The Control System of the Elliptical Cavity and Cryomodule Test Stand Demonstrator for ESS

International audienceCEA IRFU Saclay* is taking part of ESS (European Spallation Source)** construction through several packages and, especially in the last three years on the Elliptical Cavity and Cryomodule Test stand Demonstrator (ECCTD)***. The project consists of RF test, conditioning, cryogenic cool-down and regulations of eight cryomodules with theirs four cavities each. For now, two medium beta cavities cryomodules have been successfully tested. This paper describes the context and the realization of the control system for cryogenic and RF processes, added to cavities tuning motorization relying on COTS solutions: Siemens PLC, EtherCAT Beckhoff modules, IOxOS fast acquisition cards and MRF timing cards

Mobile Pumping Units for Particle Free Beam Vacuum

International audienceFor 10 years our Institute CEA Saclay Irfu has been involved in several in-kind collaboration contracts with ESS at Lund (Sweden) and one of these includes the test of numerous cryomodules in a dedicated test bench designed at Saclay. The cryomodules start to be assembled cavity per cavity in a clean room and must be low pressure pumped, without adding particles and always in a clean room. This is the purpose of the mobile pumping units for particle free beam vacuum. These units are also designed for vacuum automatic procedures, residual gas analysis and can provide conformity reports. Furthermore, a connectable industrial touch panel is added for a mobile operator interface. Only few buttons have to be panel touched by an operator to start automatic procedures in order to get a very high quality vacuum. The embedded control system is PLC based and manages many communications, especially with the spectrometer embedded in the unit. Only one CPU manages all the communications (Profinet, Profibus, TCP-IP ASCII and even Modbus) and sensors or actuators are controlled by four input-output cards. This small-scale control system is innovative because it is versatile, very convenient to use, deploy and maintain. Nine mobile pumping units are operational and continuously used, frequently moved to different locations, controlled locally or remotely and are still reliable. The paper describes the control architecture and functionalities of this small but full of possibilities device

CEA Irfu EPICS Environment for the SARAF-LINAC Project

International audienceOur Institute CEA Saclay Irfu was in charge of the EPICS based control system platform for the accelerator projects Spiral2 at Ganil in Normandy and IFMIF/LIPAc at JAEA/Rokkasho (Japan). Our 3-year collaboration with ESS[*] has given us the opportunity to use new COTS hardware. We have made our CEA Irfu control platform evolve by retaining relevant and evolutive ESS solutions. Currently, CEA Irfu is in charge of the design, construction and commissioning at SNRC of the project SARAF-LINAC[**] (MEBT and Super Conducting Linac) including its control. This paper will present our proposition of architecture for the SARAF Linac using the new CEA Irfu hardware and software platforms

EPICS Tools for Small Experiment Based on PLC

International audienceIRFU* software control team is involved from feasibility studies to equipment deployment into many different experiments by their size and running time. For many years, IRFU is using PLC solution for controlling part of the experiment, and two different SCADA: - MUSCADE, in-house SCADA dedicated to small experiments. - EPICS** for big facilities. With MUSCADE, IRFU has developed a set of tools that gives an easy and a fast way for PLC developers to configure the SCADA. As EPICS projects are growing in our department, we are working now on adapting those tools to EPICS: - PLCParser, which generates an EPICS database for PLC communication (S7PLC, Modbus). - CAFEJava (Channel Access For EPICS Java) API, which runs a simulated EPICS IOC to test EPICS synoptic, and provides EPICS process variables access for any Java application. - Dxf2Opi, which converts Autocad DXF files into OPI files for CSS*** software. - MOONARCH (Memory Optimizer ON ARCHiver Appliance), which reduces EPICS Archiver Appliance**** data files storage

IRFU EPICS Environment

International audienceThe 3 years collaboration with ESS* at Lund (Sweden) has given us the opportunity to use new COTS hardware and new tools. Based on that experience, we have developed the IEE (IRFU** EPICS Environment) by retaining relevant and scalable ESS solutions. This platform centralized several functionalities, fully installed by scripting, on a server that is running on a virtual machine. The functionalities are an EPICS environment and the root file system with the kernel for each embedded systems. In order to provide homogeneous EPICS modules between all collaborators, a template was designed and used as containers for new developments. Furthermore, a development and a production workflow is also proposed and strongly recommended. Due to the current responsibility of CEA IRFU to provide an EPICS platform for SARAF** at Tel Aviv (Israel), IEE was chosen as the standard platform for the whole accelerator. This paper will present the new standard IRFU EPICS Environment based on MTCA and virtual machines

Motorized Regulation Systems for the SARAF Project

International audienceCEA is in charge of the tuning regulation systems for the SARAF-Linac project. These tuning systems will be used with LLRF to regulate the 3 Rebuncher cavities and the HWR cavities of the 4 cryomodules. These systems were already tested on the Rebuncher and Equipped Cavity Test stands to test respectively the warm and cold tunings. This paper describes the hardware and software architectures. Both tuning systems are based on Siemens PLC and EPICS-PLC communication. Ambiant temperature technology is based on SIEMENS motor controller solution whereas the cold one combines Phytron and PhyMOTION solutions

Saraf-Phase II: Test of the SRF Cavities with the First Cryomodule

International audienceCEA is committed to delivering a Medium Energy Beam Transfer line and a superconducting linac (SCL) for SARAF accelerator in order to accelerate 5 mA beam of either protons from 1.3 MeV to 35 MeV or deuterons from 2.6 MeV to 40 MeV. The SCL consists in four cryomodules. The first cryomodule hosts 6 half-wave resonator (HWR) low beta cavities (β = 0.09) at 176 MHz. The low-beta cavities were qualified in 2021, as well as the power couplers and frequency tuners. The Low-Level RF (LLRF) system was qualified in 2022 with a dedicated test stand. This contribution will present the results of the RF tests of the first SARAF cryomodule at Saclay

New Neutron Sensitive Beam Loss Monitor (nBLM)

International audienceThe beam loss detection is of the utmost importance for accelerator safety. At CEA, we are closely collaborating with ESS and DMCS on development of ESS nBLM. The system is based on Micromegas* gaseous detector sensitives to fast neutrons produced when beam particles hit the accelerator materials. This detector has powerful features: reliable neutron detection and fast time response. The nBLM control system provides slow monitoring, fast security based on neutron counting and post mortem data. It is fully handled by EPICS, which drives 3 different subsystems: a Siemens PLC regulates the gas line, a CAEN crate controls low and high voltages, and a MTCA system based on IOxOS boards is in charge of the fast data processing for 16 detectors. The detector signal is digitized by the 250 Ms/s ADC, which is further processed by the firmware developed by DMCS and finally retrieved and sent to EPICS network. For other accelerator projects, we are designing nBLM system close to ESS nBLM one. In order to be able to sustain the full control system, we are developing the firmware and the driver. This paper summarizes CEA’s work on the nBLM control system for the ESS and other accelerators

Machine Protection System at SARAF

International audienceCEA Saclay Irfu is in charge of the major part of the control system of the SARAF-LINAC accelerator based at Soreq in Israel. This scope also includes the Machine Protection System. This system prevents any damage in the accelerator by shutting down the beam in case of detection of risky incidents like interceptive diagnostics in the beam or vacuum or cooling defects. So far, the system has been used successfully up to the MEBT. It will be tested soon for the super conducting Linac consisting of 4 cryomodules and 27 cavities. This Machine Protection System relies on three sets: the MRF timing system that is the messenger of the "shut beam" messages coming from any devices, IOxOS MTCA boards with custom FPGA developments that monitor the Section Beam Current Transmission along the accelerator and a Beam Destination Master that manages the beam destination required. This Destination Master is based on a master PLC. It permanently monitors Siemens PLCs that are in charge of the "slow" detection for fields such as vacuum, cryogenic and cooling system. The paper describes the architecture of this protection system and the exchanges between these three main parts

SARAF Equipped Cavity Test Stand (ECTS) at CEA

International audienceCEA is committed to delivering a Medium Energy Beam Transfer line and a Super Conducting Linac (SCL) for SARAF accelerator in order to accelerate 5mA beam of either protons from 1.3MeV to 35MeV or deuterons from 2.6 MeV to 40.1MeV. The SCL consists in 4 cryomodules separated by warm section housing beam diagnostics. The two first identical cryomodules hosts respectively 6 and 7 half-wave resonator (HWR) low beta (0.091) cavities 176MHz. In order to test the cavity with its tuner and coupler and validate some design consideration, the Equipped Cavity Test Stand (ECTS) has been designed and will be presented