Keeping the Hadron Collider Hot

CERN’s AWAKE particle physics project required a highly reliable pump to circulate hot oil across a demanding temperature range of 20°C to 235°C. The existing vertical pump was struggling with the thermal duty, while access for maintenance could be restricted during periods of elevated radiation within the tunnel.

AxFlow selected a compact NDM magnetic drive ISO 2858 centrifugal pump, controlled by a remote variable-speed drive. The sealless magnetic-drive design provided reliable hot-oil circulation while helping minimise maintenance requirements and unwanted heat transfer during lower-temperature stages of the experiment.

Products:
NDM magnetically driven ISO 2858 pump.

Industry:
Experimental particle physics.

Challenge:
To replace a vertical hot oil pump on the oil heater for the AWAKE Project on the Hadron Collider at CERN that was failing due to the temperature of the oil. The experiment required a range of temperatures from 20 oC to 235oC which meant that the pump couldn't transfer too much heat into the oil during the low temperature experiments. The unit had to be compact and be extremely reliable as maintenance isn't possible due to periods of high radiation levels in the tunnel.

Solution
A close coupled magnetically driven NDM pump run via a remote VSD and connected to the oil heating tank via new pipework and fittings including a bellows.

Magnetically driven pumps have no seals and as the internal components are held in place by the magnetic couple, friction and therefore wear is significantly reduced within the pump chamber.

There is virtually no maintenance requirement as there are no seals to replace. If for some reason maintenance is required, the pump chamber assembly can be easily disengaged from the motor bracket.

As the motor shaft does not enter the pump chamber and the air gap between the rear pump chamber and drive magnet acts as a thermal barrier, magnetically driven pumps can minimise heat transfer into chilled liquids and are capable of handling high temperature fluids.

The motor speed was controlled with VSD's to allow the pump to deliver varying flows as required by the experiments different phases.