PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTING CURRENT LEADS FOR MICRO-SMES SYSTEMS

As part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Superconductivity Technolog y Program, Argonne National Laboratory and Superconductivity, Inc., ar e developing high-temperature super-conductor (HTS) current leads for application to micro-SMES systems. Two 1500-A HTS leads have been desi gned and constructed. A component performance evaluation program was c onducted to confirm performance predictions and/or to qualify the desi gn features for construction. The evaluations included HTS characteris tics, demountable electrical connections, and heat intercept effective ness. The performance of current lead assemblies is being evaluated in a zero-magnetic-field test program that included assembly procedures, tooling, and quality assurance; thermal and electrical performance; a nd flow and mechanical characteristics. The leads were installed in a liquid helium test cryostat and connected at their cold ends by a curr ent jumper. The leads were heat intercepted with a cryocooler.