Liquid helium level measurement system

The Liquid Helium level measurement system at the PLF, Mumbai has been recently upgraded. Monitoring liquid helium levels is crucial for steady operation of superconducting Linac booster. A Superconducting wire (NbTi) based sensor (American Magnetic make) is used to measure the liquid helium level. Resistance of the sensor changes with the liquid level and the change in resistance is measured using a four wire readout. The Electronics hardware is developed around Silicon lab module C8051F020, which has a 12 bit ADC on board. The sensor is excited with 80 mA constant current and the voltage across the sensor is measured using 12 bit ADC and processed further to get resistance. The measured resistance is converted to fractional level (0 to 100 %) and can be displayed on the LCD panel of the local unit as well as on the remote PC through serial communication. Each unit is capable of reading upto four level sensors. One of the important features of this measurement system is the auto calibration with a single button for all the four level sensors. Two control stations are designed, developed and successfully installed to monitor helium levels in all eight cryostats of the Linac. (author)