Superconducting DC Motors for Marine Propulsion

Electric propulsion power transmission is usually economical only for special vessels. However, superconducting motors with their greatly reduced weights and sizes indicate that this type of propulsion may become more widespread in the future.

The energy crisis of the early 1970s provided impetus for more sufficient energy conservation and for exploiting hitherto untapped resources.

The superconducting dc motor adds a potent new factor to this situation. It offers the best of these options in that it is lighter than the equivalent conventional ac motor and is a dc motor which may be operated from an ac generator via a simple diode-rectifier-convertor. It offers all the advantages of a dc propulsion system, together with high efficiency, and performance characteristics particularly suited to high efficiency propellers; with no practical power limit.