Active Clean Energy Materials & Manufacturing

Superconducting electrical machines for zero emission aviation

Funder UKRI
Recipient organisation University of Strathclyde
Funding £1.3M
Period Mar 2024 — Feb 2029

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

Today’s aircraft engines rely on gas turbines, but a new generation of superconducting electrical machines aims to match their power density—and make zero-emission aviation possible. The problem is that existing electrical machines, which convert electrical energy into mechanical motion or vice versa, use copper windings and iron circuits. These materials limit power density, making the machines too heavy and inefficient for powering large aircraft without fossil fuels. High-temperature superconductors (HTS) offer a way around this: they carry current with zero electrical resistance, allowing for lighter, ironless designs with much higher magnetic and electrical loadings. But so far, HTS machines have delivered at least three times less power than theory predicts, because scientists do not fully understand how superconductors behave under the complex, rotating magnetic fields inside a motor. SUPERMAN will close that gap by combining materials science, physics, and engineering to develop novel HTS machines that match the power density of gas turbine cores. If successful, the technology could replace fossil-fuel engines in commercial aviation, cutting emissions from one of the hardest-to-decarbonise sectors. It would also open new frontiers in applying superconductivity to clean energy conversion more broadly.

View original technical description
Electrical machines are electromechanical energy converters between electrical/mechanical energy in both generating and motoring applications. Existing electrical machines rely on copper windings and iron circuits for electro-magnetic coupling, resulting in insufficient machine power density for zero-emission aviation electrification. High temperature superconductors (HTS) offer a ground-breaking and transformative way to develop high power density electrical machines with high efficiency. The zero resistivity of HTS enables ironless magnetic couplings with high electrical and magnetic loadings for a HTS machine. However, power densities of the HTS machines demonstrated to date are at least three times lower than theoretical predictions, due the fundamental challenges in understanding the complex inter-relationship between HTS and rotational electromagnetism. SUPERMAN aims to revolutionise HTS machine technology by providing ground-breaking technologies to develop novel HTS machines with high power density and efficiency, enabling them to replace fossil fuel driven counterparts in zero-emission aviation. By demonstrating an electrical machine to match the power density of gas turbine cores, SUPERMAN will generate an immediate impact in the aviation industry. As a multi-disciplinary research program bringing together material science, physics and engineering, SUPERMAN will open up new research frontiers in applying cutting-edge superconductivity to tackle clean energy conversion challenges.

View the original record at the funder ↗

Researchers

Min Zhang (Principal Investigator)

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Original classification

Research Grant

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