Determination of the Optimal Operating Parameters for the Jefferson Lab's Cryogenic Cold Compressor System

Jefferson Lab's (JLab) Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) and Free Electron Laser (FEL) are supported by 2 K helium refrigerator known as the Central Helium Liquefier (CHL), which maintains a constant low vapor pressure over the accelerators' large liquid helium inventory with a five-stage centrifugal compressor train. The cold compressor train operates with constrained discharge pressure and can be varied over a range of suction pressures and mass flows to meet the operational requirements of the two accelerators. Using data from commissioning and routine operations of the cold compressor system, the presented procedure predicts an operating point for each cold compressor such that maximum efficiency is attained for the overall cold compressor system for a given combination of mass flow and vapor pressure. The procedure predicts expected efficiency of the system and relative compressors speeds for operating vapor pressures from 4 to 2.5 kPa (corresponds to overall pressure ratios of 29 to 56) and flow rates of 135 g/s to 250 g/s. The results of the predictions are verified by test for a few operating conditions of mass flows and vapor pressures