Protecting Detectors in ALICE

ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is one of the big LHC (Large Hadron Collider) experiments at CERN in Geneva. It is composed of many sophisticated and complex detectors mounted very compactly around the beam pipe. Each detector is a unique masterpiece of design, engineering and construction and any damage to it could stop the experiment for months or even for years. It is therefore essential that the detectors are protected from any danger and this is one very important role of the Detector Control System (DCS). One of the main dangers for the detectors is the particle beam itself. Since the detectors are designed to be extremely sensitive to particles they are also vulnerable to any excess of beam conditions provided by the LHC accelerator. The beam protection consists of a combination of hardware interlocks and control software and this paper will describe how this is implemented and handled in ALICE. Tools have also been developed to support operators and shift leaders in the decision making related to beam safety. The gained experiences and conclusions from the individual safety projects are also presented.