Thermal-hydraulic models for the cooling of HTS power-transmission cables: status and needs

Abstract

Abstract An overview of the main peculiarities of the models currently available in the literature for the thermal-hydraulic analysis of the cooling of the high critical temperature superconducting power transmission cables, mainly in nominal operating conditions, is performed. Several models address specific issues such as the temperature distribution along or across the cables, and their pressure drop, typically with a simplified approach. The verification and validation of the models has not been systematically addressed so far. From analysis of the available literature, the lack of a general model, capable to address thermal-hydraulic transients for the cooling of the different possible cable designs, with the capability to capture both the behaviour of the cable solid components and different cryogens, is highlighted. The main ingredients that such a general thermal-hydraulic model should not miss are presented, also based on the know-how on, and comparison to, similar tools for low critical temperature cables for nuclear fusion applications.