A SUPERCONDUCTING CURRENT LIMITER FOR POWER CONDITIONING IN PLASMA CONFINEMENT SYSTEMS

THIS PROJECT INVOLVES THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CURRENT-LIMITING DEVICE DESIGNED TO OPERATE AS A COMPONENT IN HIGH ENERGY FUSION PLASMA POWER CONDITIONING SUBSYSTEMS. THE ACTIVE ELEMENT IN THE PLANNED CURRENT LIMITER IS BASED ON THE HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTING MATERIAL YBA2CU3O7-X. RECENT ADVANCES IN THE PROCESSING OF THIS MATERIAL GREATLY IMPROVE ITS ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS; DEVICES THAT WILL OPERATE IN THE TENS OF KILOAMPS RANGE WITH VOLTAGES UP TO HUNDREDS OF KILOVOLTS CAN NOW BE ASSEMBLED. SWITCHING SPEEDS ON THE ORDER OF 2 MICROSECONDS WILL ALSO BE DEMONSTRATED. PROBABLE APPLICATIONS INCLUDE USE AS A SAFETY DEVICE THAT PROTECTS POWER SUPPLY THYRISTORS AND AS ULTRAFAST CIRCUIT-BREAKING SWITCHES. IN PHASE I, THESE ADVANCED SUPERCONDUCTOR MATERIALS ARE BEING FABRICATED AND CHARACTERIZED TO DEMONSTRATE THEIR VIABILITY IN FULL-SCALE PLASMA CONFINEMENT SYSTEMS. THIS COULD LEAD TO THE DESIGN, ASSEMBLY, AND TESTING OF A PROTOTYPE FULL SCALE CURRENT-LIMITING DEVICE DURING PHASE II.