Design, construction and commissioning of a high-flow radon removal system for XENONnT

Autor: M. Murra, D. Schulte, C. Huhmann, C. Weinheimer
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields, Vol 82, Iss 12, Pp 1-15 (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1434-6052
DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-022-11001-9
Popis: Abstract A high-flow radon removal system based on cryogenic distillation was developed and constructed to reduce radon-induced backgrounds in liquid xenon detectors for rare event searches such as XENONnT. A continuous purification of the XENONnT liquid xenon inventory of 8.4 tonnes at process flows up to 71 kg/h (200 slpm) is required to achieve a radon reduction by a factor larger than two for radon sources inside the detector. To reach such high flows, the distillation column’s design features liquid xenon inlet and outlets along with novel custom-made bath-type heat exchangers with high liquefaction capabilities. The distillation process was designed using a modification of the McCabe–Thiele approach without a bottom product extraction. The thermodynamic concept is based on a Clausius–Rankine cooling cycle with phase-changing medium, in this case the xenon itself. To drastically reduce the external cooling power requirements, an energy efficient heat pump concept was developed applying a custom-made four cylinder magnetically-coupled piston pump as compressor. The distillation system was operated at thermodynamically stable conditions at a process flow of $$({91\pm 2})\,\mathrm{kg/h}$$ ( 91 ± 2 ) kg / h (( $$258\pm 6$$ 258 ± 6 ) slpm), 30% over design. With this flow, a activity concentration $$
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