WESTBOROUGH, Mass. — American Superconductor Corp. has announced it has built and demonstrated the world's first 5,000-hp high temperature superconductor (HTS) electric motor. The company's patented, ultra-compact HTS electric motors are designed to reduce manufacturing costs of industrial and ship propulsion motors by up to 40% compared with conventional motors. The electrical losses of HTS motors, which use HTS wires instead of copper wires on the rotor, are also much lower, which translates into significant fuel savings and lower operating costs.
American Superconductor's prototype 5,000-hp HTS motor is about the size of a household refrigerator. It is as little as half the size and weight of a conventional 5,000-hp motor. Its net electrical losses, including losses associated with cryogenic cooling of the HTS wires, are up to half the electrical losses of a conventional motor.
Motors over 1,000 hp use about 25% of all electric power generated in the United States. The Department of Energy estimates that HTS motors could save billions of dollars per year.
Industry experts estimate that the current market for industrial electric motors with power ratings over 1,000 hp, used in applications such as pumps, fans and compressors, is about $1.2 billion per year worldwide. A major new market emerging for high-power electric motors is electric ship propulsion.
ASHRAE approves indoor air quality position document
ATLANTA — Building energy efficiency and indoor air quality (IAQ) should be considered simultaneously, according to a new American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) IAQ position document.
The Society approved its Indoor Air Quality Position Document at its.
2001 Annual Meeting June 23-27 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The document replaces the IAQ Position Statement and Paper approved by ASHRAE in 1989.
“The new IAQ position document addresses current building construction and maintenance practices and applies the Society's guidance in ventilation and indoor air quality to them,” ASHRAE President William Coad, P.E., said. “ASHRAE seeks to provide for occupants' well-being and comfort by improving indoor air quality and achieving efficient building operation.”
Copies of the ASHRAE Indoor Air Quality Position Document may be downloaded for free at ASHRAE Online at www.ashrae.org/ABOUT/iaq.htm.
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