The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope was modified with the addition of a chilled glycol cooling system to support Wide-field instrumentation. This paper outlines the design and lessons learned during implementation of this major system addition to the Observatory. Our research indicated that different Telescopes used a variety of approaches and there were many options in the commercial market that requires careful selection for use in a Telescope environment. We wish to share our valuable experience with future designers of cooling systems for instruments on large and small Telescopes alike.
The Canada-France-Hawaii-Telescope is in the process of upgrading the primary mirror cell for cooling of the mirror during non-operating hours. This paper addresses the goals of CFHT in insulating and actively cooling the primary mirror cell environment. The main design criteria is to have a system that would introduce chilled dry air to a sealed and insulated primary mirror cell during daylight hours. This could remove the deleterious effects of having the primary mirror warmer than the ambient air. A system is planned to protect the mirror in case of sudden moisture exposure and also decrease the frequency of recoating due to contamination.
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