Earticle

MgB2 thin films with superior superconducting properties are very promising for superconducting magnets, electronic devices and coated conductor electric power applications. A clear understanding of flux pinning mechanism in MgB2 films could be a big aid in improving the performance of MgB2 by the enhancement of Jc. The fabrication advancement and the understanding of flux pinning mechanism of MgB2 thin and thick films fabricated by using hybrid physical-chemical vapor deposition (HPCVD) are reviewed. The distinct kind of MgB2 films, such as single-crystal like MgB2 thin films, MgB2 epitaxial columnar thick films, and a-axis-oriented MgB2 films are included for flux pinning mechanism investigation. Various attempts made by researchers to improve further the flux pinning property and Jc performance by means of doping in MgB2 thin films by using HPCVD are also summarized.

Large wind turbine generators with high temperature superconductors (HTS) are in incessant development because of their advantages such as weight and volume reduction and the increased efficiency compared with conventional technologies. In addition, nowadays the wind turbine market is growing in a function of time, increasing the capacity and energy production of the wind farms installed and increasing the electrical power for the electrical generators installed. As a consequence, it is raising the wind power energy contribution for the global electricity demand. In this study, a forecast of wind energy development will be firstly emphasized, then it continue presenting a recent status of the technology development of large scale HTSG for wind power followed by an explanation of HTS wire trend, cryogenics cooling systems concept, HTS magnets field coil stability and other technological parts for optimization of HTS generator design – operating temperature, design topology, field coil shape and level cost of energy, as well. Finally, the most relevant projects and designs of HTS generators specifically for offshore wind power systems are also mentioned in this study.

In order to realize economical applications, it is important to reduce the ac loss of 2G high-temperature superconductor coated conductors. It seems to be reasonable that a multi-filamentary wire can decrease the magnetization loss. In this study, we prepared two samples of YBCO coated conductors with striations. We measured local superconducting properties of both samples by using Low Temperature Scanning Laser and Hall Probe Microscopy (LTSLHPM). The distribution of the local critical temperature of samples was analyzed from experimental results of Low Temperature Scanning Laser Microscopy (LTSLM) near the superconducting transition temperature. According to LTSLM results, spatial distributions of the local critical temperature of both samples are homogeneous. The local current density and the local magnetization in samples were explored from measuring stray fields by using Scanning Hall Probe Microscopy (SHPM). From SHPM results, the remanent field pattern of the one bridge sample in an external magnetic field confirms the Bean’s critical state model and the three bridge sample has similar remanent field pattern of the one bridge sample. The local magnetization curve in the three bridge sample was measured from external fields from -500 Oe to 500 Oe. We visualized that the distribution of local hysteresis loss are related in the distribution of the remanent field of the three bridge sample. Although the field dependence of the critical current density must be taken into account, the relation of the local hysteresis loss and the remanent field from Bean’s model was useful.

Mapping is a useful tool in the magnetic field analysis and design. In some specific research area, such as the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) or the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), it is important to map the magnetic field in the interesting space with high accuracy. In this paper, an indirect mapping method in the center volume of an air-core solenoid is presented, based on the solution of the Laplace’s equation for the field. Through the mathematical analysis on the mapping calculation, we know that the condition number of the matrix, generated by the measurement points, can greatly affect the error of mapping result. Two different arrangement methods of the measurement points in field mapping are described in this paper: helical cylindrical line (HCL) method and parallel cylindrical line (PCL) method. According to the condition number, the HCL method is recommended to measure the field components using one probe. As a simple example, we mapped the magnetic fields in a MRI main magnet system. Comparing the results in the different methods, it is feasible and convenient to apply the condition number to reduce the error in the field mapping calculation. Finally, some guidelines were presented for the magnetic field mapping in the center volume of the air-core solenoid.

Electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source is an essential component of heavy-ion accelerator. For a given design, the intensities of the highly charged ion beams extracted from the source can be increased by enlarging the physical volume of ECR zone [1]. Several models for ECR ion source were and will be constructed depending on their operating conditions [2-4]. In this paper three simulation models with 3, 4 and 6 solenoid system were built, but it’s not considered anything else except the number of coils. Two groups of optimization analysis are presented, and the evolution strategy (ES) is adopted as an optimization tool which is a technique based on the ideas of mutation, adaptation and annealing [5]. In this research, the volume of ECR zone was calculated approximately, and optimized designs for ECR solenoid magnet system were presented. Firstly it is better to make the volume of ECR zone large to increase the intensity of ion beam under the specific confinement field conditions. At the same time the total volume of superconducting solenoids must be decreased to save material. By considering the volume of ECR zone and the total length of solenoids in each model with different number of coils, the 6 solenoid system represented the highest coil performance. By the way, a certain case, ECR zone volume itself can be essential than the cost. So the maximum ECR zone volume for each solenoid magnet system was calculated respectively with the same size of the plasma chamber and the total magnet space. By comparing the volume of ECR zone, the 6 solenoid system can be also made with the maximum ECR zone volume.

Critical current of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) coil is influenced by its own self magnetic field. Direction and density distribution of the magnetic field around the coil are fixed after the shape of the coil is decided. If the entire part of the HTS tape has homogeneous Ic distribution characteristic, quench would be initiated in fixed location on the coil. However, the actual HTS tape has inhomogeneous Ic distribution along the length. If the Ic distribution of the HTS tape is known, we can expect the spot within the HTS coil that has the highest probability to initiate the quench. In this paper, Ic distribution within the HTS coil under self-field effect is simulated by MATLAB. In the simulation procedure, Ic distribution of the entire part of the HTS tape is assume d to follow Gaussian-distribution by central limit theorem. The HTS coil model is divided into several segments, and the critical current of each segment is calculated based on the-generalized Kim model. Single pancake model is simulated and self-field of HTS coil is calculated by Biot-Savart’s law. As a result of simulation, quench-initiating spot in the actual HTS coil can be predicted statistically. And that statistical analysis can help detect or protect the quench of the HTS coil.

It has been well known that a toroid is the inevitable shape for a high temperature superconducting (HTS) coil as a component of a large scale superconducting magnetic energy storage system (SMES) because it is the best option to minimize a magnetic field intensity applied perpendicularly to the HTS wires. Even though a perfect toroid coil does not have a perpendicular magnetic field, for a practical toroid coil composed of many HTS pancake coils, some type of perpendicular magnetic field cannot be avoided, which is a major cause of degradation of the HTS wires. In order to suggest an optimum design solution for an HTS SMES system, we need an accurate, fast, and effective calculation for the magnetic field, mechanical stresses, and stored energy. As a calculation method for these criteria, a numerical calculation such as an finite element method (FEM) has usually been adopted. However, a 3-dimensional FEM can involve complicated calculation and can be relatively time consuming, which leads to very inefficient iterations for an optimal design process. In this paper, we suggested an intuitive and effective way to determine the maximum magnetic field intensity in the HTS coil by using an analytic and statistical calculation method. We were able to achieve a remarkable reduction of the calculation time by using this method. The calculation results using this method for sample model coils were compared with those obtained by conventional numerical method to verify the accuracy and availability of this proposed method. After the successful substitution of this calculation method for the proposed design program, a similar method of determining the maximum mechanical stress in the HTS coil will also be studied as a future work.

The properties of High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) tapes are progressing, as HTS tapes evolve from 1st generation to 2nd generation. This paper presents design and construction of a 2nd generation HTS magnet consisting of two nested GdBCO and YBCO pancake coils. Two HTS tapes of different widths were used to wind the HTS nested magnet. Considering that a higher magnetic field is applied to the inner magnet than to the outer magnet, 12 mm GdBCO tape was used for winding the inner magnet, which consisted of four single pancake windings. Eight double pancake windings wound with 4.4 mm YBCO tapes were used for the outer magnet. The test results show that the central magnetic field of the HTS nested magnet was 920 mT. The measured critical currents of the inner and outer magnet at 77K were 80.8 A and 32.6 A, respectively.