Demaco, the Dutch specialist in cryogenic infrastructures, has acquired two major orders from DESY, the main shareholder of the European X-ray Free Electron Laser facility, in short European XFEL.
Demaco will design and deliver a large part of the Cryogenic Infrastructure facilitating the cooling down of the accelerator modules. The total order value is over € 7 million resulting in approx. 33,000 man-hours of work to be executed from now till mid-2015.
The European XFEL will enable a multitude of completely different experiments – ranging from analyses of the structure of biomolecules to films of chemical reactions or investigations into extreme states of matter. The particle accelerator is used for:
- deciphering the 3D structure of biomolecules, cell constituents and whole viruses. This will provide the basis for future medicines
- enabling completely novel, three-dimensional insights into the Nano-world and thus shed light on future technological applications
- filming how molecules form and separate again or how they fulfil important functions in biological cells. This may contribute to improvements in the energy generation or the production of chemical substances and lead to progress in medicine
- enabling to study exciting aspects of magnetization – with direct applications in data storage
- creating unique conditions for the investigation of atoms, molecules, atomic clusters or nanoparticles in extremely high X-ray radiation fields. These insights can lead not only to progress in basic research, but also to new products – such as novel catalysts or electronic devices controlled by X-ray radiation
- helping to develop new astrophysical models for planets or push ahead with fusion research for future energy generation here on Earth.
The European XFEL will be located mainly in underground tunnels (at a depth of 6 to 38 metres), which can be accessed on three different sites. The 3.4-kilometre-long facility will run from DESY in Hamburg to the town of Schenefeld in Schleswig-Holstein. The Schenefeld site will host the research campus on which international teams of scientists will carry out experiments with the X-ray flashes. The beginning of commissioning of the European XFEL is planned for 2015/16.
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Demaco will bring its cryogenic expertise (the company itself refers to ‘Cryogenius’) to the project and will be responsible for design, engineering, manufacturing, testing, installation, documentation and certification of the cryogenic infrastructure containing:
- 3x Helium inlet boxes
- 3x Helium outlet boxes
- 6x Helium connection boxes
- Helium Transfer Lines from the liquefaction facility to the XFEL tunnel
- Helium Transfer Lines inside the XFEL tunnel connecting the inlet and outlet boxes.
Demaco’s solutions demonstrate ‘Cryogenius’ in that:
- The cryogenic supply has to be maintained continuously (24 hours a day/seven days a week)
- The beam pipe must be installed very precisely
- Demaco is fully responsible for the 3D-model of the Boxes
- The design of the process pipes and the associated supporting systems must be mechanically robust for all operating and test conditions
- Demaco shall give evidence to solid design of the Boxes by presenting detailed calculations.
Demaco is located in Noord-Scharwoude, the Netherlands. For almost thirty years Demaco has specialized in designing, building, testing and installing pipelines as well as measurement and control systems tailored to extremely low temperatures (cryogenics) and extremely low pressures (vacuum technology). In addition to facilitating the scientific laboratories with complex liquefied Helium systems, Demaco also serves producers of industrial gases and end-users of liquid gas, including the food processing, pharmaceutical, automotive, aerospace and medical companies. Furthermore, Demaco has specialized in cryogenic infrastructure for the LNG market.
