Abstract
An international consortium of more than 150 organisations worldwide is studying the feasibility of
<br/>future particle collider scenarios to expand our understanding of the inner workings of the Universe.
<br/>The core of this Future Circular Collider (FCC) study, hosted by CERN, an international organisation
<br/>near Geneva (Switzerland), is a 100 km long circular particle collider infrastructure that extends CERN's
<br/>current accelerator complex. As a first step, an intensity frontier electron-positron collider is assumed.
<br/>The ultimate goal is to build a proton collider with an energy seven times larger than the Large Hadron
<br/>Collider (LHC). Such a machine has to be built with novel superconductive magnet technology. Since
<br/>it takes decades for such technology to reach industrial maturity levels, R&D has already started. The
<br/>superconducting magnet system is considered the major cost driver for construction of such a proton
<br/>collider. A good cost-benefit balance for industrial suppliers is considered an important factor for the
<br/>funding of such a project.
<br/>Aim
<br/>The aim of this investigation was to identify the industrial impact potentials of the key processes
<br/>needed for the manufacturing of novel high-field superconducting magnets and to find innovative
<br/>additional applications for these technologies outside the particle-accelerator domain. Suppliers
<br/>and manufacturing partners of CERN would benefit if the know-how could be used for other markets
<br/>and to improve their internal efficiency and competitivity on the world-market. Eventually, being more
<br/>cost-effective in the manufacturing and being able to leverage further markets on a long-time scale will
<br/>also reduce the cost for each step in the manufacturing chain and ultimately lead to lower costs for the
<br/>superconducting magnet system of a future high-energy particle collider.
<br/>Method
<br/>The project is carried out by means of the Technology Competence Leveraging method, which has
<br/>been pioneered by the Vienna University of economics and business in Austria. It aims to find new
<br/>application fields for the three most promising technologies required to manufacture novel high-field
<br/>superconducting magnets. This is achieved by gathering information from user-communities,
<br/>conducting interviews with experts in different industries and brainstorming for new out-of-the-box
<br/>ideas. The most valuable application fields were evaluated according to their Benefit Relevance and
<br/>Strategic Fit. During the process, 71 interviews with experts have been carried out, through which 38
<br/>new application fields were found with credible impacts beyond particle accelerator projects. They
<br/>relate to manufacturing "superconducting Rutherford cables" (15), "thermal treatment" (10) and
<br/>"vacuum impregnation with novel epoxy" (13).
<br/>Superconducting magnet manufacturing technologies for market-oriented industries Report.
<br/>
<br/>Results: A short description of all application fields that were classified as "high potential" can be found here:
<br/>Superconducting Rutherford cable
<br/>* Aircraft charging: Commercial airplanes only spend around 45 minutes on the ground at a
<br/>time to load and unload passengers. For future electric aircraft this time window would be to
<br/>small to charge using conventional cables. The superconducting Rutherford cable could charge
<br/>an electric plane fast and efficiently.
<br/>* Electricity distribution in hybrid-electric aircraft: On a shorter time scale, hybrid-electric
<br/>aircraft is an appealing ecological technology with economic advantages. In this case, electricity
<br/>for the electric engines is produced by a generator. Cables with high current densities are needed
<br/>inside the aircraft to distribute the energy. The superconducting Rutherford cable could be a
<br/>candidate for this task.
<br/>* Compact and efficient electricity generators: Using the superconducting Rutherford cable,
<br/>small and light engines and generators can be constructed. One end-use example is for instance
<br/>the generation of electricity using highly-efficient wind turbines.
<br/>Thermal treatment: Heat treatment is needed during the production of superconducting magnet coils. In this processing step,
<br/>the raw materials are reacted to form the superconductor. This processing step is used for certain lowtemperature
<br/>superconductors as well as for certain high-temperature superconductors.
<br/>* Scrap metal recycling: Using a large-scale oven with very accurate temperature stabilisation
<br/>over long time periods, melting points of different metals can be selected. This leads to more
<br/>efficient recycling of scrap metal. It also permits a higher degrees of process automation and
<br/>quality management.
<br/>* Thermal treatment of aluminium: Thermal treatment of aluminium comprises technologies
<br/>like tempering and hardening. The goal of this technique is to change the characteristics of
<br/>aluminium and alloys containing aluminium. End-use applications include for instance the
<br/>automotive and aerospace industry, where such exact treatment is necessary.
<br/>Vacuum impregnation
<br/>* Waste treatmnent companies currently face challenges because new legislation require more
<br/>leak-tight containers. Novel epoxy resin developed for superconducting magnets in particle
<br/>colliders also needs to withstand high radiation levels. Therefore, this technology can be useful
<br/>in the process of managing highly-activated radioactive waste.
Originalsprache | Englisch |
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Herausgeber (Verlag) | WU Vienna University of Economics and Business |
Erscheinungsort | Vienna |
Publikationsstatus | Veröffentlicht - 28 Jan. 2019 |