The New Superfluid Helium Cryostats for the Short Straight Sections of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

The lattice of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) contains 364 Short Straight Section (SSS) units, one in every 53 m long half-cell. An SSS consists of three major assemblies: the standard cryostat section, the cryogenic service module, and the jumper connection. The standard cryostat section of an SSS contains the twin aperture high-gradient superconducting quadrupole and two pairs of superconducting corrector magnets, operating in pressurized helium II at 1.9 K. Components for isolating cryostat insulation vacuum, and the cryogenic supply lines, have to be foreseen. Special emphasis is given to the design changes of the SSS following adoption of an external cryogenic supply line (QRL). A jumper connection connects the SSS to the QRL, linking all the cryogenic tubes necessary for the local full-cell cooling loop [at every second SSS]. The jumper is connected to one end of the standard cryostat section via the cryogenic service module, which also houses beam diagnostics, current feedthroughs, and instrumentation capillaries. The conceptual design fulfilling the tight requirements of magnet alignment precision and cryogenic performance are described. Construction details, aimed at minimizing costs of series manufacturing and assembly, while ensuring the high quality of this complex accelerator component, are given.