Transient thermal models of capacitors and inductors for system optimization

Abstract

In accelerators using superconducting magnets, energy extraction systems (EES) are employed as means of protection in case of a quench, i.e. the spontaneous transition of the magnets from superconducting to resistive state. These EES operate only for short durations so that, for identifying an optimal design, the thermal transient properties/models of the system components are required. Therefore, a transient thermal model of cylindrical film capacitors based on physical properties is presented in detail in this paper. The model is based only on data sheet values and is validated experimentally. In addition, a transient thermal model of inductors is presented and validated by FEM simulations. Finally, it is shown that the power density of a converter for an energy extraction system could be more than doubled, if the presented transient thermal models of the passive components are used in the design optimization process.