Design of a large-scale superconducting dipole magnet for the CEE spectrometer

TL;DR

This paper presents a detailed design of a large-scale superconducting dipole magnet for the CEE spectrometer, including magnetic field, structure, cryogenics, and quench protection, aiming to support nuclear matter research.

Contribution

It introduces an innovative coil-dominant superconducting magnet design with a racetrack-shaped conductor and active quench protection for the CEE spectrometer.

Findings

Design achieves 0.5 T central magnetic field

Incorporates a novel coil and cryostat configuration

Ensures reliable quench protection and structural integrity

Abstract

The CSR External-target Experiment (CEE) is a large-scale spectrometer under construction at the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL) for studying the phase structure of nuclear matter at high baryon density and the equation of states of nuclear matter at supra-saturation densities. One of the key components is a large acceptance dipole magnet with a central field of 0.5 T and the homogeneity of 5% within a 1 m long, 1.2 m wide, and 0.9 m high aperture. Detectors will be installed within this aperture. An innovative design for the superconducting detector magnet is proposed that goes beyond the conventional approach. The magnet is designed as a coil-dominant type, with conductors discretized on a racetrack-shaped cross-section to generate the necessary fields. A warm iron yoke is used to enhance the central field and minimize the stray field. The magnet has overall dimensions of 3.4 meters in length, 2.7 meters in height, and 4.3 meters in width. The coils will be wound using a 19-strand rope cable comprised of 12 NbTi superconducting wires and 7 copper wires. The ratio of copper to superconductor of the cable is 6.9. The keel supports serve as the primary structural support for the coils to withstand the electromagnetic force. The coils will be indirectly cooled by liquid helium within three external helium vessels. To ensure reliable protection of the magnet during a quench, an active protection method combined with quench-back effect is employed. In this paper, we mainly present the detailed design of the magnetic field, structure, quench protection and cryostat for the spectrometer magnet.