- Publication:
-
Space Nuclear Power Systems 1986
- Pub Date:
- 1987
- Bibcode:
- 1987snpw.proc..249G
- Keywords:
-
- Dielectrics;
- Electrical Insulation;
- Space Power Reactors;
- Spacecraft Environments;
- Superconductors;
- Enthalpy;
- High Temperature;
- Niobium Stannides;
- Vitrification;
- Electronics and Electrical Engineering