NbTi foil thermally controlled switches for superconducting converters with operation frequency up to 50 Hz.: Part 1: Experiment
The increase of the operation frequency of superconducting converters up to 50 Hz opens new ways to improve their parameters. Thermally controlled switches using NbTi foil are able to operate at industrial frequency with reasonable efficiency and dynamic parameters. Such switches have been developed and tested. The paper presents experimental results of static and dynamic behavior of the switches. The rectification mode was tested with different shapes of the applied voltage, with currents from 150 to 450 A, voltages from 10 mV to 2.5 V and recovery times between 1 and 10 ms. The switches presented here have experimentally demonstrated superior dynamic parameters at higher efficiency than the ones reported in literature up to now.
Thermally and magnetically controlled superconducting rectifiers
The switches of a superconducting rectifier can be controlled either magnetically or thermally. The authors point out the differences between these methods of switching and discuss the consequences for the operation of the rectifier. The discussion is illustrated by the experimental results of a rectifier which was tested with magnetically as well as thermally controlled switches. It has an input current of 30 A, an output current of more than 1 kA and an operating frequency of a few Hz. A superconducting magnet connected to this rectifier can be energized at a rate exceeding 1 MJ/h and an efficiency of about 97%. >
A high-power magnetically switched superconducting rectifier operating at 5 Hz
Above a certain current level, the use of a superconducting rectifier as a cryogenic current source offers advantages compared to the use of a power supply at room temperature which requires large current feed-throughs into the cryostat. In some cases, the power of such a rectifier is immaterial, for example if it is to be used as a current supply for short test samples with low inductances. Usually, however, a rectifier is intended to energize large superconducting magnets, so the maximum power available becomes an important parameter since it determines the loading time. One method of increasing the power of a rectifier is to raise the operating frequency. In this respect, magnetically controlled switches with very fast switching times are preferable to thermally controlled ones. This paper reports on the design, as well as the experimental results of a magnetically switched full-wave superconducting rectifier. Once this rectifier is brought to its design frequency of 5 Hz, the average power delivered to the cryogenic load will be 500 W.