New 30 kA power system at Fermilab and its use for measuring the effects of ripple current on the performance of superconducting high field magnets

A new 30 kA, 30 V dc Power System was designed, built, and commissioned at Fermilab for testing Superconducting High Field Magnets. This system has been successfully supporting operations at the Fermilab Magnet Test Facility since April 2002. It is based on six commercial 150 kW Power Energy Industries power supply modules and the following in-house modules: six 720 Hz filters, two 15 kA/1 kV dc solid-state dump switch, and a 3 MJ/30 kA/1 kV dc dump resistor. Additional in-house electronic components were designed and built to provide precise current regulation and distribution of current and current rate of change. An industrial-type Programmable Logic Controller system was used to provide equipment interlocks and monitoring. This paper summarizes studies on the influence of characteristics of this new power system-such as ripple current-on the performance of High Field Superconducting magnets.