Design and Implementation of an Automated High-Pressure Water Rinse System for FRIB SRF Cavity Processing

摘要

Traditionally, high-pressure water rinse (HPR) systems have consisted of relatively simple pump and rinse wand actuator systems intended to clean superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities during processing prior to test assembly. While these types of systems have proven effective at achieving satisfactory levels of cleanliness, large amounts of operator touch-labor are involved, especially in SRF cavities with complex geometries, where several fixture changes and cavity manipulations may be required. With this labor comes the risk of cavity damage or contamination, and the expense of the operator's time. To reduce this operator intervention and maximize cavity cleanliness and process throughput, a new, fully-automated, robotic HPR system has been commissioned in the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) cavity processing facility. This paper summarizes the design and commissioning process of the HPR system, and demonstrates improvements to the FRIB processing facility through the minimization of cavity contamination risk and reduction of technician labor through system automation. Comparative cavity RF test results are presented to further demonstrate system effectiveness.