Design and commissioning of vertical test cryostats For XFEL superconducting cavities measurements

Abstract

The European X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL), now under construction at DESY in Hamburg, will make an extensive use of 1.3 GHz superconducting cavities aimed at accelerating the electrons to the energy of 17.5 GeV. The cavities will be operated at 2 K with the use of saturated HeII. Prior to their assembly in accelerator cryomodules, the RF performance of the cavities will be cold-tested in two dedicated vertical cryostats. Each cryostat allows a simultaneous testing of 4 cavities mounted on a dedicated insert. The cryostats are equipped with external lines allowing their supply with liquid helium and further conversion of the helium into superfluid He II. The paper describes the test stand flow scheme, the technical key elements, including a recuperative heat exchanger, and the cold commissioning. The thermodynamic analysis of the cryostat cool down and steady-state operation is given. A Second Law of Thermodynamics based theoretical model of the heat exchanger performance, and the model experimental validation, is presented.