Rotating Electric Power Equipment with Superconducting Elements

This paper compares the output power per unit weight of a rotating electric machine with a superconducting field to that of a conventional machine. A weight advantage of 12 to 1 is shown for the superconducting machine. Heat leaks into the low temperature environment are discussed and machine efficiency is analyzed considering refrigeration power as part of the machine losses. In certain applications, such as space propulsions systems employing cryogenic fuels, the superconducting machine offers a very great advantage over the conventional machine in both weight and efficiency.