Liquid Hydrogen Infrastructure Update M Hills M Courthold T Bradshaw I Mullacrane P Warburton
Outline Cryostat Instrumentation Control System Safety Issues Cartridge Heaters Ventilation Fan Sizing Cryostat Testing Schedule
Cryostat Instrumentation 1 Level Sensors manufactured by AS using a chain of resistors and fitted Cartridge heaters procured and fitted
Cryostat Instrumentation 2 Heater on cryocooler Level sensor in absorber pot Cartridge heaters in absorber pot base
Control System Control Panel assembled with (almost) all components needed for He testing Barriers provide intrinsic safety (<19µJ in the circuit) for all wiring except the heaters. PLC programmed Temperature logging Valve control tested Example control sequence tested Heater control implemented PLC Barriers GP & Cryostat Connectors
PLC Read Out
PLC Data Logging
Safety Issues 1 - Cartridge Heaters “Where terminals of intrinsically safe and non-intrinsically safe circuits are adjacent, their points of connection shall be separated by a distance of 50 mm, or by an insulating barrier or earthed metal barrier which extends to at least the height of the terminals being protected” (IEC79-11 BS 5345 Part 4) Copper tube used around feedthrough. Heater feedthrough uses a 12-pin connector; all other connectors are 8-pin, so it is impossible to connect the non-IS circuitry to the thermometer and level sensor circuits.
Safety Issues 2 – Ventilation Fan Sizing The Gas Panel Enclosure and ventilation system had previously been designated as Zone 2 for purposes of DSEAR regulations But...is this justified by the level of ventilation available? Guidance from Baseefa (DSEAR consultants) is that the ‘time of persistence’ of an explosive atmosphere in the event of a leak should be <30mins. Time of persistence = f(air changes/hour, LEL) ~90s with fans at full speed ~7mins with fans on standby The ‘hypothetical volume’ of the vapour cloud should also be less than the volume of the enclosure. Hypothetical volume = f(release rate, air changes/hour) <5m3 (volume of the enclosure) in both cases
Cryostat Testing
Cryostat Thermometry TS05 and TS06 PT1000 and Cernox TS04 – PT1000
(Early) Cooldown Results... N2 pre-cool of absorber pot base
2009/10 Schedule Controls development for switch to operation with H2 Acceptance Testing of complete system He R&D Tests