Fermi National Laboratory

Operation Terminology

HFU

A Heater Firing Unit is discharged to heat the entire magnet quickly and evenly once a quench is detected. This is done because only a small portion of the magnet's superconducting coil getting heated causes a quench. If left on its own, the huge thermal expansion of liquid helium turning into gas at that spot would destroy the magnet.

last modified 9/13/2002   email Fermilab
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