On 12/30/2016 05:56 AM, Gene Heskett wrote: > > Makes me ask what "genius" is running such a place. :) I am amazed at the > inefficiency of such places. > They pipe liquid helium all over too cool the superconducting magnets to 7 K or below. EVERYTHING is supercon. They use a commercial Kaeser rotary screw air compressor to compress the helium for the liquifier. It is a big unit, I think 130 HP. They have the most intricate monitoring and control system that manages the whole place (EPICS). But, somehow, a sensor failed and caused the control system to NOT alarm on a loss of helium, due to a leak at the compressor. They lost the whole inventory of helium before other systems started alarming. They had to shut down the whole facility and warm up the magnets, and ended up losing something like $10 million of helium. Well, THAT wasn't supposed to happen.
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