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Functional Safety Consultancy advises MAX IV on beamline safety

MAX IV in Lund consists of one linear accelerator and two storage rings with room for a total of approx. 25 beamlines operating under both high pressure and ultra-vacuum. Today, 16 beamlines are funded, half of which will receive regular users in 2019.


The scientists at MAX IV would like to be able to change the gas type and pressure conditions in different operating situations, and therefore, they needed assistance from a consultant to perform safety and risk assessments of this.

The assignment went to Bjarke Scheller Petersen, who owns the company Scheller Safety Consultant, which undertakes consulting tasks in relation to Functional Safety and machine safety. The company has previously held a training regarding this area at MAX IV, which has led to the larger task as an advisor on MAX IV's beamlines.

- MAX IV is developing a safety profile that must be wide enough to be able to adapt to the different operating situations. My company has made risk assessments and I will continue to act as an advisor in terms of implementing the safety related control of electronic operations, which the scientists and operators at MAX IV can use in their work. Originally, the assignment was set to last a few weeks, but now it seems that it will last some months, says Bjarke Scheller Petersen.

By making the risk assessments, MAX IV ensures that the existing beamlines meet the requirements of today. At the same time, they look at future beamlines and possible future requirements, in order to future-proof the facility.

Big Science is a unique market opportunity

The assignment for MAX IV is Scheller Safety Consultant’s first Big Science task. Through the people working on the Danish beamline DANMAX, Bjarke Sheller Petersen was introduced to the network of Big Science.dk and has participated in several of its events. He emphasises the ‘Danish Instruments for Big Science’ conference where industry and instrument scientists from the local Big Science facilities meet to network. This year, the conference has been expanded to include the remaining Scandinavian countries and is now called ‘Scandinavian Instruments for Big Science’.

Bjarke Scheller Petersen clearly sees several advantages of being a member of the BigScience.dk network.

- By undertaking the assignment at MAX IV, a potential new market has opened for my company. I think Big Science is a very exciting environment to work in, because the people I meet are attentive, they listen, and they ask good questions to get the best out of their suppliers, he concludes.

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