AVS 46th International Symposium
    Vacuum Technology Division Tuesday Sessions
       Session VT-TuP

Paper VT-TuP12
RHIC Turbomolecular Pumping System

Tuesday, October 26, 1999, 5:30 pm, Room 4C

Session: Poster Session
Presenter: D. Weiss, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Authors: D. Weiss, Brookhaven National Laboratory
R.C. Lee, Brookhaven National Laboratory
D.J. Pate, Brookhaven National Laboratory
L.A. Smart, Brookhaven National Laboratory
D. Zigrosser, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Correspondent: Click to Email
The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) Project at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), is a 3.8 km circumference collider commissioned earlier this year. The superconducting magnets used to steer and focus the ion beams, operate at 4.2K, and are contained in 28 cryostats of various sizes. A network of turbomolecular pumping stations (TMPS) is employed to maintain the rough vacuum in the magnet cryostats prior to cooldown of the machine, and to pump helium, which may be present in the cryostats due to leaks in the internal cryogenic distribution system. The design and operation of the TMPS and TMPS network is presented, with particular focus on the integration of off-the-shelf components with the BNL custom designed station logic controller (SLC). Additionally, the performance of the TMPS during the commissioning phase of RHIC is described.