Sealed liquid helium cryostats for mobile superconducting magnets

The predicted behaviour of the sealed cryostat system, which has been designed for the niobium-titanium superconducting coils of the on-board refrigerator of the small Wolfson electrodynamically levitated vehicle now under development, is summarized. Calculations suggest that the time taken by a sealed liquid helium cryostat to reach a specified final temperature is reasonably insensitive to the level of initial filling. Moreover, with a sufficiently large initial fill (for example, 70%) two or possibly three such temperature cycles, separated by the simple process of gas recovery, should be possible before replenishment of the helium is necessary. The useful time of operation of the cryostat between transfers of liquid helium is then not very much less than can be obtained with a freely boiling bath of liquid. For the low pressures involved the sealed cryostat is probably not much heavier or more complex than the open cryostat, and thus is ideal for a mobile application. (U.K.)