Vacuum Control Systems of the Cyclotrons in VECC, Kolkata

VECC has undertaken the modernization of the K-130 Room Temperature Cyclotron (RTC) (operational since 1978) and commissioning of K-500 Superconducting Cyclotron (SCC) at present. The control system of RTC vacuum system has been upgraded to Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) based automated system from relay based manual system. A distributed PLC based system is under installation for SCC vacuum system. The requirement of high vacuum in both the cyclotrons (1×10⁻⁶ mbar for RTC and 5 × 10⁻⁸ mbar SCC) imposes the reliable local and remote operation of all vacuum components and instrumentation. The design and development of the vacuum control system of two cyclotrons using the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) distributed real-time software tools are presented.