High temperature superconductor magnet

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12586702-B2
Application number	US-202418949277-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 15, 2024
Priority date	Oct 15, 2018
Publication date	Mar 24, 2026
Grant date	Mar 24, 2026

Abstract

A High Temperature Superconductor, HTS, magnet comprising a coil formed of nested concentric windings. Each winding comprises HTS material. The HTS magnet further comprises a conductor element comprising an electrical contact surface through which to supply electric current to a portion of at least one of the windings. The surface provides electrical contact between the conductor element and an axial edge of the coil substantially around the path of the at least one of the windings.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A High Temperature Superconductor (HTS) magnet comprising:
a coil formed of nested concentric windings, each winding comprising HTS material; and a conductor element through which to supply electric current to charge the coil, the conductor element comprising an electrical contact surface providing electrical contact between the conductor element and an axial edge of the coil at least partially around the coil and to at most a portion of the windings, the portion of the windings including either one of an innermost winding or an outermost winding.

2 . An HTS magnet according to claim 1 , wherein each winding comprises one or more HTS tapes, each HTS tape comprising HTS material and electrically conductive cladding electrically connected to the HTS material.

3 . An HTS magnet according to claim 1 wherein the electrical contact surface provides electrical contact around more than 20% of the coil.

4 . An HTS magnet according to claim 1 , wherein the electrical contact surface is ring-shaped.

5 . An HTS magnet according to claim 1 and comprising a conductor plate extending at least partly across the axial edge of the coil, the conductor element formed integrally with the conductor plate or provided thereon.

6 . An HTS magnet according to claim 5 , wherein the conductor element protrudes from a face of the conductor plate and the HTS magnet further comprising an electrically resistive layer electrically insulating the face of the conductor plate from the axial edge of the coil.

7 . An HTS magnet according to claim 6 and comprising an interfacial conductor layer between the electrically resistive layer and the axial edge of the coil to transfer heat and/or electrical current from the axial edge of the coil.

8 . An HTS magnet according to claim 7 , wherein the interfacial conductor layer comprises a solderable metal.

9 . An HTS magnet according to claim 7 , wherein the interfacial conductor layer is patterned by varying its thickness.

10 . An HTS magnet according to claim 7 , wherein the coil comprises electrical insulation between the windings.

11 . An HTS magnet according to claim 5 and comprising one or more heaters disposed between the plate and the coil.

12 . An HTS magnet according to claim 1 , wherein the conductor element is a first conductor element comprising a first electrical contact surface, the HTS magnet further comprising a second conductor element comprising a second electrical contact surface for receiving electric current from the coil, the second electrical contact surface providing electrical contact to an opposite axial edge of the coil at least partially around the path of at least one of the windings other than the at least one of the windings contacted by the first electrical contact surface.

13 . An HTS magnet according to claim 1 , wherein the coil is a first coil and the conductor element is a first conductor element comprising a first electrical contact surface, the HTS magnet further comprising:
a second coil formed of nested concentric windings, each winding comprising HTS material; and a second conductor element through which to receive electric current from the second coil and comprising a second electrical contact surface providing electrical contact between the second conductor element and an axial edge of the second coil at least partially around the second coil and to at most a portion of the windings of the second coil, the portion of the windings including either one of an innermost winding or an outermost winding; wherein the first coil and the second coil are stacked axially and are electrically connected to one another through the first conductor element and the second conductor element.

14 . An HTS magnet according to claim 13 , wherein the axially stacked first coil and second coil are wound in opposite directions and each of the first electrical contact surface and the second electrical contact surface provide electrical contact either to the innermost winding of the respective first and second coils or to the outermost winding of the respective first and second coils.

15 . An HTS magnet according to claim 1 , wherein the portion of the windings comprises only the innermost winding or only the outermost winding.

16 . An HTS magnet according to claim 1 further comprising a power supply connected across the coil to supply electric current to the coil through the electrical contact surface to the axial edge of the coil.

17 . A tokamak comprising an HTS magnet according to claim 1 .

18 . A method of supplying electrical current to charge a High Temperature Superconductor (HTS) magnet, the HTS magnet comprising a coil formed of nested concentric windings, each winding comprising HTS material, the method comprising:
applying an electrically resistive layer to partially cover an axial face of the coil; applying an electrical conductor plate over the dielectric or electrically resistive layer; forming an electrical contact between the conductor plate and the axial face of the coil at least partially around the coil; and supplying an electrical current to the electrical conductor plate to charge the HTS magnet through the electrical contact.

19 . The method of claim 18 and comprising
applying an interfacial conductor layer between the electrically resistive layer and the coil, the interfacial conductor layer to transfer heat and/or electrical current from the face of the coil.

20 . An interface plate for making an electrical connection to an axial edge of a substantially planar coil formed of nested concentric windings, the interface plate comprising:
an electrically conductive plate; an electrically conductive element formed integrally with the plate or provided thereon, the element for providing electrical contact between the plate and the coil; an electrically resistive layer on the electrical conductor plate for providing an electrically insulating barrier adjacent to the electrical conductor element; and an interfacial conductor layer extending across the electrically resistive layer and electrically insulated from the electrically conductive plate and the electrically conductive element by the electrically resistive layer, the interfacial conductor layer configured to transfer heat and/or electrical current from the edge of the or each winding.

21 . A high temperature superconductor (HTS) magnet comprising:
a coil comprising a plurality of turns wound around an axis, each turn comprising HTS material, the coil having an axial face, an inner radius and an outer radius; a conductor element through which to supply electric current to charge the coil, the conductor element making an electrical connection to the axial face of the coil at either the outer radius or the inner radius of the coil.

22 . An HTS magnet according to claim 21 , the coil having a second axial face and the HTS magnet further comprising a second conductor element through which to receive electric current from the coil, the second conductor element making an electrical connection to the second axial face at the other of the outer radius or the inner radius of the coil.

23 . An HTS magnet according to claim 22 wherein the first conductor element makes an electrical connection to one of an innermost turn or an outermost turn of the coil, and the second conductor elements makes an electrical connection to the other of the innermost turn or the outermost turn of the coil.

Assignees

• Tokamak Energy Ltd

Inventors

• Brittles Greg
• Kruip Marcel
• Langtry Tony
• Smith George

Classifications

• H01F41/10

  Connecting leads to windings (making electric connections in general H01R43/00) · CPC title

• H01F41/048

  Superconductive coils · CPC title

• H01F27/32

  Insulating of coils, windings, or parts thereof · CPC title

• G21B1/057

  Tokamaks · CPC title

• Y02E30/10

  Nuclear fusion reactors · CPC title