Cryogenics & Magnet Cooling

Superconducting magnets must be kept cold. HTS lets Kronos run near 20 K rather than 4 K — a meaningful engineering and efficiency easing.

Why

Superconductors only work below a critical temperature

LTS temperature

~4 K (liquid helium)

Kronos HTS temperature

~20 K

Benefit

Higher operating temp → easier, more efficient cooling

Cryogenics is the engineering of very low temperatures, and it is inseparable from superconducting magnets: a superconductor only carries lossless current below its critical temperature, so the coils must be held cold against the heat leaking in from a 100-million-degree plasma nearby. The cryogenic plant that does this is a significant part of a fusion reactor's balance of plant.

Here Kronos's choice of HTS pays a second dividend. Conventional low-temperature magnets must sit near 4 K, requiring liquid helium and large refrigeration power; Kronos's REBCO conductor operates near 20 K. That higher operating temperature makes the cooling easier, more efficient, and more robust — recovering some of the recirculating power that would otherwise cut into engineering gain.