Conceptual Design of Fast Discharge Resistor System for Large Superconducting Fusion Devices

When a quench occurs, a fast discharge resistor (FDR) system is required to dissipate the huge energy stored inside a superconducting magnet during the quench protection (QP) process. The FDR system design is a challenging element in the overall QP scheme, due to the necessity of protecting the superconducting magnet, especially under the condition of large current and high energy. In this article, a novel conceptual design of the FDR system with parameter variance is put forward. The design can meet the stable operating requirement under extremely large currents up to 100 kA. The system structure can also be altered to provide specific power characteristics to meet the QP energy transfer demand. In this article, the working condition of the QP process is introduced first and the structure design is illustrated. Then, the layout, structure, material, and stability of a single resistor module are described. Finally, the simulation process with FEA is presented to verify the feasibility of the FDR system design. By analyzing the conceptual design of the FDR system, it is shown that the conceptual design can be acceptable and economical for the energy transfer and consumption for superconducting magnets in fusion devices.