NanoAL LLC, Ashland, Mass., has announced that it has been awarded a 2021 Stage 1 Award from the U.S. Department of Energy for the “Conductivity-enhanced materials for Affordable, Breakthrough Leapfrog Electric applications” (CABLE) program.
The aim is to demonstrate the performance of its next-generation aluminum conductor technology to improve the efficiency of the national electric grid.
Today, the most common high-voltage transmission conductor in the United States is the aluminum-conductor steel-reinforced (ACSR) cable. It is composed of relatively pure aluminum wires stranded around a steel core. This steel core has a high strength to withstand the conductor’s heavyweight, spanning from one tower to the next. However, because steel is a poor conductor of electricity it has a negative impact on the overall conductivity of the cable.
In this competition, NanoAL presents a breakthrough solution by developing an ultrahigh-strength, highly conductive aluminum alloy, which achieves a tensile strength of 500 MPa and electrical conductivity of approximately 48% of standard annealed copper. Its specific strength is higher than the traditional steel core, while its conductivity is nearly 8X higher than steel. This advanced aluminum alloy enables new conductor designs that entirely eliminate the high-strength steel core found in ACSR cable, while maintaining the strength of the cable and significantly boosting the overall electrical conductivity. The newly designed conductor will provide a much-needed performance boost for the power grid.
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