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Title: Design and construction of a resistive energy dump device for bipolar superconducting magnet systems

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7106166· OSTI ID:7106166

When superconducting magnets quench, the resistance of the conductor material rises rapidly to its normal value. This increase in resistance can result in catastrophic heating in the magnet unless stored field energy is quickly removed from the system. Phase inversion is the normal mode of energy removal. SCR's in the power supply are phased back, the output of the supply is inverted, and magnetic field energy is directed back into the utility grid. Under certain conditions, however, the power supply may fail to invert properly, and an alternate energy removal scheme must protect the superconducting magnet system. Composed of an isolation switch, a semiconductor switching module, and a dump resistor, the resistive dump device provides a viable protection scheme. Operationally, several conditions are capable of activating the isolation switch and triggering the bipolar SCR switching module. Manual dump commands, for instance, permit the operator to dump field energy in the event of observed abnormalities. A special voltage tap quench detector senses the aforementioned abnormal power supply output inversion and also fires the dump circuit. Regardless of the nature of the trigger input, however, activation of the energy dump device diverts coil current through the dump resistor. I/sup 2/R losses over time then safely dissipate stored magnetic field energy.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
US Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-26
OSTI ID:
7106166
Report Number(s):
ORNL/TM-5892; TRN: 77-013719
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English