Characterization of HTS Insulated Coil for High Field Insert up to 19 T

Abstract

High-temperature superconductors (HTSs) are a strong candidate for high field magnets. As their properties are extraordinary, especially under high-fields and very low temperatures, there are many ongoing projects around the world. The NOUGAT project aims at building a 10-T insert operating inside a 20-T resistive background. Its objectives are not to reach a higher field than the already existing resistive magnets, but rather to overcome the main issues of using HTS above 20 T and pave the way toward full superconductive magnets at lower cost. REBCO coated conductor tape was preferred for the NOUGAT insert even if its implementation is still challenging. Both insulated and metal insulated (MI) coils have been considered for the NOUGAT project. Due to their self-protection behavior, MI windings have been selected for building the insert, but we are still investigating insulated coils for future applications. We built a fully-instrumented insulated single pancake wound with a 6-mm-wide tape. Voltage taps are set up on each turn to monitor the quench propagation in vapor helium up to 60 K under high magnetic field up to 19 T. This study aims at developing our understanding of the windings quench behavior and testing various quench detection procedures for future large-scale insulated applications. The present paper underlines the main results.