Modeling of Quench Behavior of YBa2Cu3O7-δ Pancake Magnets and Distributed-Temperature-Sensing-Based Quench Detection for Operating Temperature 30-77 K

A two-dimensional/three-dimensional (2-D/3-D) mixed electrothermal model is proposed for the simulation of quench behavior of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) pancake magnets, where a 2-D electrothermal model is proposed to simulate the YBa2Cu3O7-delta (YBCO) subcoil and is coupled with the remaining parts of the YBCO magnet, which are treated as 3-D homogeneous coils. For operating temperature from 30 to 77 K, the quench behavior of four YBCO pancake coils (two Kapton-insulated coils and two TiO2-insulated coils) are simulated. Thermal equilibrium states are found for both Kapton- and TiO2-insulated coils. The thermal conductivity of insulating materials (Kapton, TiO2) significantly affects the equilibrium temperature profiles (ETPs) and the minimum quench energy (MQE), especially for relatively high operating temperature (e.g., 65-77 K). The distributed-temperature-sensing-based (DTS-based) quench detection criterion can be established on ETPs. The effect of the thickness of insulating materials on ETPs and MQEs is relatively weak, especially under relatively low operating temperature. The key parameters of ETP-based quench detection criterion, such as the reference temperature, the peak temperature, and the minimum normal zone size, are obtained for the operating temperature from 30 to 77 K.