Thermally Enhanced Cable Insulation for the Nb-Ti High Luminosity LHC Inner Triplet Model

A new concept of polyimide electrical insulation for superconducting cables of accelerator magnets was developed in the last years. Its enhanced He II permeability allows a significant improvement of the heat extraction from the coil. This cable insulation concept is used for the quadrupole magnet prototype for the insertion region of the High Luminosity - Large Hadron Collider project. It aims at pushing the limits of Nb-Ti technology to withstand high heat deposition. Cable samples wrapped with the new insulation scheme were characterized from the thermal standpoint, as well as from the electrical and mechanical ones. In particular, heat transfer measurements from insulated cables towards the helium cooling bath were performed in a coil-like configuration. Various wrapping schemes were tested in different mechanical conditions. The paper summarizes the main results of these investigations.

Heat Transfer between the Superconducting Cables of the LHC Accelerator Magnets and the Superfluid Helium Bath

Pier Paolo Granieri

In this thesis work we investigate the heat transfer through the electrical insulation of superconducting cables cooled by super fluid helium. The cable insulation constitutes the most severe barrier for heat extraction from the superconducting magnets of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We performed an experimental analysis, a theoretical modeling and a fundamental research to characterize the present LHC insulation and to develop new ideas of thermally enhanced insulations. The outcome of these studies allowed to determine the thermal stability of the magnets for the LHC and its future upgrades. An innovative measurement technique was developed to experimentally analyze the heat transfer between the cables and the super fluid helium bath. It allowed to describe the LHC coil behavior using the real cable structure, an appropriate thermometry and controlling the applied pressure. We developed a new thermally enhanced insulation scheme based on an increased porosity to super uid helium. It aims at withstanding large heat loads, as needed for the High Luminosity LHC upgrade (HL-LHC). Experimental measurements of the new insulation showed a major improvement of heat extraction compared to the present state-of-the-art used in the LHC. We developed a theoretical heat transfer model quantitatively explaining the experimental results of the LHC and HL-LHC insulations. We identified the heat extraction mechanisms, mainly occurring through super fluid helium micro-channels. The average micro-channels dimensions were estimated to vary between few and dozens of µm, depending on the insulation scheme. In the model we considered the known laws describing the dynamic regimes of super fluid helium. However such laws were never demonstrated to be valid in the narrow channels typical of the cable insulation. We developed a new experimental device to investigate heat transport through microchannels. Micro-fabrication techniques were used to etch the channels down to a depth of 16 µm. We measured the classical laminar and turbulent regimes, thus demonstrating the validity of such heat transport laws independently from the channel geometrical shape and size down to these dimensions. To conclude, we used the obtained experimental and theoretical heat transfer results to determine the LHC and HL-LHC magnets stability. We estimated their quench margin and compared it to the beam induced heat deposit. The resulting difference allows a safe operation of the magnets.

EPFL2012

Electrical and Mechanical Performance of an Enhanced Cable Insulation Scheme for Superconducting Magnets

Pier Paolo Granieri, Davide Tommasini

New polyimide cable insulation schemes improving the cooling of Nb-Ti superconducting coils were recently developed to face the severe heat loads at which the next generation of superconducting accelerator magnets will work. In order to qualify the new insulation, a test campaign was realized to assess both its electrical and mechanical features with respect to the standard LHC insulation. The electrical tests assessed the dielectric strength and inter-turn leakage current to be satisfactory. The mechanical tests investigated the insulation thickness under load and the stress relaxation at ambient temperature, thus providing essential information for the magnetic and mechanical design of the final focusing magnets for the LHC upgrade phase I.

2010

Stability analysis of the Interconnection of the LHC Main Superconducting Bus Bars

Luca Bottura, Pier Paolo Granieri

The operation of the Large Hadron Collider calls for a thorough analysis of the thermo-electric behavior of the 13 kA superconducting bus-bars connecting its dipole and quadrupole main magnets. This presentation reports a synthesis of the work performed jointly by researchers and students at CERN and at the University of Bologna as a contribution to the understanding of the LHC incident occurred on September 19th 2008. This work is complementary to the analyses carried out at CERN by the MPE group. The aim of the work is to analyze the stability of the interconnections as far as the quality of manufacturing, operating conditions and protection system parameters are concerned. A first part of the work is devoted to the development of a numerical model suitable for the analysis of the faulty interconnections. The main type of defect analyzed is the lack of solder among the superconducting cable and the copper stabilizer components at the interface between bus bar and splice. The evaluation of the critical defect length limiting the maximum safe current for powering the magnets without risk of thermal runaway is provided, as a function of the RRR of cable and stabilizer, decay time constant of the LHC circuit, spatial distribution of the defect and cooling conditions. A second part of the work is related to the modeling of the heat transfer mechanism between the main superconducting bus bar and the surrounding helium bath. This study is aimed to analyze a set of experimental measurements on the heat transfer coefficient of the main bending dipole bus bars performed at CERN. The final part of the work consists in a preliminary analysis of the heat transfer mechanisms involved in the stability experiments of defective interconnections performed in the FRESCA facility.

2011

Heat Transfer between the Superconducting Cables of the LHC Accelerator Magnets and the Superfluid Helium Bath

Pier Paolo Granieri

EPFL2012