Superconducting coil operating at temperatures above 15K for ADR instruments

The new high temperature superconducting (HTS) coil technology proposed for development in this program is vital for NASA to be able to advance the capabilities of its ADR cooling systems that maintain important space-based instruments at milli Kelvin temperatures. It will provide unmatched benefits. This program will complete development of advanced ADR magnet coils by applying our recently developed first-of-their-kind low loss HTS wires based on the “2212” material that meets all the requirements put out by NASA in topic S16.07 of the FOA for next generation HTS-based ADR coils, including low losses in ramped field to 4T, high, > 300 A/mm2 in-coil coil operating current densities at temperatures above 15K and fields to 4T, combined with very small cross-sections that enables the specified small 6 A to 8 A operating current. It was recently established that the react-and-wind coil making approach can be applied to fabricate ADR coils with these low loss HTS-2212 wires. This program will now finish adapting long, >2.5 km length drawn low loss HTS 2212 wire with a much higher current density that is optimally suitable for a react-and wind ADR coil making approach. This wire will then be utilized to complete the development of fully functional, ADR coils that operate at temperatures above 12 K. By the end of the Phase II program a full radial build and length (60 mm) bore ADR coil will be produced and validated to meet all the requirements put forth to attain ramped fields to 4T at the required ramp rates with acceptably low losses, as well as having all of its vital auxiliary features developed, such as terminations and potting, so that no additional significant development will be required before NASA can start to qualify and incorporate this coil type into their next generation ADR systems.

This new coil technology is vital for NASA to advance the capabilities of its ADR cooling systems that maintain important space-based instruments at milli Kelvin temperatures. It will provide unmatched benefits. It will operate in the advantageous >15 K temperature range versus presently < 10 K and will meet all performance and ramped field loss requirements put out by NASA for next generation ADR systems that cool vital NASA space-based instruments. Phase II will fully establish the highly preferred react-and-wind approach to ADR coil making approach with low loss HTS-2212 wires specifically adapted for ADR applications. Full-scale, full performance HTS-2212 react-and-wind coils will be built, tested and provided to NASA to qualify for their instruments that now use LTS coils at <10 K. The 2212-wire based coils for ADR will be produced and supplied to NASA as they incorporate them into their next generation instruments. Additional potential applications at NASA include: i) Space based magneto-strictive actuators and valves, and ii) Specialty small sized light weight, high power density motors for example to pump cryogens. Larger non-NASA applications will be well served by this kind of low loss HTS conductor and coil type once it is fully developed. These include medical instruments and critical magnets in clinical cancer tumor treatment ion beam therapy systems, both beam bending and scanner magnets, reducing their sizes by up to about 4-fold, thereby vitally contributing to the cost -reductions required to make these systems widely useable, with the potential to extend the lives of about 400,000 US cancer patients per year. A second large scale application is in the area of ultra-high power density electric plane propulsion motors where the technology developed here is applicable to the production of first of their kind high temperature superconducting stator coils that will operate at above 20 K.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.