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[July 2003]
Superconductive Components Bags US Dept of Energy Contract
Superconductive Components Inc (Columbus, OH, USA) has announced an interim contract for approximately US$105,000 from the US Department of Energy for a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programme. The programme is intended to determine the feasibility of producing cost effective, kilometre length Bismuth Strontium Calcium Copper Oxide (BSSCO) 2212 wires for very high field magnets.
The complete Phase II SBIR programme is valued at approximately US$600,000 and is expected to be determined by the US Department of Energy before the end of September 2003.
This programme is focused on tailoring the particle size distribution of BSSCO 2212 powders to improve the advanced thermo-mechanical processing of superconductor/silver composite wires and scaling the process to commercial level. The primary objective of the first two phases is to demonstrate the feasibility of improved powder and wire forming processes for producing metal oxide superconductors with current carrying capability of at least 1 kilometre and current densities exceeding 250A/mm2 at 4.2 Kelvin and 12 Tesla. A 12 Tesla magnet is 240,000 times more powerful than the earth's magnetic field.
In September 2002, the company was awarded a Phase I SBIR grant to study the effects of particle size distribution of the BSSCO 2212 powder on the current carrying capacity of kilometre length high temperature superconductive wires. This ended in April 2003 and results indicated that 300-metre length wires could be produced with properties exceeding the programme specifications by tailoring the particle size distribution.
ENDS