Experimental and Numerical Study of Quench Propagation Characteristics of Different Epoxy Impregnated REBCO Coated Conductors

REBCO coated conductors are very promising for various HTS power applications. However, a detailed knowledge about their quench characteristics is crucial for developing effective quench detection-methods. This article experimentally and numerically analyzed the quench propagation characteristics of REBCO coated conductors impregnated with different epoxy. The quench parameters, including minimum quench energy (MQE), voltage profiles, and normal zone propagation velocities, obtained from the experimental results are validated by numerical model. The experimental phenomenon can be further described by the numerical model. The analysis shows that higher thermal conductivity of epoxy increase the MQE of the epoxy impregnated conductor, indicating that maintaining a relatively high thermal conductivity of epoxy is helpful to decrease the quench damage of the epoxy impregnated conductor.

Automated summary

This article investigates the quench propagation characteristics of REBCO coated conductors impregnated with different epoxy, validating the quench parameters obtained from experimental results and highlighting the importance of maintaining a relatively high thermal conductivity of epoxy to decrease quench damage.