Assembly and testing of a composite heat pipe thermal intercept for HTS current leads

We are building high temperature superconducting (HTS) current leads for a demonstration HTS-high gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) system cooled by a cryocooler. The current leads are entirely conductively cooled. A composite nitrogen heat pipe provides efficient thermal communication, and simultaneously electrical isolation, between the lead and an intermediate temperature heat sink. Data on the thermal and electrical performance of the heat pipe thermal intercept are presented. The electrical isolation of the heat pipe was measured as a function of applied voltage with and without a thermal load across the heat pipe. The results show the electrical isolation with evaporation, condensation and internal circulation taking place in the heat pipe