Synergism of Elpipes and Ballistic Breakers for the Supergrid

Two critically needed technologies for a supergrid are a means to carry high voltage DC (HVDC) power at multi-gigawatt (GW) power levels underground, and economical, low-loss HVDC circuit breakers. I have two intertwined inventions, elpipes and Ballistic Breakers that together enable a large cost reduction for the supergrid, while simultaneously moving it underground. 

Elpipes are robust repairable underground HVDC lines based on polymer insulated aluminum or magnesium conductors, and joined through flexible couplings. Elpipes use  powered, controlled wheels that run inside a conduit that is similar to a gas pipeline. This de-risks the cost of installation, since gas pipelines are very well known. The elpipe rolls into the conduit after it is completed and tested.

Elpipes combine features of a power line and a train; the train-like features enable efficient installation, rapid repair, and maintenance without digging up the elpipe. No field splices are needed, which is expected to greatly improve reliability. Elpipes enable a continental scale supergrid via underground lines that can carry up to 30 GW per elpipe pair, while being passively cooled. A supergrid also will require an economical HVDC circuit breaker that also has very low on-state losses. The Ballistic Breaker™ is a unique scalable electromechanical design that operates by commutating power through a series of paths with increasing resistance to provide a “soft” circuit opening. Together elpipes and Ballistic Breakers make an underground HVDC supergrid feasible.

I will be presenting a series of three papers on this synergism, starting with the i-Grid conference in Tianjin, China (I will chair a panel on September 25, 2012). Next is the IEEE Homeland Security Conference, to which I have already submitted a paper on "Underground HVDC Transmissionvia Elpipes for Grid Security;" however, this paper will probably be modified before the conference. Finally, I will present a paper at EUEC 2013 in Phoenix, for which this is the abstract:

Elpipes and Ballistic Breakers as Enablers for an Underground Supergrid

Two critically needed technologies for a supergrid are a means to carry high voltage DC (HVDC) power at multi-gigawatt (GW) power levels underground, and economical, low-loss HVDC circuit breakers. Elpipes are robust repairable underground HVDC lines based on polymer insulated aluminum conductors, on wheels, and joined through flexible couplings. Elpipes run on wheels inside a conduit that is similar to a gas pipeline. Elpipes combine features of a power line and a train; the train-like features enable efficient installation, rapid repair, and maintenance without digging up the elpipe. No field splices are needed, which is expected to greatly improve reliability. Elpipes enable a continental scale supergrid via underground lines that can carry up to 30 GW per elpipe pair, while being passively cooled. A supergrid also will require an economical HVDC circuit breaker that also has very low on-state losses. The Ballistic Breaker™ is a unique scalable electromechanical design that operates by commutating power through a series of paths with increasing resistance to provide a “soft” circuit opening. Together elpipes and Ballistic Breakers make an underground HVDC supergrid feasible.

I have so far found that US-based venture capital investors will not take an interest in the elpipe because it is "too big, too long term." I have therefore put my startup Electric Pipeline Corporation onto Wefunder: https://wefunder.com/elpipes 

in hopes that I can get started on this important (and expensive) development soon. It would help me move this forward if you will "follow" me on Wefunder; I expect the US Securities and Exchange Commission will be issuing rules by May that will allow me to raise funds though Wefunder (this is not legal yet, but by following EPC, you will help move me to the front of the queue when the final rules are announced).