ALICE's first vacuum bakeout a success

At the beginning of April, the ALICE central beryllium beam pipe and absorber beam pipes were successfully conditioned.

The installation and bakeout shell surround the beam pipe (lower left), running through the middle of the ITS and TPC. Notice the high-tech cooling system, an additional precaution to avoid overheating the ALICE detection equipment.

One end of the vacuum sector during the bakeout and pure gas refill. It is unusual for a vacuum sector to end as it does in the middle of a non-accessible detector and made the installation and cabling of the bakeout equipment a more difficult procedure.