Superconducting Generator Driven by a Wind Turbine

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, Sept. 19 -- GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, Schenectady, New York has been assigned a patent (No. US 11764644 B2, initially filed Nov. 27, 2018) developed by three inventors Ernst Wolfgang Stautner, Niskayuna, New York; Mark Ernest Vermilyea, Niskayuna, New York; and Alexander Kagan, Guilderland, New York, for "Superconducting generator driven by a wind turbine."

A superconducting generator includes an annular armature connectable to rotate with a rotating component of a wind turbine. A stationary annular field winding is coaxial to the armature and separated by a gap from the armature. The field winding includes superconducting coils, and there is a non-rotating support for the field winding. The non-rotating support is a torque tube. The torque tube is a member formed of a composite material, or a member formed of a plurality of segmented sections, a space frame or strut torque carrying assembly. The torque tube is connected to a thermal shield casing or a field winding housing.