Niobium superconducting applications

It has long been found that, as soon as the temperature falls near absolute zero, some substances undergo a sudden chemical change and become "superconductors" with almost no electrical resistance. The temperature at which matter begins to possess this strange "superconducting" property is called the critical temperature. Needless to say, the critical temperature of various substances is different.

You know, ultra-low temperatures are not easy to get, and people pay a huge price for them. The closer you get to absolute zero, the more you have to pay. So our requirement for superconducting materials, of course, is that the critical temperature is as high as possible.

Many elements with superconductivity, niobium is one of the highest critical temperature. Alloys made of niobium, with critical temperatures as high as 18.5 to 21 degrees absolute, are the most important superconducting materials available. In one experiment, a ring of niobium, cold enough to be superconducting, was turned on and off by an electric current, and then the whole apparatus was sealed and kept cold. Two and a half years later, when the instrument was turned on, the current in the ring was still flowing, and almost as strong as when it was first energized! As can be seen from this experiment, superconducting materials lose little current. If a superconducting cable is used to transmit electricity, the transmission efficiency will be greatly improved because there is no resistance and no energy loss when the current passes through.

A high-speed maglev train has been designed with superconducting magnets in its wheels that allow the train to float about 10 centimeters above the track. In this way, there is no more friction between the train and the track, reducing drag forward. A maglev train with 100 passengers can reach speeds of more than 500 kilometers per hour with only 100 horsepower of propulsion.

Using a 20-kilometer-long niobium-tin strip wrapped around the rim of a wheel 1.5 meters in diameter, the windings generate a strong and stable magnetic field, enough to lift a weight of 122 kilograms and keep it suspended in magnetic space. If this magnetic field could be harnessed to a thermonuclear reaction, bringing the powerful thermonuclear reactions under control, it would be possible to provide us with an almost endless supply of cheap electricity.

Not long ago, a direct current generator was made of niobium-titanium superconducting material. It has many advantages, such as small size, light weight, low cost, compared with the same size of the ordinary generator, it can produce a hundred times more electricity.