CERN Accelerating science

Article
Report number	LHC-Project-Report-164 ; CERN-LHC-Project-Report-164
Title	A High Reliability Gas-driven Helium Cryogenic Centrifugal Compressor
Author(s)	Bonneton, M ; Tavian, L ; Gistau-Baguer, Guy M ; Turcat, F ; Viennot, P
Affiliation	(CERN) ; (Air Liquide, Sassenage, France)
Publication	1998
Imprint	22 Jan 1998
Number of pages	8
In:	Adv. Cryog. Eng., A 43 (1998) 643-649
DOI	10.1007/978-1-4757-9047-4_78
Subject category	Accelerators and Storage Rings
Accelerator/Facility, Experiment	CERN LHC
Abstract	A helium cryogenic compressor was developed and tested in real conditions in 1996. The achieved objective was to compress 0.018 kg/s Helium at 4 K @ 1000 Pa (10 mbar) up to 3000 Pa (30 mbar). This project was an opportunity to develop and test an interesting new concept in view of future needs. The main features of this new specific technology are described. Particular attention is paid to the gas bearing supported rotor and to the pneumatic driver. Trade off between existing technologies and the present work are presented with special stress on the bearing system and the driver. The advantages are discussed, essentially focused on life time and high reliability without maintenance as well as non pollution characteristic. Practical operational modes are also described together with the experimental performances of the compressor. The article concludes with a brief outlook of future work.

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