SPS TRANSVERSE BEAM SCRAPING AND LHC INJECTION LOSSES

Machine protection sets strict requirements for the quality of the injected beam, in particular in the transverse plane. Losses at aperture restrictions and protection elements have to be kept at a minimum. Particles in the beam tails are lost at the tight transfer line collimators and can trigger the LHC beam abort system. These particles have to be removed by scrapers in the vertical and horizontal plane in the SPS. Scraping has become vital for high intensity LHC operation. This paper shows the dependence of injection quality on the SPS scraping and discusses an improved scraper setting up strategy for better reproducibility with the current scraper system.