Handling 1 MW losses with the LHC collimation system

The LHC superconducting magnets in the dispersion suppressor of IR7 are the most exposed to beam losses leaking from the betatron collimation system and represent the main limitation for the halo cleaning. In 2013, quench tests were performed at 4 TeV to improve the quench limit estimates, which determine the maximum allowed beam loss rate for a given collimation cleaning. The main goal of the collimation quench test was to try to quench the magnets by increasing losses at the collimators. Losses of up to 1 MW over a few seconds were generated by blowing up the beam, achieving total losses of about 5.8 MJ. These controlled losses exceeded by a factor 2 the collimation design value, and the magnets did not quench.