Electromagnetic energy storage fuse

What is the energy storage capability of electromagnets?

The energy storage capability of electromagnets can be much greater than that of capacitors of comparable size. Especially interesting is the possibility of the use of superconductor alloys to carry current in such devices. But before that is discussed, it is necessary to consider the basic aspects of energy storage in magnetic systems.

How do energy storage systems work?

For an energy storage device, two quantities are important: the energy and the power. The energy is given by the product of the mean power and the discharging time. The diagrams, which compare different energy storage systems, generally plot the discharging time versus power.

Is SMEs a good energy storage device for an electromagnetic launcher?

Due to its high power density, SMES is a very interesting energy storage device for an electromagnetic launcher. Furthermore, SMES being a current source is more suitable than the presently used capacitors, which are voltage sources. Indeed, the energy conversion efficiency has the potential to be much higher with a SMES than with capacitors.

What is superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES)?

(1) When the short is opened, the stored energy is transferred in part or totally to a load by lowering the current of the coil via negative voltage (positive voltage charges the magnet). The Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) is thus a current source [2, 3]. It is the “dual” of a capacitor, which is a voltage source.

What are the different approaches to energy storage?

There are two general approaches to the solution of these types of requirements. One involves the use of electrical devices and systems in which energy is stored in materials and configurations that exhibit capacitor-like characteristics. The other involves the storage of energy using electromagnets. These are discussed in the following sections.

Why do magnetic fusion experiments have loops or coils?

All current fusion experiments, and also particle-accelerator or magnetic-resonance magnets, have loops or coils as their magnetic sources, so they cannot avoid the stringent limitation of obtaining a field landscape resulting from the superposition of the field shape of the coils.