Design of HTS Excitation Coil for Homopolar Inductor Machine Considering Critical Current Reduction of Local Turn

Abstract

The high temperature superconducting homopolar inductor machine (HTS-HIM) is identified as a promising candidate for the high-speed field of superconducting machine. The reliability and performance of HTS-HIM is closely related to the critical current of its HTS excitation coil. However, the critical current is limited by the turn with the highest risk of quench, which means that not all the turns of HTS coil can achieve the best performance. Targeting ensures the reliability of HTS-HIM and enhance the utilization rate of HTS tape, the HTS coil is designed considering the critical current reduction of local turn in this paper. Firstly, the operation principle of HTS-HIM is illustrated, and the design process is given. Then, the feasibility of calculating critical current using constant sweep rate method is described, and the HTS coil of a 10 kW HTS-HIM is designed utilizing the MAX criterion. Thirdly, the external field of the HTS coil is analyzed based on the simplified model of HTS-HIM. According to the external field distribution, an easily installed L-shaped flux diverter is proposed to suppress critical current reduction of local turn of HTS coil. The results show that the current safety margin is increased by 24 % at the cost of very little extra loss and weight through the proposed method.