Test of a Twin Coil HTS SMES for High Power Pulse Operation

We designed and constructed a twin coil conduction-cooled HTS SMES (Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage using High Temperature Superconductor) for pulse power operation and sequential discharge. The distance between the two coils and their respective inductances were calculated to obtain identical energy during sequential discharge. Both coils are designed for high voltage operation up to 4 kV. Moreover, the second coil is split in 3 to test the XRAM principle, which consists in charging inductances in series and discharging them in parallel to sum up their currents. The upper coil reached its rated current (250 A), it was tested up to 3 kV during fast discharge in a power capacitor. The lower coil, rated at 300 A, was tested in XRAM operation up to 200 A, the current output thus reaching 600 A. The characteristics of the demonstrator will be introduced; the experimental setting will then be presented along with the tests results.