Quench studies on a layer-wound Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂Ox/AgX coil at 4.2 K

To evaluate the controlled quench behavior of high temperature superconducting (HTS) coils, particularly when using HTS coils in a hybrid configuration as an insert in a low temperature superconducting magnet, a layer-wound solenoid using Bi2Sr2CaCu2O wire was instrumented with several strip heaters to generate quenches in the axial and azimuthal directions. An array of distributed voltage taps and thermocouples were used to monitor the quench signals. Minimum quench energies (MQE) and quench propagation velocities (NZPVs) were determined. Results show that quench energies were moderate. NZPVs were slow but quench reaction times were of the same order as reaction times obtained at low quench energy densities in Nb3Sn coils.