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D. Parametric Relationships for

Comparison of Energy Use and LifeCycle Cost of HTS and Conventional
Transformers
The losses in a conventional transformer can be expressed as
P = c +,

(D.1)

where P is the power dissipated, c is the core loss, and is the conduction loss.
The HTS transformer core is not typically operated at cryogenic temperature
while the coils are maintained at cryogenic temperature. Thus, the heat load to be
removed by the cryocooler includes the coil conduction losses and the thermal
heat leakage through the insulation and the terminations but not the core loss.
Therefore, the power dissipated by the HTS transformer can be expressed as
P = c + ( + ),

(D.2)

where the variables are as in Equation (D.1), with the addition that is the
cryocooler coefficient of performance and is the thermal loss, both previously
defined in Appendix B. The factor depends on the operating temperature and
the efficiency of the cryocooler according to Equation (B.4).
Equations (D.1) and (D.2) assume that the transformer operates at its maximum
rating at all times. However, electric demand varies over the course of a day so
that it is necessary to modify the loss equations to take utilization into account.
Using the same approximation for utilization as was described in Appendix B,
the total power loss in the HTS transformer can be written as
P = c + ( + u ) ,

(D.3)

where all the terms are the same as in Equation (D.2) with the addition that u is
the utilization. Similarly, Equation (D.1) for the conventional transformer
becomes
P = c + u .
If we set Equation (D.4) equal to Equation (D.3), we obtain the following
parametric relationship between utilization and cryocooler efficiency that

(D.4)

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determines when the HTS transformer will dissipate the same amount of power
as the conventional transformer:
cc + u c = c s + ( s + u s ) ,

(D.5)

where all variables are the same as in Equations (D.3) and (D.4) and the subscript
c denotes conventional, and the subscript s represents superconductor.
The life-cycle cost of a transformer is the sum of its acquisition cost and of the
yearly operating cost multiplied by the discount factor that takes into account the
discount rate and time period of interest. By analogy with Equations (B.12)
through (B.15) in Appendix B, the life-cycle cost of a transformer can be
represented as
LCC = r + At + 0.0876 dP ,

(D.6)

where LCC is life-cycle cost, r is the acquisition cost of the cryocooler, At is the
acquisition cost of the transformer, 0.0876 converts the cost of electricity in cents
per kilowatt hour to cost of electricity per year in dollars, is the cost of
electricity in cents per kWh, d is the discount factor, and P is the amount of
power dissipated in kW, which is given by Equation (D.3) or (D.4).
Equation (D.6) can be used to derive a parametric relationship between the HTS
acquisition cost, the cryocooler cost and efficiency, and the cost of electricity in
order for the HTS transformer life-cycle cost to equal that of the conventional
transformer. When evaluating the life-cycle cost of the conventional transformer,
r = 0 in Equation (D.6). Alternatively, one can treat d as a variable and compute
payback times for given values of the parameters, following the same procedure
that led to Equation (B.20) in Appendix B.