Benchmarking the design of the cryogenics system for the underground argon in DarkSide-20k

Acerbi, F. ; Adhikari, P. ; Agnes, P. ; Ahmad, I. ; Albergo, S. ; Albuquerque, I.F.M. ; Alexander, T. ; Alton, A.K. ; Amaudruz, P. ; Angiolilli, M. ; Aprile, E. ; Ardito, R. ; Atzori Corona, M. ; Auty, D.J. ; Ave, M. ; Avetisov, I.C. ; Azzolini, O. ; Back, H.O. ; Balmforth, Z. ; Barrado Olmedo, A. ; Barrillon, P. ; Batignani, G. ; Bhowmick, P. ; Blua, S. ; Bocci, V. ; Bonivento, W. ; Bottino, B. ; Boulay, M.G. ; Buchowicz, A. ; Bussino, S. ; Busto, J. ; Cadeddu, M. ; Cadoni, M. ; Calabrese, R. ; Camillo, V. ; Caminata, A. ; Canci, N. ; Capra, A. ; Caravati, M. ; Cárdenas-Montes, M. ; Cargioli, N. ; Carlini, M. ; Castellani, A. ; Castello, P. ; Cavalcante, P. ; Cebrian, S. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Cela Ruiz, J. ; Chashin, S. ; Chepurnov, A. ; Cifarelli, L. ; Cintas, D. ; Citterio, M. ; Cleveland, B. ; Coadou, Y. ; Cocco, V. ; Colaiuda, D. ; Conde Vilda, E. ; Consiglio, L. ; Costa, B.S. ; Czubak, M. ; D'Aniello, M. ; D'Auria, S. ; Da Rocha Rolo, M.D. ; Darbo, G. ; Davini, S. ; De Cecco, S. ; De Guido, G. ; Dellacasa, G. ; Derbin, A.V. ; Devoto, A. ; Di Capua, F. ; Di Ludovico, A. ; Di Noto, L. ; Di Stefano, P. ; Dias, L.K. ; Díaz Mairena, D. ; Ding, X. ; Dionisi, C. ; Dolganov, G. ; Dordei, F. ; Dronik, V. ; Elersich, A. ; Ellingwood, E. ; Erjavec, T. ; Fernandez Diaz, M. ; Ficorella, A. ; Fiorillo, G. ; Franchini, P. ; Franco, D. ; Frandini Gatti, H. ; Frolov, E. ; Gabriele, F. ; Gahan, D. ; Galbiati, C. ; Galinski, G. ; Gallina, G. ; Gallus, G. ; Garbini, M. ; Garcia Abia, P. ; Gawdzik, A. ; Gendotti, A. ; Ghisi, A. ; Giovanetti, G.K. ; Goicoechea Casanueva, V. ; Gola, A. ; Grandi, L. ; Grauso, G. ; Grilli di Cortona, G. ; Grobov, A. ; Gromov, M. ; Guerzoni, M. ; Gulino, M. ; Guo, C. ; Hackett, B.R. ; Hallin, A. ; Hamer, A. ; Haranczyk, M. ; Harrop, B. ; Hessel, T. ; Hill, S. ; Horikawa, S. ; Hu, J. ; Hubaut, F. ; Hucker, J. ; Hugues, T. ; Hungerford, E.V. ; Ianni, A. ; Ippolito, V. ; Jamil, A. ; Jillings, C. ; Jois, S. ; Kachru, P. ; Keloth, R. ; Kemmerich, N. ; Kemp, A. ; Kendziora, C.L. ; Kimura, M. ; Kish, A. ; Kondo, K. ; Korga, G. ; Kotsiopoulou, L. ; Koulosousas, S. ; Kubankin, A. ; Kunzé, P. ; Kuss, M. ; Kuzniak, M. ; Kuzwa, M. ; La Commara, M. ; Lai, M. ; Le Guirriec, E. ; Leason, E. ; Leoni, A. ; Lidey, L. ; Lissia, M. ; Luzzi, L. ; Lychagina, O. ; Macfadyen, O. ; Machulin, I.N. ; Manecki, S. ; Manthos, I. ; Mapelli, L. ; Marasciulli, A. ; Mari, S.M. ; Mariani, C. ; Maricic, J. ; Martinez, M. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Martoff, C.J. ; Matteucci, G. ; Mavrokoridis, K. ; McDonald, A.B. ; Mclaughlin, J. ; Merzi, S. ; Messina, A. ; Milincic, R. ; Minutoli, S. ; Mitra, A. ; Moharana, A. ; Moioli, S. ; Monroe, J. ; Moretti, E. ; Morrocchi, M. ; Mroz, T. ; Muratova, V.N. ; Murphy, M. ; Murra, M. ; Muscas, C. ; Musico, P. ; Nania, R. ; Nessi, M. ; Nieradka, G. ; Nikolopoulos, K. ; Nikoloudaki, E. ; Nowak, J. ; Olchanski, K. ; Oleinik, A. ; Oleynikov, V. ; Organtini, P. ; Ortiz de Solórzano, A. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Pallavicini, M. ; Pandola, L. ; Pantic, E. ; Paoloni, E. ; Papi, D. ; Pastuszak, G. ; Paternoster, G. ; Peck, A. ; Pegoraro, P.A. ; Pelczar, K. ; Pellegrini, L.A. ; Perez, R. ; Perotti, F. ; Pesudo, V. ; Piacentini, S.I. ; Pino, N. ; Plante, G. ; Pocar, A. ; Poehlmann, M.

Resumen: DarkSide-20k (DS-20k) is a dark matter detection experiment under construction at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Italy. It utilises ∼ 100 t of low radioactivity argon from an underground source (UAr) in its inner detector, with half serving as target in a dual-phase time projection chamber (TPC). The UAr cryogenics system must maintain stable thermodynamic conditions throughout the experiment's lifetime of over 10 years. Continuous removal of impurities and radon from the UAr is essential for maximising signal yield and mitigating background. We are developing an efficient and powerful cryogenics system with a gas purification loop with a target circulation rate of 1000 slpm. Central to its design is a condenser operated with liquid nitrogen which is paired with a gas heat exchanger cascade, delivering a combined cooling power of more than 8 kW. Here we present the design choices in view of the DS-20k requirements, in particular the condenser's working principle and the cooling control, and we show test results obtained with a dedicated benchmarking platform at CERN and LNGS. We find that the thermal efficiency of the recirculation loop, defined in terms of nitrogen consumption per argon flow rate, is 95 % and the pressure in the test cryostat can be maintained within ±(0.1–0.2) mbar. We further detail a 5-day cool-down procedure of the test cryostat, maintaining a cooling rate typically within -2 K/h, as required for the DS-20k inner detector. Additionally, we assess the circuit's flow resistance, and the heat transfer capabilities of two heat exchanger geometries for argon phase change, used to provide gas for recirculation. We conclude by discussing how our findings influence the finalisation of the system design, including necessary modifications to meet requirements and ongoing testing activities.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.1088/1748-0221/20/02/P02016

Año: 2025

Publicado en: Journal of Instrumentation 20, 02 (2025), P02016 [45 pp.]
ISSN: 1748-0221

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/PID2022-138357NB-C22
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/952480/EU/Novel technologies for dark matter search and frontier astroparticle physics experiments/DarkWave

Tipo y forma: Artículo (Versión definitiva)

Área (Departamento): Área Técnica. Lab. y Talleres (Dpto. Física Teórica)
Área (Departamento): Área Física Atóm.Molec.y Nucl. (Dpto. Física Teórica)