System Technology and Test of CURL 10, a 10 kV, 10 MVA Resistive High-Tc Superconducting Fault Current Limiter

A full scale three-phase resistive high-Tc superconducting fault current limiter (SCFCL) designed for 10 kV, 10 MVA, has been developed, manufactured, and tested within a publicly funded German project called CURL 10. The device is based on 90 bifilar coils of MCP BSCCO-2212 bulk material. The operating temperature of 66 K is achieved by cooling of liquid nitrogen using two Stirling cryocoolers. Until today, this is the largest HTS fault current limiter world wide. We report on the design features, the composition, and the operation parameters of the SCFCL system. From April 2004 on CURL 10 is installed and tested within the network of the utility RWE at Netphen near the city of Siegen, Germany. The results of the laboratory test and the field test of CURL 10 are given.