high temperature superconducting cable for offshore wind farm connections

Superconducting cables are an emerging and attractive technology for electrical power applications due to significant developments of high-temperature superconductors in the past decade. What makes superconducting cables highly desirable for electricity transportation are their high current density and low energy loss.

An enthusiastic PhD student is invited to join the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering to conduct research in the design, modelling and testing of superconducting cables for offshore wind farm connections. During the project, the student will work together with industry funders including the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and Supernode.

The student will get access to Strathclyde’s recently established state-of-art Applied Superconductivity Lab facility which includes various low temperature cryostat (10K-77K), high power supplies (up to 50kW), high precision measurement systems and access to real-time digital simulators via hardware-in-the-loop facility. The Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering in Strathclyde is ranked among top 100 in the world according to the latest Academic Ranking of World Universities (http://www.shanghairanking.com/Shanghairanking-Subject-Rankings/electrical-electronic-engineering.html). The student will be part of the Institute for Energy and Environment (InstEE) at the University of Strathclyde which has established an international reputation in electrical power engineering research https://www.strath.ac.uk/research/subjects/electronicelectricalengineering/instituteforenergyenvironment/ . It operates within the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, and hosts over 270 researchers in state-of-the-art facilities including the Technology and Innovation Centre and the Power Networks Demonstration Centre (PNDC) https://www.strath.ac.uk/research/powernetworksdemonstrationcentre/ . The latter offers an HV/LV MW-scale power networks test bed for industry-scale systems testing. These facilities are utilised by a significant number of industrial partnerships and programmes, including the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre in Electrical Power Systems.

The candidate is expected to have a first class master level degree in relevant subject which includes but are not limited to Electrical/Mechanical Engineering, Physics, etc. Applicant with experimental experience and publication records in power electronics, power systems, electrical machines and electro-magnetics are particularly welcome. The candidate is expected to provide three independent references. The project is expected to start from autumn semester 2020.

This is a full scholarship which will cover tuition fees and a tax-free maintenance p.a. for 3 years.

Informal enquiries can be made to Professor Weijia Yuan ([Email Address Removed])