Development of a 'scroll pump operation status monitoring system (SCP-MS)' for use at a synchrotron radiation beamline

At SPring-8 synchrotron radiation beamlines, it is essential to maintain a vacuum between the radiation source and the experimental stations. This is achieved by using scroll pumps and turbo molecular pumps. However, scroll pump malfunctions at BL22XU give rise to unscheduled downtime during the user experiments. To facilitate the early detection of scroll pump malfunctions, we have developed a 'scroll pump operating status monitoring system (SCP-MS)'. The system simultaneously measures motor current and vacuum pressure at the scroll pump. It is possible to monitor pumps from outside of the shielding hutch, something which was not possible until now. The SCP-MS has been installed to monitor scroll pumps in actual operation, to monitor the change of the motor current value and vacuum pressure. We report on the detail of the system. (author)