Large volume liquid helium relief device verifacation apparatus for the alpha magnetic spectrometer.

Here we present details of an experiment for verifying the liquid helium vessel relief device for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-02 (AMS-02). The relief device utilizes a series of rupture discs designed to open in the event of a vacuum failure of the AMS-02 cryogenic system. A failure of this type is classified to be a catastrophic loss of insulating vacuum accident. This apparatus differs from other approaches due to the size of the test volumes used. The verification apparatus consists of a 250 liter vessel used for the test quantity of liquid helium that is located inside a vacuum insulated vessel. A large diameter valve is suddenly opened to simulate the loss of insulating vacuum in a repeatable manner. Pressure and temperature vs. time data are presented and discussed in the context of the AMS-02 hardware configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]