Development of forced flow cooled current leads for fusion magnets Original Research Article

During the past 15 years, the Institut für Technische Physik of the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany, has developed current leads cooled by forced-flow supercritical helium in the current range from 20 to 80 kA. The design is based on a separation of the current carrying part and the heat exchanger part as well as the presence of the so-called superconductor inserts made of Nb3Sn wires inside the conductor in the heat exchanger area which allows the operation of the current lead at minimum helium mass flow in a wide current range. The paper describes the design and construction of the current leads as well as operation results obtained during various tests performed in the coil test facility TOSKA at the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe.