LST SAFETY FRANK O’NEILL (SLAC) 10/21/03
SAFETY ISSUES Seismic Fire Electrical Environmental
SIESMIC SAFETY ~10,000 kg of brass per sextant. Approval from Earthquake Safety Committee 10/17/03
FIRE SAFETY ISSUES Combustibility of LST material Flammable Component of Gas Mixture Wire and Cable Fire Safety Rating
LST MATERIAL COMBUSTABILITY LST extrusion is constructed of plastic (PVC) –Rated Class V-0 in accordance with UL-94 (Tests of Flammability of Plastic Materials) –Loaded with 20% Calcium Carbonate This provides the PVC with some fire retardant properties Small scale laboratory fire tests were conducted by Hughes Associates –ASTM E-1354 “cone calorimeter” test –Comparison of RPC and LST samples
Comparison of LST and RPC MaterialTime to Flaming (sec) Time to End of Flaming (sec) Peak HRR (kW/m 2 ) Avg HRR (kW/m 2 ) Calculated Flammability Parameter RPC RPC RPC RPC-AVG LST LST LST LST-AVG
TEST RESULTS The PVC material exhibited significantly better ignitability and heat release rate characteristics than the existing RPC material The PVC has a strong tendency to intumesce resulting in an insulating layer that inhibits flame spread
GAS MIXTURE 3 components: Argon, Isobutane, and CO 2 Similar Gas Mixtures utilized on other Detectors –SLD: 2.5% Ar, 9.5% isobutane, 88% CO 2 –ZEUS: 3% Ar, 8% isobutane, 89% CO 2 Final decision on mixture pending Nonflammable mixture will be utilized Hughes Associates providing consulting services for evaluation of mixtures
Wire and Cable Fire Safety High Voltage Cable meets the CERN, Safety Instruction 23 Signal Cables meet the IEC (Flame and Fire Propagation Test)
Electrical Safety High Voltage –Passive over-current protection in power supplies –~5500 Volts and ~1 nF ~15 mJ. –Startle hazard Low voltage –Read-out electronics in VME crates –Usual precautions such as fusing
ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) issues SLAC a permit for discharge of VOCs –SLAC may need to modify the permit –Coordination with the SLAC Environmental Protection Department is ongoing