Cryogenics and purification systems of the ICARUS T600 detector installation at Fermilab

Le résumé fourni par la source

This paper describes the cryogenic and purification systemsof the ICARUS T600 detector in its present implementation at theFermi National Laboratory, Illinois, U.S.A. The ICARUS T600detector is made of four large Time Projection Chambers, installedin two separate containers of about 275 m$^{3}$ each. The detectoruses liquid argon both as target and as active medium. For thecorrect operation of the detector, the liquid argon must be kept invery stable thermal conditions and the contamination ofelectronegative impurities must be consistently kept at the level ofsmall fractions of parts per billion. The detector was previouslyoperated in Italy, at the INFN Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory(LNGS), in a three-year run on the CERN to LNGS Long BaselineNeutrino Beam. For its operation on the Booster and NuMI neutrinobeams at Fermilab, for the search of sterile neutrinos andmeasurements of neutrino-argon cross sections, the detector wasmoved from Gran Sasso to CERN for the upgrades required foroperation at shallow depth with high intensity neutrino beams. Theliquid argon containers, the thermal insulation and all thecryogenic equipment have been completely re-designed and rebuilt,following the schemes of the previous installation in GranSasso. The detector and all the equipment have been transported toFermilab, where they have been installed, tested and recently putinto operation. The work described in this paper has been conductedas a joint responsibility of CERN and Fermilab with the supervisionprovided by the ICARUS Collaboration. Design, installation, testing,commissioning and operation are the result of a common effort ofCERN, Fermilab and INFN groups.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.