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The successful testing of a 8 MVAR, 13.8 kV superconducting dynamic synchronous condenser (SDSC) prototype on the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) grid is discussed. Findings reveal that the prototype is capable of absorbing high negative and zero sequence current component.

The article discusses the design and importance of the second-generation (2G) High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) wires for coil applications. Results suggest the viability of 2G HTS wire in coil applications as the 2G solenoid coil with a 5cm inner diameter is able to achieve 1.5 T at 64 K.

This paper summarizes the status of a 3-year, NIH-funded research project to study the strength of high temperature superconductors under high circumferential hoop stress, in order to qualify these materials for high-field (> 1 GHz-class NMR magnets. The unique approach presented here is to spin test coils at high rotational speeds, approaching 100,000 rpm, in order to induce the necessary hoop stress. Thermal strain compatibility between the Bi-2212 wire and Inconel wire has been qualified, including thermal cycling. Assembly and testing of the first low-speed (< 30,000 rpm) rotor is now in process, and the design of second, higher speed (> 60,000 rpm) rotor, is also underway.

Bi-2212 superconductors have very good performance in field, and recent developments by Solid Materials Solutions (SMS) of Chelmsford, MA to mechanically reinforce this material will help realize the potential of this material for these highfield (> 1 GHz-class) NMR magnets. While the strength of these materials can be tested using a conventional tensile test, it is difficult-to-impossible to test coils in the high-field environment required to impose the large Lorentz stresses on the superconductor, as the available warm bore for high-field magnets is usually too small to test typical NMR insert coils, which typically have either a 60 or 80-mm winding diameter. Since it is important to test the coils-and not just wire-in the high-stress environment, as such factors as differential thermal contraction (between mandrel, wire, insulation and epoxy) and stress-concentrations (due to layer-to-layer crossover, for example) only can be tested in coil form, the objective of this study is to simulate the high-field magnet environment by spinning these coils at very high speed (up to 100,000 rpm) using the spin test facilities of Barbour-Stockwell (BSI) in Woburn, MA. By spinning coils wound on a 60-mm diameter mandrel at a speed of 100,000 rpm, the hoop stress is ~700 MPa, which is sufficient to exceed the yield strength of the reinforced Bi-2212 conductor. This paper summarizes the early stage status of this 3-year, NIH-funded project.

This paper presents results of construction and operation of a persistent-mode, liquid-helium-free, small-scale prototype magnet for the development of a tabletop 1.5-T "finger" MRI system for osteoporosis screening. The prototype magnet, composed of 2 MgB 2 coils, one superconducting joint, and a persistent-current switch (PCS) built from a portion of one coil, was wound with a one continuous ~80-m long unreacted and monofilament MgB 2 wire and then reacted. The test magnet was charged successfully and generated the estimated target field of 1.75 T at 5 K with the proposed PCS operation. During initial persistent-mode, the field was slightly decayed due to the index dissipation of the joint; thereafter it sustained the persistent field of 1.7 T for 35 h. The test results validated the joint resistance of < 1.2 × 10 -11 as well as the proposed approach involving the PCS coil circuit model.

We present design and test results for a thermally-activated persistent-current switch (PCS) applied to a double pancake (DP) coil (151 mm ID, 172 mm OD), wound, using the no-insulation (NI) technique, from a 120-m long, 76-μm thick, 6-mm wide REBCO tape. For the experiments reported in this paper, the NI DP assembly was immersed in a volume of solid nitrogen (SN2), cooled to a base temperature of 10 K by conduction to a two-stage cryocooler, and energized at up to 630 A. The DP assembly operated in quasi-persistent mode, with the conductor tails soldered together to form a close-out joint with resistance below 6 nΩ. The measurements confirm PCS activation at heating powers below our 1-W design target, and a field decay time constant in excess of 900 h (i.e 0.1% h -1 field decay rate), limited by the finite resistance of the close-out joint.

In this paper, we report preliminary results of our on-going effort to develop a superconducting persistent-current switch (PCS) for REBCO pancake coils that will be operated in liquid helium. In the first part of this paper, we briefly describe experimental results of our PCS operated in the temperature range 77-57 K, i.e., liquid-and solid-nitrogen environments. The rest we devote to a new PCS heater design in which we target a heating power of < 1 W in liquid helium.

We present design and test results of a superconducting persistent current switch (PCS) for pancake coils of rare-earth-barium-copper-oxide, REBCO, high-temperature superconductor (HTS). Here, a REBCO double-pancake (DP) coil, 152-mm ID, 168-mm OD, 12-mm high, was wound with a no-insulation technique. We converted a ∼10-cm long section in the outermost layer of each pancake to a PCS. The DP coil was operated in liquid nitrogen (77-65 K) and in solid nitrogen (60-57 K). Over the operating temperature ranges of this experiment, the normal-state PCS enabled the DP coil to be energized; thereupon, the PCS resumed the superconducting state and the DP coil field decayed with a time constant of 100 h, which would have been nearly infinite, i.e., persistent-mode operation, were the joint across the coil terminals superconducting.

We present results of full-current testing at 4.2 K of a z -axis 0.866-T solenoid and an x -axis 1.225-T dipole coil that comprise a 1.5-T/75-mm room temperature bore magic-angle-spinning nuclear magnetic resonance magnet developed at the MIT Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory. Also included in the paper are results of the magnet performance when the magnet assembly is immersed, to enhance its thermal mass, in solid nitrogen, and operated in the temperature range of 4.2-4.3 K.

A high-resolution 1.3-GHz/54-mm low-temperature superconducting/high-temperature superconducting (HTS) nuclear magnetic resonance magnet (1.3 G) is currently in the final stage at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory. Its key component is a three-coil (Coils 1-3) 800-MHz HTS insert comprising 96 no-insulation (NI) double-pancake coils, each wound with a 6-mm-wide GdBCO tape. In this paper, after describing the overall 1.3-G system, we present innovative design features incorporated in 1.3 G: 1) an NI winding technique applied to Coils 1-3 and its adverse effect in the form of charging time delay; 2) persistent-mode HTS shims; 3) a "shaking" magnet; and 4) preliminary results of Coil 1 operated at 4.2 K.

This paper deals with the mechanical strain issue in a high-temperature superconducting (HTS) insert for a GHz-class (> 23.5 T) LTS/HTS NMR magnet. We present results, experimental and analytical, of hoop strains in a double-pancake (DP) test coil, wound with 6-mm wide YBCO coated conductor (CC) and equipped with strain gauges at their innermost and outermost turns. To keep the YBCO CC to within a 95% Ic retention, the conductor tensile strain must be limited to 0.6%. To satisfy this strain limit in our test DP coil, we wrapped 0.08-mm thick, 6-mm wide stainless steel strip over its outermost turn of an 4.8-mm overband radial build deemed sufficient by our stress analysis based on force equilibrium and generalized Hooke's law with plane stress approximation. A control test DP coil, actually the same test DP coil, without overbanding, was run under the same experimental condition. In each case the test DP coil was energized up to 350 A at 4.2 K in a background field of 4 T. We report the experiment and analysis, with discussion on the merit of overbanding as a means to limit hoop strain in high-field HTS inserts.

This paper presents the latest results from our continued development of a 0.5-T/240-mm MgB 2 MRI magnet at the MIT Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory. Because we have successfully developed our superconducting joint technique with a monofilament MgB 2 wire, manufactured by Hyper Tech Research, Inc. (Columbus, OH), we have decided to use a monofilament wire to wind our MgB 2 MRI magnet. The magnet, comprising eight module coils, has a winding inner diameter of 276 mm, an outer diameter of 290 mm, and a total height of 460 mm. Each coil has its own persistent-current switch (PCS) and a superconducting joint. In order to guard against a few bad coils forcing the entire magnet to be inoperative, each coil will be heat-treated and tested individually. After eight coils are successfully operated, they will be assembled into an MRI magnet and series-connected with soldering joints between adjacent coils. The PCS in each coil is designed in such way that it will also serve as a detect-and-heat protection absorber when the magnet quenches over a small "localized" region: The conductor volume in the eight switches is designed to absorb the entire magnet energy while still remaining below 200 K. This paper reports 1) the design of the whole magnet and 2) the fabrication and test results of the two real-size test coils, with their PCSs and superconducting joints. The tests were conducted in gas helium in the temperature range of 10-15 K and in the self-field of the coils.

We are currently working on a program to complete a 1.5-T/75-mm RT (room temperature) bore MAS (magic-angle-spinning) NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) magnet. The MAS magnet comprises a z-axis 0.866-T solenoid and an x-axis 1.225-T dipole coil. The combination of the fields creates a 1.5-T field pointed at 54.74 degrees (magic angle) from the rotation (z) axis. During the 2nd year of this 3-year Phase I program, both coils have been wound and testing has begun. Some preliminary field mapping has been performed, and the design of the MAS magnet assembly has been completed. During the final year, the magnet assembly will be integrated into the cryogenic structure and tested at ~5.5 K in a solid nitrogen environment. Each coil will be energized separately, and the magnetic field will be mapped accurately. We expect a bare magnet uniformity of 100 ppm over a 10-mm diameter, 20-mm-long cylindrical volume. Then, using the field data, the uniformity will be improved to < 0.1.ppm with a combination of ferroshims and cryoshims. Final field measurement will be performed as the cryostat-magnet system is spun manually at ~0.1 Hz.

Design, fabrication, and test results of a type persistent-mode high-temperature superconductor (HTS) shim coil are presented. A prototype Z 1 rectangle-loop shim, cut from 46-mm wide Y-Ba-Cu-O tape manufactured by AMSC, was fabricated and tested at 77 K. The HTS shim, much thinner than the conventional NbTi shim, is placed inside the main magnet and immune to its diamagnetic wall effects. Combined with the >12-T and >10-K operation capability, the HTS shim offers a versatile design option for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) magnets, liquid-helium-free as well as conventional, and is particularly attractive in the next generation NMR magnets.

We have constructed two "annulus" magnets, YP2800 and YB10; each consists of 2800 YBCO thin square "plate annuli" (YP2800) and 10 YBCO thick "bulk annuli" (YB10). Their trapped field characteristics, spatial and temporal, were investigated and compared, experimentally and analytically. Two sets of field-cooling tests were performed at 77 K: (1) maximum trapped field tests, where a 2-T background field was applied to investigate the maximum trapped field capability of the two magnets; and (2) reduced trapped field tests, where spatial homogeneity improvement of the two magnets was investigated after field cooling with a reduced background field. Also, a Z 1 copper shim coil was designed, constructed, and operated, alone and with YP2800 and YB10. When it was operated with the annulus magnets at 77 K, a significant attenuation of the shim coil strength was observed due to the screening currents induced within the annulus magnets.

This paper presents our latest experimental results on high-temperature superconducting (HTS) splice joints for HTS insert coils made of YBCO and Bi2223, that comprise a 1.3 GHz low-temperature superconducting/HTS nuclear magnetic resonance magnet currently under development at Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory. HTS splice joint resistivity at 77 K in these insert coils must be reproducible and < 100 nΩ cm 2 . Several YBCO tape to YBCO tape (YBCO-YBCO) splice · joint samples were fabricated, and their resistivity and I c were measured at 77 K. First, we describe the joint splicing setup and discuss the parameters that affect joint resistivity: pressure over joint surface, solder, and YBCO spool batch. Second, we report results on YBCO-YBCO joints at 77 K in zero field. Measurements have shown that spool batch and solder are primary sources of a wide range of variation in YBCO-YBCO joint resistivity. By controlling these parameters, we expect to reproducibly achieve HTS-HTS resistive joints of resistance < 100 nΩ cm 2 .

This paper presents recent results from our continued development of a 0.5 T whole-body MRI magnet at the Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory. HyperTech Research Corp. (Columbus, OH) manufactures the MgB 2 conductor for this project. During the past year, we have found that our technique, originally developed successfully to splice unreacted multifilament MgB 2 wires, works much better, i.e., of higher reliability, with unreacted monofilament MgB 2 wires. This has led us to wind the entire coil components in our persistent-mode MRI magnet with unreacted monofilament MgB 2 wire, having a MgB 2 core of 0.4 mm in diameter, an overall diameter of 0.8 mm bare, 1 mm S-glass insulated. To verify that these coils would not suffer from flux jumping, as they would if wound with monofilament NbTi wire, magnetization studies were performed on monofilament wires of MgB 2 and NbTi (as a reference) at 4.2 K. For the monofilament MgB 2 wire, the results were affirmative. To further ensure the absence of flux jumping that may quench these current-carrying coils, two test coils were wound with unreacted monofilament MgB 2 wire. One MgB 2 coil was operated in driven mode, while the other MgB 2 coil, equipped with a persistent current switch and terminated with a superconducting joint, was operated in persistent mode. The operating temperature range was 4.2-15 K for these MgB 2 coils. The driven mode coil was operated in self-field. The persistent mode coil achieved a persistent current of 100 A, corresponding to a self-field of ~ 1 T in the winding, for 1 hour with no measurable decay. Both test coils were operated quench free.

We are currently working on a program to complete a 1.5 T/75 mm RT bore magic-angle-spinning nuclear magnetic resonance magnet. The magic-angle-spinning magnet comprises a z -axis 0.866-T solenoid and an x -axis 1.225-T dipole, each to be wound with NbTi wire and operated at 4.2 K in persistent mode. A combination of the fields creates a 1.5-T field pointed at 54.74 degrees (magic angle) from the rotation ( z ) axis. In the first year of this 3-year program, we have completed magnetic analysis and design of both coils. Also, using a winding machine of our own design and fabrication, we have wound several prototype dipole coils with NbTi wire. As part of this development, we have repeatedly made successful persistent NbTi-NbTi joints with this multifilamentary NbTi wire.

This paper presents experimental and analytical studies on the time-varying behavior of an NI (no-insulation) high-temperature superconductor pancake coil, alone or magnetically coupled to an external coil. An NI coil and another insulated coil (as an external), both of identical winding i.d. and number of turns, were fabricated. Another external coil used in this study was a 300-mm/5-T low-temperature superconductor magnet. An equivalent circuit model is proposed to simulate the NI coil, and the external coil, under time-varying conditions. Good agreement between experiment and simulation shows that the proposed equivalent circuit model is valid to characterize the time-varying electromagnetic behavior of an NI coil, alone or magnetically coupled to an external coil.

A prototype compact annulus YBCO magnet (YP1070) for micro-NMR spectroscopy was constructed and tested at 77 K and 4.2 K. This paper, for the first time, presents comparison of the 77-K and 4.2-K test results of our annulus magnet. With a 26-mm cold bore, YP1070 was comprised of a stack of 1070 thin YBCO plates, 80-µm thick and either 40-mm or 46-mm square. After 1070 YBCO plates were stacked ''optimally'' in 214 groups of 5-plate modules, YP1070 was ''field-cooled'' at 77 K after being immersed in a bath of liquid nitrogen (LN 2 ) with background fields of 0.3 and 1 T and also at 4.2 K in a bath of liquid helium (LHe) with background fields of 2.8 and 5 T. In each test, three key NMR magnet field-performance parameters-trapped field strength, spatial field homogeneity, and temporal stability-were measured. At 4.2 K, a maximum peak trapped field of 4.0 T, equivalent to 170 MHz 1 H NMR frequency, was achieved with a field homogeneity, within a |z| < 2.5 mm axial space, of ~3000 ppm. YP1070 achieved its best field homogeneity of 182 ppm, though at a reduced trapped field of 2.75 T (117 MHz). The peak trapped fields at 4.2 K were generally ~10 times larger than those at 77 K, in direct proportion to ~10-fold enhancement in superconducting current-carrying capacity of YBCO from 77 to 4.2 K. Temporal stabilities of ~110 and ~17,500 ppm/h measured at 77 K, with trapped fields respectively of 0.3 and 1 T, show that temporal stability deteriorates with trapped field strength. Also, temporal enhancement of trapped fields at 4.2 K was observed and reported here for the first time.

This paper presents experimental and analytical studies on the characteristic resistance of NI (no-insulation) ReBCO pancake coils, which are used in an equivalent circuit model to characterize 'radial as well as spiral' current paths within the NI coils. We identified turn-to-turn contact resistance as a major source of the characteristic resistance of an NI coil. In order to verify this, three single pancake NI HTS coils-60, 40, 20 turns-were fabricated with their winding tension carefully maintained constant. A sudden discharge test was performed on each coil to obtain its characteristic resistance, and the relation between the turn-to-turn contact and the characteristic resistance was investigated. Based on the characteristic resistance and the n -value model, an equivalent circuit model was proposed to characterize the time-varying response of the NI coils. Charging tests were performed on the three test coils and the experimental results were compared with the simulated ones to validate the proposed approach with the equivalent circuit model.

A new annulus magnet, the latest in a series of compact magnets being developed for NMR spectroscopy applications at the MIT Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory, was built and tested in a bath of liquid nitrogen at 77 K. The magnet, YP2800, a stack of 2800 thin YBCO plate annuli, each either 40 - or 46-mm square and 0.08-mm thick with a 26-mm bore, is an upgraded version of the two earlier plate annulus magnets, YP750 (750 plates) and YP1070 (1070). This paper presents construction details and test results of YP2800. Its spatial field homogeneity and temporal stability were measured, analyzed, and compared with those of YP750 and YP1070. Also, four YBCO bulk annuli, each 26-mm i.d., 46-mm o.d., and 5.2-mm thick, were added to YP2800 and their impacts on field strength and homogeneity were investigated experimentally.

Among key design and operation issues for MgB 2 relevant to MRI magnets are: uniformity of current-carrying capacity over long lengths (>2 km) of wire; and reliability of a splicing technique. This paper presents experimental results of current-carrying capacities of a small test coil and joints, both made from MgB 2 round wires, multifilament and monofilament (mono), manufactured by Hyper Tech Research, Inc. The test coils were wound with 95-m long unreacted, C (carbon)-doped MgB 2 multifilament wire, sintered at 700°C for 90 min. The critical currents were measured in the 4.2 K-15 K and 0 T-5 T ranges. We have modified our original splicing technique, proven successful with unreacted, un-doped MgB 2 multifilament wire sintered at 570°C, and applied it to splice both un-doped and C-doped mono wires sintered at 700°C. Most consistently good results were obtained using the un-doped mono wires. Also presented are results of a small joint-coil-PCS assembly of mono wire, operated in persistent mode at 50 A at >10 K.

A no-insulation (NI) technique has been applied to wind and test a NI HTS (YBCO) double-pancake coil at 4.2 K. Having little detrimental effect on field-current relationship, the absence of turn-to-turn insulation enabled the test coil to survive a quench at a coil current density of 1.58 kA/mm 2 . The NI HTS coil is compact and self-protecting, two features suitable for large high-field magnets. To investigate beneficial impacts of the NI technique on >1 GHz LTS/HTS NMR magnets, we have designed six new NI HTS inserts for our ongoing 1.3 GHz LTS/HTS NMR magnet, which require less costly LTS background magnets than the original insulated HTS insert. A net result will be a significant reduction in the overall cost of an LTS/HTS NMR magnet, at 1.3 GHz and above.

The spatial field homogeneity and time stability of a trapped field generated by a stack of YBCO square plates with a center hole (square "annuli") was investigated. By optimizing stacking of magnetized square annuli, we aim to construct a compact NMR magnet. The stacked magnet consists of 750 thin YBCO plates, each 40-mm square and 80- μm thick with a 25-mm bore, and has a Ø10 mm room-temperature access for NMR measurement. To improve spatial field homogeneity of the 750-plate stack (YP750) a three-step optimization was performed: 1) statistical selection of best plates from supply plates; 2) field homogeneity measurement of multi-plate modules; and 3) optimal assembly of the modules to maximize field homogeneity. In this paper, we present analytical and experimental results of field homogeneity and temporal stability at 77 K, performed on YP750 and those of a hybrid stack, YPB750, in which two YBCO bulk annuli, each Ø46 mm and 16-mm thick with a 25-mm bore, are added to YP750, one at the top and the other at the bottom.

This paper presents experimental and analytical results of trapped field characteristics of a stack of square YBCO thin film plates for compact NMR magnets. Each YBCO plate, 40 mm × 40 mm × 0.08 mm, has a 25-mm diameter hole at its center. A total of 500 stacked plates were used to build a 40-mm long magnet. Its trapped field, in a bath of liquid nitrogen, was measured for spatial field distribution and temporal stability. Comparison of measured and analytical results is presented: the effects on trapped field characteristics of the unsaturated nickel substrate and the non-uniform current distribution in the YBCO plate are discussed.