New solutions for superconducting dipole magnets for commercial size MHD power plant

In the Italian National Project for development of superconducting magnets for MHD (magnetohydrodynamic) applications, a conceptual study of magnets for commercial-size MHD power plants (300-600 MW) has been performed. The overall dimension of the proposed dipole magnet will be about 20 m. The current opinion is that superconducting magnets of this length are beyond the limit of today´s technology. The authors propose alternative solutions to the single dipole magnet, realized with a modular combination of magnets of 6 to 8 m length. This selection allows reduction of some important technological problems and seems to be very promising both from the standpoint of magnet feasibility and ability to meet design constraints