Superconducting Developments for Compact Power and Energy Systems

Superconducting coils are capable of storing considerable amounts of energy. Should a coil quench, due to overheating or exceeding the critical field or current carrying ability of the wire, the stored energy in the coil must be dissipated safely - without endangering personnel or damaging the coil or control systems. In any superconducting coil design, it is essential to design and build the system such that the limits of the materials involved are not exceeded. High temperature superconductors (HTS) are relatively new to applications in magnets and coils, but are rapidly growing in use thanks to advances in conductor performance and availability. However, not much is known currently concerning the quench protection design limits of the materials. Thus far, quench protection in high temperature superconducting coils has been largely overlooked. This has mainly been due to the fact that HTS materials have higher heat capacities at their operating points, and are often difficult to quench. Unfortunately this high heat capacity also creates slow propagation velocities which can cause catastrophic damage to the HTS. New methods for quench protection in HTS coils will be analyzed via computer simulation.