Determination of the separation efficiencies of a single-stage cryogenic distillation setup to remove krypton out of xenon by using a {sup 83m}Kr tracer method
- Institut für Kernphysik, Wilhelm-Klemm Straße 09, 48149 Münster (Germany)
- Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Hermann Von Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany)
- Nuclear Physics Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, CZ 250 68 Řež (Czech Republic)
The separation of krypton and xenon is of particular importance for the field of direct dark matter search with liquid xenon detectors. The intrinsic contamination of the xenon with radioactive {sup 85}Kr makes a significant background for these kinds of low count-rate experiments and has to be removed beforehand. This can be achieved by cryogenic distillation, a technique widely used in industry, using the different vapor pressures of krypton and xenon. In this paper, we present an investigation on the separation performance of a single stage distillation system using a radioactive {sup 83m}Kr-tracer method. The separation characteristics under different operation conditions are determined for very low concentrations of krypton in xenon at the level of {sup 83m}Kr/Xe = 1.9 ⋅ 10{sup −15}, demonstrating, that cryogenic distillation in this regime is working. The observed separation is in agreement with the expectation from the different volatilities of krypton and xenon. This cryogenic distillation station is the first step on the way to a multi-stage cryogenic distillation column for the next generation of direct dark matter experiment XENON1T.
- OSTI ID:
- 22482615
- Journal Information:
- Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 86, Issue 11; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0034-6748
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Adsorption and Transport Properties of Zeolite SAPO-34 for Krypton/Xenon Separations
Final Project Report (Oct 2014-Dec 2017): Zeolite Membranes for Krypton/Xenon Separation from Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Off-Gas