Diagnostic system of the facility for studying superconducting quadrupoles

Abstract

For the HED@FAIR project, NRC “Kurchatov Institute” — IHEP creates four quadrupole magnets with a unique combination of a large internal diameter of the superconducting winding and a high magnetic field gradient in the magnet aperture. To evaluate these superconducting magnets in different operation modes (cooling, maintaining operating parameters, heating, and transitioning magnet to the normal state), a cryogenic facility equipped with a diagnostic system was created. The main measured parameters of the unit were temperature, pressure, and vacuum in the equipment and pipelines, levels of liquid helium and liquid nitrogen, level of the gas holder, and helium flow rate. The control devices were represented by valves with electric and valves. For processing incoming signals from sensors and generation of control actions, the equipment of the domestic company OVEN was used, particularly analog input modules MV110, discrete output modules MU110, and interface converters alternating current four and direct current power supplies. The critical part of the diagnostics system, namely, the control of cryogenic valves, was provided through analog output modules NI 9219 and input modules NI 9212 (feedback) of the CompactRIO chassis. The program part of the installation for the study of superconducting quadruples is a mnemonic diagram with interactive graphic elements, physically located on the computer (operator console), and available in the read mode via the remote desktop protocol to users outside the installation. The mnemonic scheme allows the manual control of the plant’s valves and the automatic regulation of some indicators, depending on the settings assigned by the operator. The dynamics of the processes can be monitored with graphs on the right side of the interface. These graphs are displayed on a separate display at the operator’s console, whereas they are displayed on a unified screen for remote users.