Scenes of the PF-ring reconstruction work

The Photon Factory storage ring was reconstructed to the low-emittance lattice configuration during the long shutdown from December, 1996, to September, 1997. Here are scenes of the reconstruction work.

Removing old vacuum ducts from the storage ring (Dec. 1996 - Jan. 1997).
Bending parts of these duct are re-used for the new duct.

Remodelling the vacuum ducts for the normal-cell sections (Jan. 1997).
Newly fabricated straight parts are welded to the old bending parts.

Normal-cell sections in the PF storage ring early in February.
All magnets (execpt for the bending magnets) and the vacuum ducts in the normal-cell sections were removed for the reconstruction.

Aligning the new magnets on a common girder (February, 1997).
This work was carried out in the PF power-supply building.

Transporting and installing the new magnets (March, 1997).
The new magnets, which were aligned on a common girder, were transported to the PF light source building, and then, installed in the ring tunnel.

Installation of the new vacuum ducts (March, 1997).
Left: Installing the new vacuum duct for the normal-cell section.
Right: Straight part of the new duct with new BPM electrodes.

Pre-baking the new vacuum ducts (March, 1997).
New vacuum ducts were pre-baked, and then, were filled with pure nitrogen gas before installation. Ultra-high vacuum of less than 1 nTorr can be achieved by this procedure without in situ baking.

Assembling the new damped accelerating cavity (March, 1997).

New quadrupole (red) and sextupole (yellow) magnets as installed in the normal-cell section.