Optimization of a superconducting solenoid for High Gradient Magnetic Separation systems

In order to minimize the quantity of superconducting wire used in superconducting High Gradient Magnetic Separation (HGMS) systems, we developed two computational techniques to simulate the magnetic field created by superconducting solenoids: a detailed numerical model and a simplified graphical method. The numerical model is used as a standard of comparison to evaluate the accuracy of the graphical method. The evaluated error in the graphical determination of superconducting wire volume was less than 4.6% in hypothetical HGMS systems for purifying dissolved fission products in nuclear reprocessing. Compared with the case where an HGMS filter and a superconducting solenoid have the same length, our optimization technique shows that a large amount of wire reduction is possible