News

Dynex Supplying Parts to Europe and India

October 05, 2000 by Jeff Shepard

Dynex Power Inc. (Ottawa, Canada) announced that its UK subsidiary, Dynex Semiconductor Ltd., has received an order worth over a million dollars from the European Centre for Nuclear Research for a supply of "cold diodes" to protect superconducting magnets in the new Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project, the latest particle accelerator being constructed in the existing 27km circular tunnel spanning the border between France and Switzerland near Geneva.The LHC design is based on superconducting magnets that operate in a supercooled fluid helium bath at a temperature of 1.9 degrees K. The Dynex semiconductor diodes are mounted in this liquid helium bath with the magnets that surround the particle beam. These special diodes are tolerant of radiation while maintaining the level of reverse-voltage capability required by the application.This is only the first such positive development of late for Dynex. Water-cooled thyristors from Dynex Semiconductor of Lincoln, UK are set to play a key part in a major high-voltage dc power system being supplied by Alstom Transmission and Distribution to Powergrid (India), the national power transmission company. The Dynex components, with a value of almost two million British pounds, form part of a 30 million pound contract awarded to Alstom for the supply of an hvdc power transfer interconnecting link that will be built in Bihar, India.Commenting on the order, Brian Boomer, Power Assemblies business manager with Dynex, said, "This is a classic example of a project where Dynex has been successful not just as a component supplier but as a development partner with a world-class customer."