LHC beam dump system: Consequences of abnormal operation

The LHC beam dump system is one of the most critical systems concerning machine protection and safe operation. It is used to dispose of high intensity beams between 450 GeV and 7 TeV. Studies into the consequences of abnormal beam dump actions have been performed. Different error scenarios have been evaluated using particle tracking in MAD-X, including an asynchronous dump action, and the impact of different orbit and collimator settings. Losses at locations in the ring and the beam dump transfer lines have been quantified as a function of different settings of the dump system protection elements. The implications for the setting up and operation of these protection elements are discussed.