TY - JOUR
T1 - Quench detection for high temperature superconductor magnets
T2 - A novel technique based on Rayleigh-backscattering interrogated optical fibers
AU - Scurti, F.
AU - Ishmael, S.
AU - Flanagan, G.
AU - Schwartz, J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd.
PY - 2016/1/22
Y1 - 2016/1/22
N2 - High temperature superconducting materials are the only option for the generation of magnetic fields exceeding 25 T and for magnets operating over a broad range of temperature and magnetic field for power applications. One remaining obstacle for the implementation of high temperature superconductors magnets into systems, however, is the inability to rapidly detect a quench. In this letter we present a novel quench detection technique that has been investigated experimentally. Optical fibers are co-wound into two small Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+x superconducting coils and interrogated by Rayleigh-backscattering. Two different configurations are used, one with the fiber atop the conductor and the other with the fiber located as turn-to-turn insulation. Each coil is also instrumented with voltage taps (VTs) and thermocouples for comparison during heater-induced quenches. The results show that Rayleigh-backscattering interrogated optical fibers (RIOF) have significant advantages over traditional techniques, including very high spatial resolution and the ability to detect a hot-spot well before the peak local temperature exceeds the current sharing temperature. Thus, RIOF quench detection is intrinsically faster than VTs, and this intrinsic advantage is greater as the coil size and/or current margin increases.
AB - High temperature superconducting materials are the only option for the generation of magnetic fields exceeding 25 T and for magnets operating over a broad range of temperature and magnetic field for power applications. One remaining obstacle for the implementation of high temperature superconductors magnets into systems, however, is the inability to rapidly detect a quench. In this letter we present a novel quench detection technique that has been investigated experimentally. Optical fibers are co-wound into two small Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+x superconducting coils and interrogated by Rayleigh-backscattering. Two different configurations are used, one with the fiber atop the conductor and the other with the fiber located as turn-to-turn insulation. Each coil is also instrumented with voltage taps (VTs) and thermocouples for comparison during heater-induced quenches. The results show that Rayleigh-backscattering interrogated optical fibers (RIOF) have significant advantages over traditional techniques, including very high spatial resolution and the ability to detect a hot-spot well before the peak local temperature exceeds the current sharing temperature. Thus, RIOF quench detection is intrinsically faster than VTs, and this intrinsic advantage is greater as the coil size and/or current margin increases.
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U2 - 10.1088/0953-2048/29/3/03LT01
DO - 10.1088/0953-2048/29/3/03LT01
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84959483652
SN - 0953-2048
VL - 29
JO - Superconductor Science and Technology
JF - Superconductor Science and Technology
IS - 3
M1 - 03LT01
ER -