Analysis and Design of a 100 kA HTS Current Lead for CFETR

High temperature superconductors have zero resistance under critical temperature and the HTS tapes have low thermal conductivity. The China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR) project requires current leads with current carrying capacity up to 100 kA, making high temperature superconducting current leads the ideal choice. The main work of this paper is the theoretical analysis and optimization design of the 100 kA HTS current lead. Current leads are designed to minimize heat leakage to the cryogenic system and to reduce the mass flow of cooling gas. In this paper, some important design parameters are introduced firstly, and then one dimensional thermal analysis is carried out for the heat exchanger and high temperature superconductor parts. The LOFA time and overheating time of the current lead were calculated through simulation, and it was verified that the design meets the requirements of the project. Finally, the factors that have great influence on the performance of current leads are analyzed. In view of the four influencing factors, which are joint resistance, GHe inlet temperature, hPw and RRR, we respectively produced an optimized design.