Retrospective and perspectives of the superconducting magnetic levitation (sml) technology applied to urban transportation

A review of the Superconducting Magnetic Levitation (SML) technology applied to urban transportation will be presented. The historical time line will be highlighted, pointing out the pioneering efforts at Southwest Jiatong University (SWJTU), China, followed by the Supra Trans project in IFW-Dresden, Germany, and the MagLev-Cobra project in UFRJ, Brazil. Background:  Details of the MagLev-Cobra project, the first, and until today the single one, applying the SML technology that counts with a real scale prototype, operating regularly in open air, will be disclosed. The inauguration of the MagLev-Cobra project was on the 1st October 2014, the last day of the “22nd International Conference on Magnetically Levitated Systems and Linear Drives (MAGLEV)” held in Rio de Janeiro. Curiously, this day coincides with the 50th anniversary of the successful operation of the Shinkansen in Tokyo. On the 1st October 1964, the first high-speed wheel and rail train in the world was inaugurated in time for the first Olympic Games that took place in Asia. This historical coincidence is a good omen for the MagLev-Cobra project. In fact, since October 2014, the system operates regularly for demonstration at the UFRJ Campus, every Tuesday. More than 12.000 visitors have already had the opportunity to take a test ride. Aim: The Proceedings of the MAGLEV conferences, which first edition dates back to 1977 (http://www.maglevboard.net), are the documentary files of the importance of this achievement. Initially, the methods named Electromagnetic Levitation (EML) and Electrodynamic Levitation (EDL) were considered. Methods: At the end of last century, due to the availability of Rare Earth Permanent Magnets and High Critical Temperature Superconductors (HTS), an innovative levitation method, called Superconducting Magnetic Levitation (SML), started to be considered. This method is based on the flux pinning effect property of HTS in the proximity of magnetic fields given by rare earth permanent magnets. The first experiments with SML, as expected, were small scale prototypes, or laboratory vehicles for one, two or four passengers, proposed mainly by researchers from Germany, China and Brazil. The Proceedings of the 16th MAGLEV, held in year 2000, confirms this fact. After 14 years of research and development, the team of the Laboratory of Applied Superconductivity (LASUP) of UFRJ achieved the construction of the first real scale operational SML vehicle in the world. Results: This retrospective will be followed by a comparison with the EML technology, that has already four urban commercial systems, will be presented and the application niches delimited. Conclusion: The perspectives of the MagLev-Cobra project and the cooperation efforts with China to turn it a commercial experience will finish the paper. As will be explained, before the commercial application of the MagLev-Cobra technology, the system must be certified and the technical, economic and environmental viability for a first deployment concluded.