Design, Construction, Installation and First Commissioning Results of the LHC Cryogenic System

The cryogenic system of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be, upon its completion in 2006, the largest in the world in terms of refrigeration capacity with an equivalent to 144 kW at 4.5 K, about 400'000 litres of superfluid helium with 25 km of superconducting magnets below 2 K leading to a cryogen inventory of 100 tons of helium. The challenges involved in the design, construction and installation, as well as the first commissioning results will be addressed in this talk. Particular mention will be made of the problems encountered and how they were or are being solved. Perspectives for LHC will be presented. General considerations for future large cryogenic systems will be briefly proposed.