Eddy current heating analysis of the ITER TF coil cases

AbstractThe eddy currents induced in the casing of the superconducting TF coils of ITER during the inductive plasma start-up are a source of heat which must be removed in order to guarantee the stable operation of the superconductor. Furthermore, the ohmic power is deposited at cryogenic temperatures and may represent a significant fraction of the total heat load on the cryogenic system. The necessity of minimizing this heat deposition by means of insulating breaks and geometry changes, still satisfying fabricability requirements, is of obvious importance. Here the heat deposition is computed using a 3-D eddy currents code for different configurations of the coil casing. Some solutions are proposed for the reduction of the local and global heat loads.