Design and Performance Testing of a 1.2 kA Peltier Current Lead

Abstract

Abstract Peltier current lead (PCL) is a device based on Seeback effects. PCL can reduce the leakage heat of the high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cable, which could improve the overall operating efficiency of the HTS cable. The numerical calculation and simulation analysis model of the PCL based on Bi2Te3 thermoelectric materials is established, and the optimized design method of PCL is obtained. Consequently, the design and manufacture of a kA-class PCL with 8 parallel connected Bi2Te3 thermoelectric elements is completed. The experimental results show that the maximum current deviation of the PCL under different transmission currents is less than 5 A, and the maximum temperature difference is less than 10 K, which is consistent with the designed value. At the same time, the heat leakage is approximately 32 W/kA at the rated current of 1200 A, which is about 25% lower than conventional copper current leads.