The AGS main magnet power supply upgrade

The AGS Main Magnet Power Supply consists of a group of thyristor controlled power converters that operate from full rectify to full invert. In order to minimize ripple during the critical periods of injection and extraction 24 pulse converters are used for these portions of the cycle. The maximum voltage available in this mode is nominally 2,000 volts. The converters that are functional during this portion of the cycle are called the flat-top bank or ''F'' bank modules. During acceleration and invert where voltages of up to 12,000 volts are needed and where the ripple requirements are less stringent, groups of twelve pulse converters are operational. These converters are called the Pulsed bank or ''P'' bank modules. The original controlled rectifier system consisted of 96 large mercury filled excitron tubes divided equally between the P bank and F bank converters. These devices were extremely durable and ran successfully for over twenty years. It was, decided to replace the excitron farm with multiple arrangements of three-phase, full-wave, bridge modules that utilize silicon controlled rectifiers (SCR's or thyristors) as the switching element. In order to match the existing transformer connections and buswork, eight identical modules were required; four for the P bank system and four for the F bank system. In order to reduce noise pickup and provide electrical isolation the high level SCR gate triggers are provided via fiberoptic cable. The status of various parameters such as water flow, auxiliary power supply performance, trigger circuitry failure, over voltage, overcurrent, and loss of phase reference are monitored via a programmable logic controller (PLCs). The PLCs use isolated input and output modules for various voltage levels from TTL to 150 Vdc to 125 Vac. These devices are extremely flexible and have allowed modifications and improvements that have enhanced the performance over any equivalent hard wired system