Multi-Chamber Superconducting Magnet Cooling With Reduced Helium Use
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current MRI systems face challenges in maintaining superconducting magnet coils at a superconducting state due to inefficient cooling methods, leading to issues with image quality and increased costs associated with large cooling medium consumption.
Innovation Solution
A superconducting magnet design featuring multiple chambers filled with a cooling medium, where the chambers are in fluid communication and thermally connected to a refrigeration device, allowing for uniform cooling of the magnet coils and reducing the need for direct immersion in liquid helium, thereby minimizing cooling medium consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If magnet coils are directly immersed in liquid helium for cooling, then the superconducting state is maintained, but the consumption of cooling medium increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is divided into multiple independent chambers (first chamber for inner coils, second chamber for outer coils) that are in fluid communication. This segmentation allows the cooling medium to be distributed efficiently to different coil groups, maintaining superconducting state while reducing overall consumption compared to direct immersion of all coils in a single large volume of liquid helium.
Solution Approach 2:
A refrigeration device serves as an intermediary cooling system between the environment and the magnet coils. Instead of directly using liquid helium to cool all coils, the refrigeration device cools the chambers which in turn cool the coils through thermal conduction, reducing direct liquid helium consumption while maintaining the required low temperatures for superconductivity.
2Productivity
If multiple chambers are introduced for cooling different coil groups, then cooling efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented into multiple chambers corresponding to different coil groups (inner coils in first chamber, outer coils in second chamber). This segmentation improves cooling efficiency by allowing independent optimization of cooling for each coil group while the chambers are connected through fluid communication to share the refrigeration load, balancing complexity with performance.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple chambers are merged into a unified cooling system through fluid communication pathways. The chambers work together as an integrated system where the refrigeration device serves all chambers, and the cooling medium flows between chambers to distribute cooling capacity, reducing the overall complexity compared to having completely separate cooling systems for each coil group.
3Loss of substance
If cooling medium is reduced to minimize consumption, then costs are reduced, but maintaining uniform cooling temperature becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system segments the coil groups into different chambers (first chamber for inner coils, second chamber for outer coils) that are in fluid communication. This segmentation with fluid communication pathways allows the cooling medium to be distributed to where it is most needed, maintaining uniform temperature across different coil groups even with reduced overall cooling medium consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The refrigeration device acts as an intermediary that provides controlled cooling to the chambers. This intermediary system enables precise temperature control and uniform heat distribution to the magnet coils through the chamber structure, ensuring temperature uniformity is maintained even when the total volume of cooling medium is reduced.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design effectively maintains the superconducting state of magnet coils, improves image quality, and reduces costs by minimizing the use of cooling medium, simplifying manufacturing, transportation, and maintenance of MRI systems.
Implementation Method 1
The cooling medium may be configured to cool the magnet coils to a superconducting state
Implementation Method 2
a refrigeration device configured to cool the cooling medium
Data Source
AI summary
A superconducting magnet may include magnet coils including at least one group of outer coils and at least one group of inner coils, a container including an accommodating space, at least one first chamber that is disposed within the accommodating space and houses the at least one group of the inner coils, and at least one second chamber that is disposed within the accommodating space and houses the at least one group of the outer coils. The at least one first chamber and the at least one second chamber may be configured to be filled with a cooling medium and are in fluid communication with each other. The cooling medium may be configured to cool the magnet coils to a superconducting state.