Investigation of thermal and electrical stabilities of a GdBCO coil using grease as an insulation material for practical superconducting applications

This paper presents the effects of thermal grease on the electrical and thermal characteristics of GdBCO pancake coils, observed through charge-discharge, sudden discharge, over-current, and thermal quench testing. In charge-discharge and sudden discharge tests, a coil using thermal grease as an insulation material demonstrated faster charging/discharging rates compared to a coil without turn-to-turn insulation. In the case of over-current tests, the coil using thermal grease exhibited the highest electrical stability. Furthermore, thermal quench testing showed the coil employing thermal grease to possess superior thermal characteristics, with rapid cooling and low temperature rise. Overall, the use of thermal grease as an insulation material may be a potential solution to the problems observed with the existing insulation materials, possessing fast charging/discharging rates with superior thermal and electrical stabilities. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.