PERFORMANCE AND OPERATING EXPERIENCE OF THE RHIC FIRST SEXTANT TEST

Installation and testing of the first sextant of RHIC magnets has been completed. The tests consisted of temperature cycling, quenching magnets, and measuring important engineering parameters of a string of magnets totaling a length of over 500 meters. This represents one sixth of the 3.8 kilometer circumference of the RHIC machine and serves as a basis for extrapolation of parameters for full machine operation. This paper gives an overview of the entire system, a detailed discussion of startup problems, operations and cryogenic system reliability over the period of the test and details of some of the important cryogenic operating parameters.