Specification of Four New Large 4.5 K Helium Refrigerators for the LHC

The cooling capacity for the superconducting magnets in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, CERN will be provided by eight helium refrigerators serving the eight 3.3 km long machine sectors. Of these eight refrigerators, four are already existing and are currently used for the Large Electron Positron Collider (LEP) project. These existing refrigerators have to be modified to serve the requirements for the LHC. Four new refrigerators providing cooling capacity down to 4.5 K will be added. All eight 4.5 K refrigerators will be completed by 1.8 K cooling stages. This presentation recalls the cryogenic architecture of the LHC, the constraints in process design resulting from it and from the desired capacity for steady state and transient operation. It then describes how these requirements were expressed in the technical specification for the four new 4.5 K refrigerators to be delivered between the years 2000 and 2002

Towards Cost-To-Performance Optimisation of Large Superfluid Helium Refrigeration Systems

The field range of superconducting devices may be extended by lowering their operating temperature, using superfluid helium refrigeration systems which have to deliver working pressures down to 1.6 kPa. The corresponding pressure ratio can be produced by integral cold compression or using a combination of cold compressors in series together with "warm" compressors at room temperature. The optimisation of such a system depends on the number, arrangement and characteristics of cold and warm machines as well as on the operating scenario and turndown capability. The aim of this paper is to compare relative investment and operating costs of different superfluid helium cryogenic systems, with the aim of optimising their cost-to-performance ratio within the constraints of their operating scenario

Development of large-capacity refrigeration at 1.8 K for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN

CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, is working towards the construction of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a high-energy, high-luminosity particle accelerator and collider [1] of 26.7 km circumference, due to start producing frontier physics, by bringing into collision intense proton and ion beams with centre-of-mass energies in the TeV-per-constituent range, at the beginning of the next century. The key technology for achieving this ambitious scientific goal at economically acceptable cost is the use of high-field superconducting magnets using Nb-Ti conductor operating in superfluid helium [2]. To maintain the some 25 km of bending and focusing magnets at their operating temperature of 1.9 K, the LHC cryogenic system will have to produce an unprecedented total refrigeration capacity of about 20 kW at 1.8 K, in eight cryogenic plants distributed around the machine circumference [3]. This has requested the undertaking of an industrial development programme, in the form of a collaboration between CERN and CEA, France, for investigating specific machinery, i.e. very-low pressure cryogenic heat exchangers, volumetric and hydrodynamic compressors, as well as practical and efficient thermodynamic cycles. We report on the aims lines of action and present progress of this ongoing programme

Economics of Large Helium Cryogenic Systems: experience from Recent Projects at CERN

Large projects based on applied superconductivity, such as particle accelerators, tokamaks or SMES, require powerful and complex helium cryogenic systems, the cost of which represents a significant, if not dominant fraction of the total capital and operational expenditure. It is therefore important to establish guidelines and scaling laws for costing such systems, based on synthetic estimators of their size and performance. Although such data has already been published for many years, the experience recently gathered at CERN with the LEP and LHC projects, which have de facto turned the laboratory into a major world cryogenic center, can be exploited to update this information and broaden the range of application of the scaling laws. We report on the economics of 4.5 K and 1.8 K refrigeration, cryogen distribution and storage systems, and indicate paths towards their cost-to-performance optimisation

Specification of Eight 2400 W @ 1.8 K Refrigeration Units for the LHC

The cooling capacity below 2 K for the superconducting magnets in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), at CERN, will be provided by eight refrigeration units at 1.8 K, each of them coupled to a 4.5 K refrigerator. Taking into account the cryogenic architecture of the LHC and corresponding process design constraints, a reference solution based on a combination of cold centrifugal and warm volumetric compressors was established in 1997. The process and technical requirements expressed in the specification issued in 1998 and the procurement scenario based on pre-series acceptance prior to final series delivery between 2002 and 2004 are presented in this paper

A Cryogenic Test Station for the Pre-series 2400 W @ 1.8 K Refrigeration Units for the LHC

The cooling capacity below 2 K for the superconducting magnets in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), at CERN, will be provided by eight refrigeration units at 1.8 K, each of them coupled to a 4.5 K refrigerator. The supply of the series units is linked to successful testing and acceptance of the pre-series delivered by the two selected vendors. To properly assess the performance of specific components such as cold compressors and some process specificities a dedicated test station is necessary. The test station is able to process up to 130 g/s between 4.5 & 20 K and aims at simulating the steady and transient operational modes foreseen for the LHC. After recalling the basic characteristics of the 1.8 K refrigeration units and the content of the acceptance tests of the pre-series, the principle of the test cryostat is detailed. The components of the test station and corresponding layout are described. The first testing experience is presented as well as preliminary results of the pre-series units

Assessing fish–fishery dynamics from a spatially explicit metapopulation perspective reveals winners and losers in fisheries management

Sustainable management of living resources must reconcile biodiversity conservation and socioeconomic viability of human activities. In the case of fisheries, sustainable management design is made challenging by the complex spatiotemporal interactions between fish and fisheries. We develop a comprehensive metapopulation framework integrating data on species life-history traits, connectivity and habitat distribution to identify priority areas for fishing regulation and assess how management impacts are spatially distributed. We trial this approach on European hake fisheries in the north-western Mediterranean, where we assess area-based management scenarios in terms of stock status and fishery productivity to prioritize areas for protection. Model simulations show that local fishery closures have the potential to enhance both spawning stock biomass and landings on a regional scale compared to a status quo scenario, but that improving protection is easier than increasing productivity. Moreover, the interaction between metapopulation dynamics and the redistribution of fishing effort following local closures implies that benefits and drawbacks are heterogeneously distributed in space, the former being concentrated in the proximity of the protected site. A network analysis shows that priority areas for protection are those with the highest connectivity (as expressed by network metrics) if the objective is to improve the spawning stock, while no significant relationship emerges between connectivity and potential for increased landings. Synthesis and applications. Our framework provides a tool for (1) assessing area-based management measures aimed at improving fisheries outcomes in terms of both conservation and socioeconomic viability and (2) describing the spatial distribution of costs and benefits, which can help guide effective management and gain stakeholder support. Adult dispersal remains the main source of uncertainty that needs to be investigated to effectively apply our model to fisheries regulation

Local site effects in Ataköy, Istanbul, Turkey, due to a future large earthquake in the Marmara Sea

Since the 1999 Izmit and Düzce earthquakes in northwest Turkey, many seismic hazard studies have focused on the city of Istanbul. An important issue in this respect is local site effects: strong amplifications are expected at a number of locations due to the local geological conditions. In this study we estimate the local site effects in the Ataköy area (southwestern Istanbul) by applying several techniques using synthetic data (hybrid 3-D modelling and 1-D modelling) and comparing to empirical data. We apply a hybrid 3-D finite-difference method that combines a complex source and wave propagation for a regional 1-D velocity model with site effects calculated for a local 3-D velocity structure. The local velocity model is built from geological, geotechnical and geomorphological data. The results indicate that strongest spectral amplifications (SA) in the Ataköy area occur around 1 Hz and that amplification levels are largest for alluvial sites where SA reaching a factor of 1.5-2 can be expected in the case of a large earthquake. We also compare our results to H/V (horizontal to vertical component of the recorded signal) spectral ratios calculated for microtremor data recorded at 30 sites as well as to ambient noise synthetics simulated using a 1-D approach. Because the applied methods complement each other, they provide comprehensive and reliable information about the local site effects in Ataköy. Added to that, our results have significant implications for the southwestern parts of Istanbul built on similar geological formations, for which, therefore, similar SA levels are expecte