Takao Tomoaki

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This paper describes the first persistent-mode medium magnetic field (400 MHz; 9.39 T) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) magnet which uses superconducting joints between high-temperature superconductors (HTSs). As the ultimate goal, we aim to develop a high-resolution 1.3 GHz (30.5 T) NMR magnet operated in the persistent-mode. The magnet requires superconducting joints between HTSs and those between an HTS and a low-temperature superconductor (LTS). Towards this goal, we have been developing persistent-mode HTS inner coils to be operated in a 400 MHz (9.39 T) NMR magnet and here we present the first prototype inner coil wound with a single piece (RE = rare earth)Ba<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>Cu<jats:sub>3</jats:sub>O<jats:sub>7−<jats:italic>x</jats:italic> </jats:sub> (REBCO) conductor. The coil and a REBCO persistent current switch are connected with intermediate grown superconducting joints with high critical currents in external magnetic fields. To evaluate the performance of the joints in an ultimately stable and homogeneous magnetic field, the coil is operated in the persistent-mode, generating 0.1 T, in a 9.3 T background magnetic field of a persistent-mode LTS outer coil. The magnetic field drift over two years of the 400 MHz LTS/REBCO NMR magnet is as small as ∼1 ppm, giving high-resolution NMR spectra. The magnetic field drift rate over the second year was 0.03 × 10<jats:sup>−3</jats:sup> ppm h<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup>, which is more than three orders of magnitude smaller than that required for an NMR magnet, demonstrating that the superconducting joints function satisfactorily in a high-resolution NMR system. The corresponding joint resistance is inferred to be &lt;10<jats:sup>−14</jats:sup> Ω.</jats:p>

The superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SEMS) application still has a great potential to stabilize the utility grid when the uncontrollable power generation from renewable sources increases and power flows change rapidly due to the broad introduction of high-speed response semiconductor switching devices. Along with the development of liquid hydrogen supply chain, the SMES system using MgB₂ conductors also attracts great attention at this point. Although the MgB₂ wires which have critical temperature of around 39 K have been commercially available with more affordable prices, their bending strain sensitivity is an issue to be solved for fabricating large-scale conductors and coils. The experience of constructing a 10-kJ SMES system using Bi2223 tapes and the successful demonstration of compensating very fast electric power fluctuations in the previous project will help us to develop a larger-scale MgB₂ SMES system by investigating conductor and coil design while considering its bending strain sensitivity and mechanism of critical current deterioration to maximize its performance as one of the most promising energy storage devices, following the movement toward a CO₂-free environment.

Our group has developed a coil using MgB2 wires for SMES. In this paper, a prototype coil using a MgB2 Rutherford-Type stranded conductor was fabricated based on react-And-wind (R&amp W) method. In the R&amp W method, a Rutherford-Type conductor in which nine MgB2 wires were wound at pitch of 450 mm around a copper former were manufactured using reacted wires (performed by Columbus Superconductors SpA), and then coiling was performed. The coil was cooled by conduction cooling and the I-V properties were evaluated under magnetic field. As a result, in the R&amp W method, critical current of a coil was degraded, since making a coil by hand would cause the strain beyond the scope of the assumption which was the marginally allowable bending strain. This result suggests the coil for SMES proposed in ASPCS is difficult to react before twisting, and Rutherford-Type conductors should be fabricated before reacting, which means that coil processing should be performed based on the React after making stranded conductors and Wind method, or the wind-And-react method.

A quench protection system for a high-temperature superconducting (HTS) coil using Cu tape co-wound with an HTS tape was studied by numerical analysis using a thermal model of a coil winding pack. In normal operation, the voltage across the resistive zone V s in the HTS coil was monitored by measuring the voltage difference between the HTS coil and the co-wound Cu coil. When V s exceeded the quench detection voltage, the HTS coil was disconnected from the power supply and the energy stored in the HTS coil was dumped into a dump resistor. At the same time, the terminals of the co-wound coil were connected to another resistor, and some of the current in the HTS coil was quickly transferred to the co-wound Cu tape coil due to the tight magnetic coupling of both coils. This is expected to decrease the hot-spot temperature due to the quick decrease of HTS coil current and to protect the coil from damage caused by overheating at the hot-spot. The analysis investigated the effectiveness of this method.