High Precision Current Control for the LHC Main Power Converters

Since restarting at the end of 2009, the LHC has reached a new energy record in March 2010 with the two 3.5 TeV beams. To achieve the performance required for the good functioning of the accelerator, the currents in the main circuits (Main Bends and Main Quadrupoles) must be controlled with a higher precision than ever previously requested for a particle accelerator at CERN: a few parts per million (ppm) of nominal current. This paper describes the different challenges that were overcome to achieve the required precision for the current control of the main circuits. Precision tests performed during the hardware commissioning of the LHC illustrate this paper.