Performance and results of the LBNE 35 ton membrane cryostat prototype

Journal Article · Wed Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Physics Procedia

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phpro.2015.06.092· OSTI ID:1209113

Montanari, David ^[1]; Adamowski, Mark ^[1]; Hahn, Alan ^[1]; Norris, Barry ^[1]; Reichenbacher, Juergen ^[2]; Rucinski, Russell ^[1]; Stewart, Jim ^[3]; Tope, Terry ^[1]

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1. Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL (United States)
2. Univ. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (United States)
3. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

We report on the performance and commissioning of the first membrane cryostat to be used for scientific application. The Long Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) has designed and fabricated a membrane cryostat prototype in collaboration with Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (IHI). LBNE has designed and fabricated the supporting cryogenic system infrastructure and successfully commissioned and operated the first membrane cryostat. Original goals of the prototype are: to demonstrate the membrane cryostat technology in terms of thermal performance, feasibility for liquid argon and leak tightness; to demonstrate that we can remove all the impurities from the vessel and achieve the purity requirements in a membrane cryostat without evacuation; to demonstrate that we can achieve and maintain the purity requirements of the liquid argon using mol sieve and copper filters. The purity requirements of a large liquid argon detector such as LBNE are contaminants below 200 parts per trillion (ppt) oxygen equivalent. LBNE is planning the design and construction of a large liquid argon detector. This presentation will present requirements, design and construction of the LBNE 35 ton membrane cryostat prototype, and detail the commissioning and performance. The experience and results of this prototype are extremely important for the development of the LBNE detector.

• Research Organization: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-07CH11359; SC00112704
• OSTI ID: 1209113
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1210165
• Report Number(s): BNL-108147-2015-JA; PII: S1875389215004733
• Journal Information: Physics Procedia, Vol. 67, Issue C; ISSN 1875-3892
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
liquid argon
purity
LBNE
electron lifetime
contaminants