Babcock Noell´s 4th Annual Lecture Series on Superconductivity and its Applications
Würzburg, 10. Nov. 2010
“Superconducting Magnets Beyond NbTi”
State of the art of the latest superconducting technologies for superconducting magnets.
On 28 and 29 October, the Magnet Technologies division of Babcock Noell GmbH (BNG) hosted its traditional annual series of lectures on supraconductivity and its applications in the Best Western Premier Hotel Rebstock in Würzburg. This year’s topic “Superconducting Magnets beyond NbTi” was about the state of the art of the latest superconducting technologies and their applications. The lectures were given by Dr. Martin N. Wilson, the world-renowned expert for applied superconductivity and one of the pioneers in the area of superconducting magnets.
The series of lectures with a limited number of participants focused on novel and unconventional superconductors beyond the usual NbTi conductors and their applications. The superconductors discussed ranged from low-temperature types such as Nb3Sn and Nb3Al, to emerging technologies like MgB2 and up to high-temperature superconductors such as the ceramic compounds BSCCO and YBCO.
Besides the technical challenges in material productionand handling, economic aspects of their application were discussed as well. Sure, further development work still needs to be done, but it is obvious that, due to their improved properties over NbTi as for the maximum magnetic field and the higher operating temperature, these materials will have a sustainable influence on superconductivity applications in science and industry.
The highlight of the lecture was a practical experiment where a small superconduction coil was to be wound from YBCO strip, which was kindly provided by Superpower Inc. Accepting the challenge, the grous made 5 coils, which were tested in liquid nitrogen. Each coil reached the superconducting state, with the best carrying a current of 100 A at a temperature of 77 K. The winning team was awarded fine Franconian wine specialties..
The number of international participants rose again this year, a fact which underlines the great interest the series of lectures attracts. The Budker Institute (Russia), CEA Saclay, CERN, CNRS/Institute Laue-Langevin (Grenoble) and the University of Padua were among the international institutes present at the event.And, of course, German institutes were also well represented with the Helmholtz Centre, Berlin, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the Technical University of Munich, the GSI Darmstadt, the Forschungszentrum Jülich (Jülich Research Centre) and the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg. The participants particularly valued the opportunity to exchange ideas and information with BNG experts and other institutes and to establish new contacts.
The positive feedback was overwhelming with BNG now facing the challenge of organizing yet another, at least equally attractive, series of lectures next year. We would like to thank Mr. Wilson and all particpants for their contribution which made the series of lectures a success this year again, and are looking forward to further professional exchange.
About Babcock Noell GmbH:
Babcock Noell GmbH is a company of Bilfinger Berger Power Services GmbH. Operating worldwide in the product areas of nuclear service, nuclear technology, magnet technology and environment technology, putting experience into practice with great success. Services range from developing, planning, delivering, and commissioning up to operating the delivered plants and the relevant equipment. Most of the about 300 employees work in the field of engineering.
For further Information please contact:
Babcock Noell GmbH
Geschäftsführung
Alfred-Nobel-Str. 20
97080 Würzburg
Telefon: +49 931 9030
Fax: +49 931 9036000
Email: info@bng.bilfinger.com
Web: www.bng.bilfinger.com
