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Keeping TMT Cool

Keeping the TMT Cool and Clean: A Milestone for the Chilled Water and Compressed Air Systems

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) International Observatory (TIO) is working on two important systems that will help keep everything running smoothly at its summit facilities: the Variable Temperature Chilled Water (VTCW) system and the Facility Compressed Air (FCA) system. These systems will play a big role in keeping the telescope cool and clean for amazing science observations.  Earlier this month, the systems completed their Final Design Review.

What Do These Systems Do?

• Variable Temperature Chilled Water System:
  This system sends chilled water throughout the telescope’s structure and instruments to help control temperature and cool down the powerful equipment that generates heat during operations. Just like how a computer might overheat if not cooled properly, the telescope needs this cooling system to stay at the right temperature for precise measurements and clear science images.
• Facility Compressed Air System:
  This system provides clean, cooled air to different parts of the telescope facility. It has two main jobs:

1.  Making and Distributing Liquid Nitrogen: Some telescope instruments need to stay extremely cold to get the best out of their detectors and to minimize light emitted from warm optics, so they use liquid nitrogen for cooling.  Liquid nitrogen is 77 Kelvin, or −196ºC. or −321ºF — necessary to reach the levels of coldness needed for the exciting observations TMT will take.
2. Purge Air: This air keeps dust and tiny particles off sensitive components (like mirrors and sensors) to ensure they stay clean and work perfectly.

The blue lines indicate the flow of the VTCW piping on the telescope structure.  There's a lot there that needs cooling!	The yellow lines indicate the flow of the FCA piping. It's even more extensive than the VTCW piping!

Who Designed the System?

The design team, comprised of TIO staff and led by Kyle Kinoshita, telescope structures group leader and work authorization manager for the FCA and VTCW design work, and Ben Irarrazaval, lead AO electronics engineer and technical lead, along with systems engineering team members Kayla Hardie, Bart Fordham, Sarah Gajadhar, Josh Church, Nancy Han, and Jamie Dodge, developed these systems to address the unique requirements of the telescope. Their work prioritized safety, reliability, maintainability, and optimal performance, even in the challenging conditions of the TMT summit, known for its high altitude and extreme temperatures.    

What is a Final Design Review?

The Variable Temperature Chilled Water and Facility Compressed Air systems successfully passed their Final Design Review on November 6, 2024. Held at the TIO Project Office in Pasadena, the review included both in-person and remote attendees. The review panel featured experts in observatory physical plant design from M3 Engineering alongside TIO specialists in telescope controls, software, electrical engineering, telescope operations, facilities, safety, and instrumentation. The review was led by Project Systems Engineer Dr. Gelys Trancho.

This final design review ensured the designed system meets requirements, that risk, hazards, maintenance, reliability are all addressed, and there is a plan to demonstrate requirements verification early in the production and integration phases. The committee passed this team on all of these aspects.

 

Zoom particpants during the review.

On site participants during the review.

A Major Milestone Achieved

The successful completion of the Final Design Review reflects the project’s dedication to engineering excellence and significant progress toward achieving its scientific goals. This achievement highlights the collaborative effort and expertise driving the project forward, ensuring that each component meets the highest standards of quality and performance. Congratulations to the entire team for their hard work and commitment!