Feasible voltage-tap based quench detection in a Ag/Bi-2212 coil enabled by fast 3D normal zone propagation

Abstract

Small insert solenoids have been built using a commercial Ag/Bi-2212 multifilamentary round wire, insulated with a new thin TiO2–polymer coating insulation (thickness of ∼20 μm versus ∼100 μm for a commonly used mullite braided sleeve insulation), and characterized in a background magnetic field up to 14 T at 4.2 K to explore the high-field performance and quench detection of Bi-2212 magnets. The coil has no visible leakage and no electrical shorts after reaction, and it carries 280 A mm−2 in a background field of 14 T and generates an additional 1.7 T. A notable result is that, despite normal zones propagating slowly along the conductor, the hot spot temperature upon detection increases only from 40 K to 60 K when the resistive quench detection voltage threshold increases from 0.1 V to 1 V for all operating current density investigated, showing that quench detection using voltage taps is feasible for this coil. This is in strong contrast to a coil we have previously built to the same specifications but from wires insulated with mullite braided sleeve insulation, for which the hot spot temperature upon detection increases from ∼80 K to ∼140 K while increasing the detection voltage threshold from 0.1 V to 1 V, and thus for which quench detection using voltage taps presents significant risks, consistent with the common belief that the effectiveness of quench detection using voltage taps for superconducting magnets built using high-temperature superconductors is seriously compromised by their slow normal zone propagation. This striking difference is ascribed to the fast transverse quench propagation enabled by thin insulation and the improved thermal coupling between conductor turns. This work demonstrates that quench detection for high-temperature superconducting magnets highly depends on the design and construction of the coils such as the insulation materials used and this dependence should be factored into the overall magnet design.