Abstract Body

HTS power supplies, otherwise referred to as HTS flux pumps1, are devices traditionally proposed for the energisation of DC fields in HTS magnets. In many applications, they are proposed as alternatives to more traditional solid-state power supplies, connected to HTS magnets via superconducting current leads. The mature state of the alternative technologies has meant that for most applications of the HTS current supply or flux pump a current-lead based solution is considered more reliable. Despite this, a more sophisticated understanding of these supplies, how they contrast to their semiconducting counter parts, and a sufficiently unique application have given rise to the most sophisticated HTS power supply proposed to date. In the case of the Levitated Dipole Reactor concept2,3, extremely hight current density devices are necessary to maintain energisation of a levitated HTS coil at fusion relevant fluxes and fields. This talk covers the development of the 1.5 kA power supply implemented for our first magnet Junior, and the roadmap for increasing the capacity of such supplies for use in magnets requiring up to 50 kA of current.

References

1. Bradley Leuw et al 2022 Supercond. Sci. Technol. 35 035009 DOI 10.1088/1361-6668/ac4f3d
2. Boxer, A., Bergmann, R., Ellsworth, J. et al. Turbulent inward pinch of plasma confined by a levitated dipole magnet. Nature Phys 6, 207–212 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1510
3. J. Kesner et al 2004 Nucl. Fusion 44 193 DOI 10.1088/0029-5515/44/1/021

Acknowledgment

This work was supported, indirectly, by private investment through Open Star Technologies Limited.