Analyses of Low- and High-Margin Quench Propagation in the European DEMO TF Coil Winding Pack

The superconducting toroidal field (TF) coils composed of a winding pack (WP) without radial plates, encapsulated in a steel casing, are currently being studied in the framework of the EUROfusion work package magnets (WPMAG). The ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) 2014 TF WP design consists of graded (Nb
₃
Sn + NbTi), double-layer wound rectangular cable-in-conduit conductors, for which the operational as well as accidental transients must be carefully investigated. This paper presents the analysis of the quench propagation inside the TF WP proposed in 2014 by ENEA using the state-of-the-art thermal-hydraulic code 4C. Different locations are considered for the quench initiation: 1) at the maximum temperature margin Δ T
_mar
^max
, resulting in the most severe hotspot condition and 2) at the minimum temperature margin Δ
_mar
^min
, to analyze the most probable event. The evolution of voltage, normal zone, hotspot temperature, and maximum pressure in the TF WP is computed comparing the results from the two cases, highlighting the role of heat diffusion inside the TF WP.