The world's largest wide bore NMR magnet, the fundamental component of a 900MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer, comes to field
Oxford Instruments says that its wide-bore 900MHz superconducting magnet -the largest commercial NMR magnet in the world - has reached its maximum field strength of 21.14 Tesla.
The magnet is the fundamental component of a 900MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer installed at the William R Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, Washington, USA, in March 2002.
The smooth transition from full field in the Oxford magnet factory to full field at the EMSL facility is testament to the engineering design and construction of one of the world's most challenging superconducting projects," comments Martin Townsend, project manager, Oxford Instruments.
"The technologies that have enabled 900MHz to be achieved have further demonstrated reliability and reproducibility.
The seamless transition was brought about by meticulous design and planning at all stages from design, factory testing and shipment, to final installation in the EMSL facility." "We are ecstatic that the magnet is now at field," adds Dave Koppenaal, associate director for macromolecular structure and dynamics at EMSL.
"This was a difficult process that presented many technical challenges, but we are very pleased with the perseverance and the dedication of Oxford Instruments and Varian to the 900MHz NMR system task.
We are now looking forward to completion of the NMR spectrometer installation and our use of this unique capability to further our understanding of life processes at the molecular and structural level." The wide bore (65mm) superconducting magnet, which took Oxford Instruments years of intense development work to perfect, generates a magnetic field that is more than 400,000 times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field.
As part of the 900MHz NMR spectrometer at EMSL, it will be used to study molecular structure, cellular mechanisms, materials science and chemical processes.
The extra power of this magnet will enable studies on more complex molecules and collections of cells, with greater resolution, than was previously possible.
With greater stability, durability and accuracy, this technology will help provide solutions to such diverse problems as the stabilisation of nuclear waste to new cures for cancer.
Access to the NMR spectrometer for scientific research later this year will be on a worldwide competitive basis.
EMSL is a US Department of Energy scientific user facility.
DOE's Office of Biological and Environmental Research funded the 900MHz wide-bore NMR magnet's development with $7.2 million.
