Optimization of termination for a high-temperature superconducting cable with a room temperature dielectric design

This paper describes the design considerations of a termination for a super conducting cable, based on tapes produced with the powder-in-tube method, w ith a room temperature dielectric design, Most important is the optimizatio n of the current lead that leads the current from room temperature to cryog enic temperature. The current lead is optimized, using analytical as well a s numerical methods. The paper proposes a current lead made of copper, with a constant cross-section area. With an optimized length-to-cross-section a rea ratio, the heat flow to the cold region is 43 W/kA for an uncooled curr ent lead and 20 W/kA for a cooled current lead. The minimum loss in the ent ire termination is approximately 60 W/kA for a termination optimized for 2 kA. The paper describes why a gas-cooled current lead only reduces the tota l losses when used in connection with a multistep cooling machine.