HTS Power Leads for the BTEV Interaction Region

A new Interaction Region (IR) for the BTEV experiment was planned to be built at Fermilab. This IR would have required new superconducting quadrupole magnets and many additional power circuits for their operation. The new “low beta” quadrupole magnet design was based upon the Fermilab LHC quadrupole design, and would have operated at 9.56 kA in 4.5 K liquid helium. The use of conventional power leads for these circuits would have required substantially more helium for cooling than is available from the cryogenic plant, which is already operating close to its limit. To decrease the heat load and helium cooling demands, the use of HTS power leads was necessary. In developing specifications for HTS leads for the BTEV interaction region, several 6 kA HTS leads produced by American Superconductor Corporation (ASC) have been tested at over-current conditions. Final design requirements were to be based on these test results. This paper summarizes the test results and describes the design requirements for the 9.65 kA HTS power leads.