Vacuum solutions provider Pfeiffer Vacuum has received another major order for turbopumps and turbo pumping stations from CERN.
CERN is situated in Geneva on the Franco-Swiss border and is the largest centre for particle physics research in the world. Its main business is fundamental physics – finding out what the universe is made of and researching the basic constituents of matter.
The particle accelerator LHC (Large Hadron Collider) has a circumference of some 27 kilometers and is used for colliding proton and ion beams at nearly the speed of light. The accelerated particles travel in beam lines, which require ultra-high vacuum (UHV) conditions. These beam lines are pre-evacuated with turbo pumping stations. Furthermore, turbopumps with a very high compression ratio for light gases are then responsible for generating the insulation vacuum. The insulation vacuum is necessary for the operation of the superconducting magnets at a temperature of -271°C.
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