Speaker
Description
High-power radiofrequency (RF) systems are critical components of RF accelerator facilities, where unexpected overheating can lead to component degradation, reduced availability, and costly downtime. In the Linear IFMIF Prototype Accelerator (LIPAc) RF system, local overheating of inner conductors in coaxial transmission lines and thermal deformation of RF loads have been observed despite the use of thermos-labels and conventional temperature sensors. These experiences motivated the development of a more comprehensive temperature monitoring solution.
An EPICS-based control and monitoring system using infrared (IR) cameras has therefore been developed and integrated into the LIPAc accelerator control system. The system provides real-time thermal imaging on CSS panels, enabling centralized monitoring, alarm generation, historical trend analysis, and software interlocks through EPICS process variables.
A key feature of the system is its compact and scalable architecture. Low-cost IR cameras connected via standard Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) switches are integrated into the EPICS environment. With a containerized IOC prepared in advance, additional cameras can be automatically deployed with minimal effort, allowing rapid expansion of the monitoring area.
The system has been demonstrated during conditioning of superconducting RF couplers and flexible coaxial transmission lines operated toward RF powers exceeding 100 kW under full-reflection conditions. Operational experience and the contribution of the system to reliability improvement for high-power RF systems will be presented.