predecessor model LHC
While the world grapples with crises, climate issues, and AI, Fraunhofer IML, as part of a larger puzzle, continues to work on the logistics concept that will help realize the multi-billion-euro "Future Circular Collider" at CERN in Geneva. A modular vehicle concept and a simulation model ensure the planning is sound.
In June, a final general conference of participants from around the world took place in San Francisco. A feasibility study will be conducted starting in 2025 to determine whether the project can be implemented in its current form. This will, of course, also involve a financial question for the project, which is currently estimated at around €15 billion.
Control room. Photos: CERN/Drew Bird 
At Fraunhofer IML, Gerd Kuhlmann and Benedikt O. Müller are working on the logistics concept and supply chain for the thousands of components, accelerator magnets, and cryogenic elements that are to be installed in the underground roundabout. Now that the concept for the external delivery of the more than 5,400 magnets—the majority by road—has been finalized, the focus is on space-saving installation within the tunnel. Its dimensions were defined in advance as a diameter of 5.5 meters (for comparison, the Gotthard road tunnel has a diameter of 5.9 meters). This also requires consideration of redundant systems, components, and safety measures under extremely confined space conditions.
Graphic: CERN/IML
For logistics experts, who are always striving for the "right quantity at the right time in the right place," a "particle accelerator" certainly sounds intriguing. However, this gigantic electron catapult isn't about the fine-tuning of goods, articles, and supplies, but rather about fundamental physics research. At the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (European Council for Nuclear Research) in Geneva, magnets weighing tons accelerate tiny elementary particles to near-light speeds in a "Large Hadron Collider" on a circular path currently 27 km long, running 100 m below Geneva and the foothills of the Jura Mountains. There, they collide head-on. The debris from this crash scenario is then fed into house-sized detectors to trace the ultimate catastrophe—a miniature "Big Bang," so to speak—that marked the beginning of the universe.
Graphic: Kuhlmann/IML
Following the discovery of the Higgs boson (which was a crucial component in explaining "mass" and "black holes"), a new accelerator tube, the "Future Circular Collider," is scheduled to begin operation in 2045. This collider, with its 91.2 km long orbital path connected to the surface via eight vertical shafts, will reach an average depth of 200 m and explore new dimensions in the realm of elementary particles. Reaching a force of 100 TeV (teraelectronvolts), it could enable the detection of further elementary particles that, according to theory, must exist to explain the universe.
The installation of the new particle catapult is intended to be free of debris. A modular vehicle concept will handle personnel and material transport underground, equipped with an autonomous navigation system that uses a LiDAR scanner to monitor the tunnel's contours on recurring sections and ensure sufficient safety distances, while barcode readers continuously transmit position reports and ensure ground-based guidance.
Because the highly sensitive cargo of super magnets reacts to any kind of vibration, braking distances must be meticulously observed, and the axles and bogies of the trailer construction must be vibration-damped to absorb even minor bumps. Conventional crane technology has no place in the tunnel. On-site, compact lifting devices in the form of lifting tables must position the 13.4 m long and 60 t heavy assemblies with millimeter precision in a very confined space.
According to Kuhlmann, there have been no delays so far due to the coronavirus pandemic or international events. An advantage of the current situation is that not everything has been finalized down to the last detail. A simulation of the material delivery processes, developed at Benedikt O. Müller's desk, allows for a faster calculation of changes to individual parameters, scaling, and the anticipated impact on transport.
Discussion at FCC Week / Photo: Drew Bird
Benedikt Müller stated that any talk of "black holes" appearing in light of the enormous energies to be released in the crash experiments planned for the coming decades had so far only been a joke. Kuhlmann added, "We are concentrating on our logistical tasks.".
Logistics plays a prominent role as an "enabler" in the construction of the new particle accelerator, according to Müller. "When you need a machine that's nearly 100 km long and consists of thousands of magnets, you can't do it without logistics. But even if we aren't the ones who ultimately deliver the actual results of this fundamental physics research, we are the ones who make a significant contribution to its success.".
Klaus Koch
Video and interviews with Fraunhofer scientists Gerd Kuhlmann and Benedikt Oliver Müller on the status quo of the Future Circular Collider project
Preliminary timeline
- 2025Completion of the feasibility study
- 2027–2028Decision-making phase of the CERN member states and international partners regarding implementation.
- 2030: Start of construction work
- 2040s: Commissioning of first plant components (FCC-ee / Electron-Positron Collider)
- 2070s: Complete operation and planned operating time of approximately 25 years
Questions
The discovery of the Higgs boson led to new questions, such as what role the Higgs boson played during the Big Bang and what influence it had on the evolution of the universe. The Higgs boson is expected to help answer open questions that the Standard Model of physics cannot address, including those concerning so-called "dark matter" and the possible excess of antimatter. Some scenarios point to the existence of new, heavier particles that are beyond the range of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) used so far and require the use of higher energies. Others point to the existence of lighter particles that interact only very weakly with particles of the Standard Model and whose detection requires the processing of enormous amounts of data and extremely faint signals.
Energy demand
The FCC's electricity consumption is expected to fluctuate between 1 and 1.8 TWh/year in the initial phase. However, thanks to ongoing research and development efforts, it should be 30–40% lower than what would be possible with current technologies. The FCC study team is also collaborating with regional authorities to identify ways in which some of this energy can be reused for heating local industries and public infrastructure.
