Currently, the world's largest superconducting magnet dynamic testing facility has been built

On December 29, 2024, the first round of test experiments of the subsystem "fusion engineering reactor central solenoid system" of the national major scientific and technological infrastructure "fusion reactor host key system" built and operated by the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Hefei Institute of Physical Sciences was completed, and the maximum test current reached 48 kA in steady state, exceeding the design value of 47 kA. The experimental results show that the facility has achieved a total energy storage of 406.7 megajoules, a usable test magnet inner diameter of 1500 millimeters, a maximum field strength of 12 Tesla, and a joint resistance of 0.1 nanoohms, fully meeting the design specifications and becoming the largest and most complete large-scale superconducting magnet dynamic performance testing system in the world currently.

The goal of the "Fusion Engineering Reactor Center Spiral Tube System" is to build a large-scale superconducting magnet and experimental system, conduct experiments on the strong electromagnetic field, rapid changes in high voltage, and system reliability of the superconducting center spiral tube magnet under future fusion engineering reactor operating conditions, and obtain sufficient operating data. Over the course of nearly 10 years, the project team has overcome multiple key scientific and technological challenges, including the design of superconducting magnets for large fusion reactors, low resistance superconducting joints, insulation of ultra-low temperature magnets, quench protection, safety control of large low-temperature, high current power sources, and rapid magnetic field changes. They have successfully developed and built the largest superconducting magnet and testing system to date, achieving 100% localization of superconducting magnet materials, equipment, and systems.

In the future, the project team will further optimize the system control and conduct in-depth scientific research on high magnetic field change rate, larger current, higher magnetic field, extreme accident conditions, etc.

The construction of the spiral tube system in the center of the fusion engineering reactor can provide good experimental conditions for future fusion reactors and provide a first-class large-scale testing platform for other fields such as low temperature, materials, condensed matter physics, superconductivity applications, etc.

Source: Hefei Institute of Physical Science