Cryogenic Upgrade of the Helium Central Liquefier and SuperconductingCable & Wire Test Facilities at CERN

O Pirotte, A Lees, T Barbe, T Dupont, M Pezzetti (CERN, Accelerator Technology Department, Geneva, Switzerland)

Introduction

ConclusionRather than purchase a new cryogenic plant to supply the increased LHe requirementin B165 and B163, a new CDS has been designed and procured to maximize and sharethe production of the liquefiers in the two adjacent buildings.The CDS of B165 was successfully installed and commissioned during 2019,increasing LHe storage capacity to 20,000 l and enabling the gravity filling of 10,000 ltrailer dewar. The installation of CDS for B163 is scheduled to finish early in 2020.

B165 – Central Liquifier• Supply of 100 l to 500 l LHe mobile dewars to 30 clients

CERN wide without dedicated cryogenic infrastructure• 1998-2006 : average annual LHe volume of 250,000 l• After 2007, increase due to LHe requirement of experiments

in Antiproton Decelerator (AD). Peak of 400,000 l in 2010• Increase of TCF50 production capacity to 160 l/h (boosted

with LN2), but limitation from LHe storage of 5,000 l

LHe Demand from B163 clients• The historic LHe requirements of the STC and F1 are known.

LHe requirement of F2 is scaled from F1• F1 and F2 will share the WPU, so it is not possible to

simultaneously test at 1.9 K in both cryostats. However it isenvisaged that the external cryostat of one cryostat could be at4.5 K while testing is undertaken in the other.

C2Po2A-06 [20]

Central cryogenic infrastructure of the CERN Meyrin site

B163 – SC Wire and Cables Test Facilities• Sulzer TCF50 boosted with LN2 : 160 l/h (5.2 g/s)• Seven small test cryostats (STC) to test SC wires @ 1.9 K• 6000 l LHe dewar supplying FRESCA double test cryostat

(F1) to test SC cables (NbTi) @ 1.9 K in a field of max 10 T• In project: FRESCA2 (F2) to test new generation of SC cables

(Nb3Sn) and HTS cables under field of 13 T

B253 – Central Purifier• 3 kPa GHe recuperation network• Two Linde purifiers 120 m3/h @ 120-200 bar• Impure and pure GHe HP storage @ 160 bar (1,000 l jumbo

cylinders and 50 l batteries)

Study of historic deliveries (dependence on operational cycleof each client) with future increase of 20% by AD clients

YearDelivered Used by client Max. weekly delivery

kg l kg l kg l2015 39,920 318,288 33,672 268,469 1,842 14,687

2016 39,285 313,220 33,971 270,851 1,561 12,446

2017 49,408 393,932 43,235 344,718 1.552 12,370

* Cool down of either F1 or F2 external cryostat excluded

Worst case weekly LHe requirement in B163*

Configuration Load Case Total average requirement(l/week)Weekly flow rate (g/s)

Average Peak1 F1+F2+STC 42,700 8.5 17.42 F2+STC 33,700 6.7 15.63 STC 12,800 2.60 8.2

Analysis undertaken to combine competing requirements:• B163 average weekly requirement combined with B165

future delivery schedule• Maximum combined LHe production of B165 and B163 is

conservatively 10 g/s (49,950 l / wk)

Upgrade of B165 and B163Main Functional modes of the B165 and B163 CDS

No. From To Frequency1 B165 Liquefier B165 LHe Dewar Continuous2 B165 LHe Dewar Trailer Dewar 2 per week3 B165 LHe Dewar B165-Filling Station 30 per week4 B165 LHe Dewar B163 LHe Dewar 1-3 per week5 Trailer Dewar B165 LHe Dewar Monthly6 Trailer Dewar B165 Filling Station Possible7 B163 Liquefier B163 LHe Dewar Continuous8 B163 LHe Dewar B163 client Continuous9 B163 LHe Dewar B165 LHe Dewar Rare

6,000 LitreLHe Dewar

20 m³ LHeDewar

B165-CB

F2SVB

Fresca 1

Fresca 2

Gazo

Gazo

F1GMP

F1SVB

= Cryogenic Valve

= Limit of supply= He circuit

B163-TL2

B163TL5

B163TL4

Atm.

= Components= N2 circuit

Atm.

EH-VLPPL

B163

6 m³ LHeDewar

B163-CB

B165-CB

10 m³ TrailerDewar

F2SVB

Fresca 1

Fresca 2

Fillingstation

7 small test cryostats(STC)

LPGazo

LP Gazo

LP

LP

Gazo

B163-VBGMPInfra.

B165

F1SVB

Key:

= Warm Valve

B165TL1

B165-TL3B165-TL2

B163TL1

40 m³Litre LN2Dewar

Atm.

B165-N2VB

WPU-F

= 1.9 K Pumping He circuit

B165-VB

LP

GMPF1

GMPF2

Atm.

Atm.

GHe300K

= Existing Valve

Gazo

B163-JB

EH-15kW

B163 Upgrade PFD

Definition of upgrade

Global Process Flow Diagram. Calculated flow rates averaged over 7 daysfor assume B163 max continual operation of STC + F1 + F2.

Harness the full production capacity of the two existing TCF50 tomeet the future LHe requirements in B165 and B163 :• B165 : 20,000 l LHe dewar to maximize LHe production and

allow gravity filling of 10,000 l trailer dewar transportable byroad to AD clients

• B163 : connect FRESCA 2, increase LHe supply by enablingthe transfert of surplus LHe from B165, connect 6,000 l dewardirectly to liquefier and upgrade WPU FRESCA

• B253 : replace 50 l batteries by 24 x 3 m3 jumbo cylindersCool Down Filling Standby at 4K Operation at 4K Pumping to 1.9K Operation at 1.9K Warm Up

1new

Sm

all C

ryos

tats

F1Outer

Inner

F2Outer

Inner

2

3

4

5

6

7

Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday SundayB163LHe

Monday Tuesday

B163 – Worst-case weekly test schedule

During the last three years, the total average weekly demandwas 6,836 l with a peak weekly demand of 14,687 l (2.9 g/s).

LHe demand from B165 clients

Shortage would occur if configuration 1 (F1+F2+STC) iscombined with peak delivery periods in B165 from May toDecember. Therefore, Load case 1 in B163 should only beoperate during low demand periods in B165, from January toApril.

B165 and B163 CDS – Process flow diagram

B163 Compressor

B163CB

LHe Dewar6m³

1

2

5

3

4

6

7

GMPInfra.

GMPF1

GMPF2

F1-SVB

F2-SVB

F2F1

B163JB15 kW

B165

B163-VB

TL5

TL4

TL3 TL2

LHe

Cold GHe at 1.1 bar

Warm GHe

New CDS(CryogenicDistribution System)

TL1

WPU

WPU

WPU

WPU

WPU

B253Purif

WPUFRESCA(B165)

F1 / F2VLP heater

B253Purif

Cold GHe at 15 mbar

Warm GHe at 15 mbar

Combined LHe demand from B165 and B163

B163

B165

B253

40 000 lLN2

Dewar

To B253

FillingStation

TCF50Liquifier

20 000 lLHe Dewar

LN2 VB

TL3 toB163

Compressor

B165VB

LHe trailer

B163WPU

He CDSLN2 CDSHe gazometer

4 x 80 m3GHe Buffer

LN2 trailer

40 000 lLN2

Dewar

LN2 trailer

VLP HeaterF1-SVB

F2 - SVB F1 F2JB15 kW Heater

B163 - VB

STC - TL

CB

GMPs

6000 l LHe Dewar

Jumbo cylinders

Gazometers

20 000 l LHe Dewar

B163 Requirement:

Possible B165 LHeDeliveries:(10,000 l Trailers)

Availability = 1.5 g/s(7,250 L/wk)

Availability = 3.3 g/s(16,250 L/wk)

6.7 g/s(33,700 L/wk)

8.5 g/s(42,700 L/wk)

Max LHe shortage≈ 10,000 L /wk No LHe Shortage

2.6 g/s(12,800 L/wk)

Availability = 7.4 g/s(36,500 L/wk)

No LHe Shortage

Total LHe production= 10 g/s (49,950 L/wk)

Configuration 1:F1+F2+STC

Configuration 2:F2+STC

Configuration 3:STC only