Comparison of Optimal Configuration of SMES Magnet Wound With MgB2 and YBCO Conductors

This paper describes a comparison of an optimal configuration of SMES magnets wound with MgB2 or YBCO conductors. For YBCO SMES, it is well known that a toroidal magnet is an ideal structure from the view point of the influence of the perpendicular component of magnetic field applied to an YBCO tape. We investigated an ideal structure for MgB2 SMES by comparing with the YBCO SMES. Because an MgB2 wire has no anisotropic magnetic property like an YBCO tape, the toroidal structure is unsuitable for MgB2 SMES. Therefore, we proposed a new structure of MgB2 SMES where the magnetic flux leaking between conductors is avoided. An MgB2 SMES of the proposed structure can store approximately 5.6 times higher than that of a single solenoid structure with the same winding volume.