Production Facility Prototype Blower 1000 Hour Test Results
The roots blower in use at ANL for in-beam experiments and also at LANL for flow tests was sized for 12 mm diameter disks and significantly less beam heating. Currently, the disks are 29 mm in diameter, with a 12 mm FWHM Gaussian beam spot at 42 MeV and 2.86 μA on each side of the target, 5.72 μA total. The target design itself is reported elsewhere. With the increased beam heating, the helium flow requirement increased so that a larger blower was needed for a mass flow rate of 400 g/s at 2.76 MPa (400 psig). An Aerzen GM 12.4 blower was selected, and is now installed at the LANL facility for target and component flow testing. Two extended tests of >1000 hr operation have been completed. Those results and discussion thereof are reported herein. Also included in Appendix A is the detailed description of the blower and its installation, while Appendix B documents the pressure vessel design analysis. The blower has been operated for 1000 hours as a preliminary investigation of long-term performance, operation and possible maintenance issues. The blower performed well, with no significant change in blower head or mass flow rate developed under the operating conditions. Upon inspection, some oil had leaked out of the shaft seal of the blower. The shaft seal and bearing race have been replaced. Test results and conclusions are in Appendix B.