Work accelerates on proton project
DARESBURY engineers have created and delivered a piece of prototype equipment for one of the world’s most ambitious scientific experiments.
Teams from Daresbury Laboratory parent organisation Science And Technology Facilities Council (STFC) are playing a key role in the design and development of the €1.9bn (£1.4bn) European Spallation Source (ESS), which is under construction in Sweden.
The engineers were given a £10.5m project to design, and construct 130 different beam transport modules, forming 70% of the entire accelerator length.
The first prototype beam transport module has now been delivered to the ESS in Lund.
The project is one of several being undertaken by STFC’s scientists and engineers at Daresbury.
In total, Daresbury will be providing more than £65m worth of i’n kind’ contribution to the ESS – nearly a third of the UK’s £165m investment, which was announced by BEIS in 2014.
An STFC spokeswoman said that once complete, the ESS in Lund, Sweden, will be the world’s most powerful particle accelerator dedicated to generating neutrons to look deep inside the materials from which the world is made.
With powerful proton beams a hundred times brighter than at any other facility in the world, its goal is to unlock the secrets of matter at the atomic level.
Its 600-metre particle accelerator will use a proton beam travelling at 90% of the speed of light to chip off tiny particles called neutrons from the nuclei of atoms, with the aim of making advances in medicine, cleaner energy, transport and the environment.
Another major project being undertaken at the lab is looking at the construction and testing of the superconducting accelerating cavities.
The spokeswoman said this was a crucial component of the accelerator as the quality of the cavities would determine the total possible acceleration of the proton beam.
These cavities will be installed in the second stage of the installation in 2022 allowing the accelerator to reach its full potential.
Dr Paul Aden, STFC mechanical engineer, who is project managing the beam transport modules’ design and construction, said: “The design of these modules is based around many years’ experience of designing modules for cutting edge accelerators both in the UK and internationally.
“This project, which will require more than 30 staff years of effort, will deliver the final module in 2019, marking the end of the ESS stage 1 installation, and the point at which the accelerator can be switched on.”
Prof Susan Smith, head of STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory, said: “UK scientists are world leaders in accelerator technology and have been instrumental in developing next generation accelerator solutions across the world.
“STFC has already made a substantial contribution to the development of this international project through our engineering and design expertise, and this will continue over the coming years.
“We look forward to the success and impact of the technological advances that the ESS will achieve.”