Rayleigh Interrogated Optical Fiber (RIOF) Quench Monitoring and Control System for DC and AC Operated High Temperature Superconducting Magnets

High temperature superconducting (HTS) systems, and in particular superconducting magnets (SCMs), developed and deployed by the Department of Defense are necessary to maintain and advance the U.S. naval defense program. Tremendous advantages in utilizing HTS SCM technology have been impeded, however, by the inability to reliably monitor and protect the magnets against the occurrence of a quench. A quench in a SCM is a fault condition whereby the magnet rapidly transitions from the superconducting to normal state with the dissipation of the stored magnetic energy. If a quench results in a significant fraction of the stored energy being deposited locally within the superconductor, that region of superconductor (and thus SCM) is likely to be destroyed. At present, HTS SCMs rely on voltage-based methods of detection for ensuring prevention and protection against quench placing them at high risk for damage and complete failure.Here, Rayleigh-backscattering Interrogated Optical Fibers (RIOF) with the capability for accurate and rapid detection of changes in temperature and strain as a function of location, with mm spatial resolution over 100s of meters in length for HTS is proposed. The focus addresses remaining RIOF challenges by specifically addressing the needs of SCMs in the solicitation from the Navy.