Study of straw chamber lifetime with argon ethane
We present detailed laboratory measurements of the lifetime of a small test chamber, simulating the Mark III straw vertex chamber conditions. The tests were carried out with an argon ethane 50/50 gas mixture at 3 atmospheres absolute pressure and 3.9 kV was applied to the wires. After the accumulation of /approximately/0.02 C/cm on a single straw continuous discharges began. The addition of alcohol or water vapor to the gas mixture was found to extend the lifetime of the straws. Continuous flow of the gas mixture with water vapor through the straws prolonged the lifetime significantly. We present preliminary results on the effects of changing the gas mixture inside the straws at regular time intervals. Adding a small percentage of water vapor to the argon-ethane gas and flowing the gas mixture in the straws can improve the lifetime by more than an order of magnitude. An accumulated charge of 1.0 C/cm on a single straw has been obtained. 7 refs., 4 figs.
- Research Organization:
- Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, CA (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC03-76SF00515
- OSTI ID:
- 6152080
- Report Number(s):
- SLAC-PUB-4857; CONF-890231-5; ON: DE89012786
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 5. international wire chamber conference, Vienna, Austria, 13 Feb 1989; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
WIRE SPARK CHAMBERS
SERVICE LIFE
ARGON
ETHANE
GAS FLOW
TESTING
ALKANES
ELEMENTS
FILMLESS SPARK CHAMBERS
FLUID FLOW
FLUIDS
GAS TRACK DETECTORS
GASES
HYDROCARBONS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
RADIATION DETECTORS
RARE GASES
SPARK CHAMBERS
440104* - Radiation Instrumentation- High Energy Physics Instrumentation