Charles R. Poole1, Tanvir Baig1, Robert J. Deissler1, David Doll2, Michael Tomsic2, and Michael A. Martens1
1Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States, 2Hyper Tech Research Inc., Columbus, OH, United States
To reduce the usage of liquid helium, conduction cooled MRI
magnets using high temperature magnesium diboride (MgB2) have been
considered. Because the thermal normal zone propagation velocity (NZPV) of MgB2
is much slower compared to NbTi wire, active quench protection is needed. The
temperature rise in the magnet design was modeled using Douglas-Gunn method to
solve the governing heat equation for operating temperatures ranging from 10 to
18 K. It was shown that the temperature rise is slower for higher operating temperatures,
and thus better for quench protection.
