Cryogenic leak test procedure for a large superconducting cyclotron helium vessel

A procedure for testing the vacuum integrity of very large stainless steel weldments used at cryogenic temperatures has been developed at Michigan State University. This development, which uses large quantities of liquid nitrogen, is a modification of a technique commonly applied to small devices and involves cooling the cryostat's liquid helium vessel (bobbin) to liquid nitrogen temperature, and then proceeding immediately with leak testing. This method was applied to the K800 superconducting magnet helium vessel, which seemed leak tight at room temperature, but was found to have an easily detectable helium leak when cooled. After repairing the leak, retesting revealed no leaks, where upon the K800 cryostat construction was completed; i.e. the bobbin was wrapped with superinsulation, a liquid nitrogen radiation shield was added, and the assembly was inserted into the vacuum jacket. The final leak test occurred when the cryostat was cooled to liquid helium temperature and was found to be helium leak tight.