This week at the lab, electrical engineers are updating the power supplies in the DC Field Facility. This is good news for scientists who conduct experiments in the resistive magnets there. After replacing some magnetic components in the supplies, the facility will have more power (which we need to fuel the more powerful magnets we are developing) as well as higher-quality power. That means stable electrical current with fewer and smaller ripples, which in turn generates a more stable magnetic field, which translates into more accurate measurements for scientists. In fact, the stability of the magnetic fields will increase by a factor of 10.
Need a visual? Imagine the maximum amount of direct current used at the lab represented as the height of a mountain, with a mile-high peak. Now imagine the ripple — or “noise” — on the current as rocks and boulders on the sides of the mountain. The bigger the boulders, the bigger the noise. The upgrades to the power supply will allow us to reduce the size of those “noisy” boulders to barely discernible pebbles less than an inch high! To be a little more technical, it means a field stability for all our resistive magnets of 10 parts per million.
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DC Field Power Supply Upgrade
DC Field Power Supply Upgrade
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DC Field Power Supply Upgrade
DC Field Power Supply Upgrade
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DC Field Power Supply Upgrade
DC Field Power Supply Upgrade
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DC Field Power Supply Upgrade
DC Field Power Supply Upgrade
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DC Field Power Supply Upgrade
DC Field Power Supply Upgrade
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DC Field Power Supply Upgrade
DC Field Power Supply Upgrade
https://nationalmaglab.org/about/around-the-lab/this-week-at-the-lab/power-supply-upgrade#sigProIdc7f96479da
Photos by STEPHEN BILENKY / Text by KRISTEN COYNE