First cryogenic testing of the ATLAS superconducting prototype magnets

The superconducting magnet system of the ATLAS detector will consist of a central solenoid, two end-cap toroids and the barrel toroid made of eight coils (BT) symmetrically placed around the central axis of the detector. All these magnets will be individually tested in an experimental area prior to their final installation in the underground cavern of the LHC collider. A dedicated cryogenic test facility has been designed and built for this purpose. It mainly consists of a 1200 W at 4.5 K refrigerator, a 10 kW liquid nitrogen pre-cooling unit, a cryostat housing liquid helium centrifugal pumps, a distribution valve box and transfer lines. Prior to the start of the series tests of the BT magnets, two model coils are used at this facility. The first one, the so-called B00 of comparatively small size, contains the three different types of superconductors used for the ATLAS magnets which are wound on a cylindrical mandrel. The second magnet, the B0, is a reduced model of basically identical design concept as the final BT magnets. Full commissioning of all sub-systems including cryogenics, electrical powering, magnet protection and control is done ahead of the arrival of the BT series magnets. This cryogenic test facility reproduces the final thermo-hydraulic conditions in the cooling circuits of the magnets in order to validate the design concept.