Magnet cooling economics

The recommendation to use superfluid helium II in superconducting magnet design has become more prevalent in recent years. Advanced fusion reactor studies such as the Mirror Advanced Reactor Study recently completed by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have based superconducting magnet design on the use of He II because of reduced magnet volume, improved stability characteristics, or increased superconductor critical current at fields above 9 Tesla. This paper reports the results of a study to determine the capital costs ($/watt) and the operating costs (watts/watt) of refrigeration systems in the 1.8K to 300K temperature range. The cost data is applied to a 1.8K magnet that is subject to neutronic heating wherein the magnet case is insulated from the winding so that the case can be cooled at a higher temperature (less costly) than the winding. The life cycle cost (capital plus operating) is reported as a function of coil temperature and insulation thickness. In some cases there is an optimum, least-cost thickness. In addition, the basic data can be used to evaluate the impact of neutron shielding effectiveness trades on the combined shield, magnet, cryorefrigerator, and operating life cycle cost.