EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH European Laboratory for Particle Physics PROTECTION OF THE SUPERCONDUCTING CORRECTOR MAGNETS FOR THE LHC

In the LHC about 6500 superconducting corrector magnets will be powered either in stand-alone mode or in electrical circuits of up to 154 magnets. Single corrector magnets are designed to be self-protected in case of a quench. The protection scheme of magnets powered in series depends on the energy stored in the magnet and on the number of magnets in the circuit. A quench is detected by measuring the resistive voltage of the circuit. The power converter is switched off, and for most circuits part of the energy is extracted with a resistor. Some magnets may require a resistor or possibly a diode parallel to the magnet in order to avoid overheating of the superconducting wire or an unacceptable voltage level. Experiments have been performed to understand quenching of prototype corrector magnets. In order to determine the adequate protection schemes for the magnet circuits the results have been used as input for simulations to extrapolate to the LHC conditions.