Following our article on the PS Booster, we take a look at the next link in CERN’s accelerator chain: the venerable Proton Synchrotron and its magnet system

The Proton Synchrotron (PS), which was CERN’s first synchrotron and which turns 60 this year, once held the record for the particle accelerator with the highest energy. Today, it forms a key link in CERN’s accelerator complex, mainly accelerating protons to 26 GeV before sending them to the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS), but also delivering particles to several experimental areas such as the Antiproton Decelerator (AD). Over the course of Long Shutdown 2 (LS2), the PS will undergo a major overhaul to prepare it for the higher injection and beam intensities of the LHC’s Run 3 as well as for the High-Luminosity LHC.

One major component of the PS that will be consolidated is the magnet system. The synchrotron has a total of 100 main magnets within it (plus one reference magnet unit outside the ring), which bend and focus the particle beams as they whizz around it gaining energy. “During the last long shutdown (LS1) and at the beginning of LS2, the TE-MSC team performed various tests to identify weak points in the magnets,” explains Fernando Pedrosa, who is coordinating the LS2 work on the PS. The team identified 50 magnets needing refurbishment, of which seven were repaired during LS1 itself. “The remaining 43 magnets that need attention will be refurbished this year.”

Specifically, one of the elements, known as the pole-face windings, which is located between the beam pipe and the magnet yoke, needs replacing. In order to reach into the magnet innards to replace these elements, the magnet units have to be transferred to a workshop in building 151. Once disconnected, each magnet is placed onto a small locomotive system that drives them to the workshops. The locomotives themselves are over 50 years old, and their movement must be delicately managed. It takes ten hours to extract one magnet. So far, six magnets have been taken to the workshop and this work will last until 18 October 2019.

The workshop where the magnets are being treated is divided into two sections. In the first room, the vacuum chamber of the magnets is cut so as to access the pole-face windings. The magnet units are then taken to the second room, where prefabricated replacements are installed.

As mentioned in the previous LS2 Report, the PS Booster will see an increase in the energy it imparts to accelerating protons, from 1.4 GeV to 2 GeV. A new set of quadrupole magnets will be installed along the Booster-to-PS injection line, to increase the focusing strength required for the higher-energy beams. Higher-energy beams require higher-energy injection elements; therefore some elements will be replaced in the PS injection region as part of the LHC Injectors Upgrade (LIU) project, namely septum 42, kicker 45 and five bumper magnets.

Other improvements as part of the LIU project include the new cooling systems being installed to increase the cooling capacity of the PS. A new cooling station is being built at building 355, while one cooling tower in building 255 is being upgraded. The TT2 line, which is involved in the transfer from the PS to the SPS, will have its cooling system decoupled from the Booster’s, to allow the PS to operate independent of the Booster schedule. “The internal dumps of the PS, which are used in case the beam needs to be stopped, are also being changed, as are some other intercepting devices,” explains Pedrosa.

The LS2 operations are on a tight schedule,” notes Pedrosa, pointing out that works being performed on several interconnected systems create constraints for what can be done concurrently. As LS2 proceeds, we will bring you more news about the PS, including the installation of new instrumentation in wire scanners that help with beam-size measurement, an upgraded transverse-feedback system to stabilise the beam and more.

More pictures of the PS magnets are available on CDS: