Transient beam losses in the LHC injection kickers from micron scale dust particles

Transient beam losses on a time scale of a few ms have been observed in the LHC injection kickers, occurring mainly shortly after beam injection with a strong correlation in time to the kicker pulsing. The beam losses, which have at times affected LHC availability, are attributed to micron scale ceramic dust particles detached from the alumina beam pipe and accelerated into the beam. The beam related observations are described, together with laboratory measurements of beam pipe contamination and kicker vibration, simulations of electric field in the beam pipe and the basic dynamic model. Energy deposition simulations modelling the beam losses are presented and compared to measurement. Extrapolations to future LHC operation at higher intensities and energies are made, and prospects for mitigation are discussed.