CRYOGENIC BENCHES FOR SUPERFLUID-HELIUM TESTING OF FULL-SCALE PROTOTYPE SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETS FOR THE CERN LHC PROJECT

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project at CERN will make massive use of high-field superconducting magnets, operating below 1.9 K in pressu rized superfluid helium. Reception testing of these magnets requires d edicated cryogenic facilities, consisting of an array of single-magnet test benches fed from a common large-capacity refrigeration system. F ollowing installation and commissioning of general cryogenic infrastru cture, we have designed and constructed two such cryogenic benches, an d are operating the first one for tests of 10-m long LHC prototype dip ole cryomagnets supplied by European industry. We describe system arch itecture, cryogenic process and constructional features of these bench es in the following, and report on test results in a companion paper.