A redesigned storage system for superconducting magnets at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory is expected to save about $420,000 while increasing storage capacity for equipment needed in a future particle accelerator.
The four-level structure can hold up to 45,000 pounds of magnets in a limited space. It was developed by Robert Desjardins, a fourth-year mechanical engineering technology student at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), during a 10-week summer internship.
The design will help Brookhaven store approximately 80 magnets being removed from its Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The equipment is intended for reuse in the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), a next-generation accelerator expected to begin operating in the mid-2030s.
Each superconducting magnet measures about 20 feet long and weighs more than 10,000 pounds. The new stands increase storage capacity from three magnets to four per structure without requiring additional floor space.
Four levels increase capacity
The original storage stands were designed in the 1990s to accommodate three magnets. Brookhaven needed a taller structure capable of holding an additional magnet while meeting load-bearing and safety requirements.
Desjardins redesigned the stands using computer-aided engineering models, reviewed existing blueprints, and worked with manufacturers to assess the proposed structure.
“The original stands were designed in the 1990s, and at the time they could hold only three of the magnets. They wanted to up the capacity to four,” Desjardins said.
The redesign also required extensive simulations to evaluate structural strength, load tolerance, and seismic performance. These checks were intended to determine whether the stands could safely support the heavy equipment, including under earthquake-related forces.
Desjardins worked with Brookhaven mechanical engineer Jonathon Greene, an RIT alumnus who supervised the project. According to Greene, the revised design reduced costs while increasing the height of the storage system.
“Rob costed down the original design while increasing the height. We saved about $420,000 by doing so,” Greene said in a Brookhaven article.
The reported savings relate to the storage-stand redesign. The supplied information does not specify how the savings were calculated or provide independent verification of the figure.
Preparing for future collisions
Brookhaven’s RHIC has operated for more than 26 years, allowing scientists to study matter under extreme conditions. Some of its superconducting magnets will be retained for the new Electron-Ion Collider rather than discarded.
The EIC is being developed to investigate the internal structure of protons and atomic nuclei. It will collide electrons with ions, allowing researchers to examine how quarks and gluons behave inside matter.
Preserving existing magnets is part of the laboratory’s preparation for the transition between the two facilities. The redesigned stands will provide storage space for the equipment before it is reused.
During development, Desjardins presented design updates to Brookhaven engineers and scientists and addressed questions about material selection, safety reviews, and simulation results.
A prototype of the four-tier stand has also been documented by Brookhaven. However, the supplied material does not establish that all required stands have been manufactured or that the full inventory of approximately 80 magnets has been transferred into storage.
The project demonstrates how a relatively straightforward structural redesign can increase storage density and reduce infrastructure costs while supporting the construction of a major scientific facility.