Argonne and Intermagnetics Sign Agreement

Argonne and IGC-SuperPower, the wholly owned subsidiary of Intermagnetics General Corp., have signed a $1.8 million collaborative development agreement to accelerate technological advances in manufacturing cost-effective, second-generation high-temperature superconductors.

Under terms of the new two-year agreement, Argonne will assist IGC-SuperPower in scaling up the second-generation superconductor fabrication processes to commercial manufacturing levels. Argonne will also contribute its advanced materials characterization capabilities such as the Advanced Photon Source, the nation's most brilliant research X-ray source, to ensure that the superconducting materials are properly fabricated and that the long lengths that are manufactured are uniform in property.

The Department of Energy laboratory partnership with Intermagnetics General "has produced several successes, and this new agreement promises to accelerate progress on research into this new generation of superconducting wire," said Robert K. Dixon, Deputy Assistant Secretary of DOE's Office of Power Technologies. .

"We believe superconducting technology is a significant step to solve the pressing energy supply problem the nation faces," said Harvey Drucker, Argonne's Associate Laboratory Director for Energy and Environmental Science and Technology. .

"This collaboration," said Balu Balachandran, Director of Argonne's Superconductivity Technology Program, "is an exciting opportunity to accelerate commercial production of new and improved second-generation superconducting wires that will enable efficient electric power applications such as transmission cables, transformers, motors, generators, current limiters and storage devices.. .

Argonne's Superconductivity Technology Program is focused on developing processing science and technology needed by industrial partners to scale up and manufacture high-temperature superconductors. The Superconductivity Technology Program is also focused on developing practical applications of superconducting materials and transferring them to the private sector. Argonne and Intermagnetics have been collaborating in the development of superconducting material and technology since 1992. .

Argonne is a world leader in high-temperature superconductivity research as applied to the electric generation and distribution industry. Argonne researchers have developed several innovations in the synthesis of superconductor powder, fabrication of superconducting wire, and design and fabrication of current leads, fault current limiters, and flywheel energy storage systems. This technology is being transferred through partnerships with industry along with licensing of Argonne's intellectual property. .

Argonne's Superconductivity Technology Program receives support from DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Power Technologies. .

Source. logos Volume 19, No. 2, Office of Public Affairs, Argonne National Laboratory, Fall 2001. .

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