SUPERCONDUCTING WINDINGS IN A POWER TRANSFORMER, AN OLD QUESTION WITH A NEW ANSWER - 1. AN ALMOST PRACTICAL EXAMPLE.

This is the first of two papers examining the practicality of superconducting windings for large power system transformers. In the light of new data on type-II superconductors, this paper shows that such windings are now possible and that they could lead to a substantial reduction in the weight and energy consumption of a large power transformer. A preliminary design for such a transformer is developed and compared to earlier models that had been used to show that such windings would not work. Some basic design rules for superconducting windings emerge from this analysis.