FLUKA simulations for the optimization of the Beam Loss Monitors

The collimation system in the beam cleaning insertion IR7 of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is expected to clean the primary halo and the secondary radiation of a beam with unprecedented energy and intensity. Accidental beam losses can therefore entail severe consequences to the hardware of the machine. Thus, protection mechanisms, e.g. beam abort, must be instantaneously triggered by a set of Beam Loss Monitors (BLM's). The readings in the BLM's couple the losses from various collimators, thus rendering the identification of any faulty unit rather complex. In the present study the detailed geometry of IR7 is upgraded with the insertion of the BLM's, and the Monte Carlo FLUKA transport code is used to estimate the individual contribution of every collimator to the showers detected in each BLM.