Argon

1. Argon • Refrigeration • Supply • Purity FLARE Cryogenics, RLSchmitt

2. Argon Refrigeration Heat load summary LN circulation LN supply FLARE Cryogenics, RLSchmitt

3. Heat Load Summary • Tank heat load 0.05%/day 47kW • Flash during filling, assuming 5 psig supply 6kW • Vapor displaced during filling 1.5 kW • Total with 1.25 factor 68 kW FLARE Cryogenics, RLSchmitt

4. LN Supply Perspective • Flare Usage 34 tons/day • Fermilab usage 45 to 78 tons/day • CHL liquefier 100 ton/day • 12 trucks or 5 railcars per week • LN cost at Fermilab $62/ton • 2002 budget price for 100 ton/day liquefier $2.9 million FLARE Cryogenics, RLSchmitt

5. Argon condensers inside tank Nitrogen storage Nitrogen Circulation • Condensers inside tank to minimize argon handling • Redundant pumps, heat exchangers, etc. • Nothing extraordinary • Needs further development to improve cost estimate • Present estimate $460k FLARE Cryogenics, RLSchmitt

6. LN Supply Tasks • Five liquefier vendors contacted recently • Failures • Power failures • Mechanical breakdowns • LN leak inside detector tank • Supply interruptions • Detector Tank loses 25 tons argon/day without cooling • Zero backflow vent system needed FLARE Cryogenics, RLSchmitt

7. Argon Supply • Praxiar quotation in January 2004 • $37 million, truck delivery, ~1ppm • RR cars would be less expensive • Oxygen concentration is negotiable, 1ppm is proven without extraordinary effort • Could use multiple suppliers FLARE Cryogenics, RLSchmitt

8. Argon Receiving • Procedure proven at Dzero, NWA and E706 • Connect to truck • Test carefully, accept or reject • Testing includes oxygen concentration, electron lifetime, possibly other tests • Pump through purifier into intermediate tank • Test and pump into detector tank FLARE Cryogenics, RLSchmitt

9. Receiving Further Development • Failure scenarios • Adding contaminated delivery to main tank • Spill during connection • Further development • Piping Schematic • Instrumentation requirements • Estimated time to connect and test FLARE Cryogenics, RLSchmitt

10. Sources of impurity • Argon Supply • Surfaces • Tank shell • Cable insulation • Other material • Leaks and permeation • Mechanical seals • Dead volumes FLARE Cryogenics, RLSchmitt

11. Argon Purifiers • Purifying equipment would probably run for the life of the project as well as during filling • ICARUS used Messer Oxisorb, proprietary regeneration • Air Liquide offers a packaged liquid purifier, $400k. Regeneration would consume $800k of argon during filling. Possibly can recover most of it. • Praxair offers gas purifier for $600k • Earnhart(Trigon) offers regenerable adsorbent • All of these should be evaluated further FLARE Cryogenics, RLSchmitt

12. High Purity Specifications • Rough tank purging • High capacity intermediate system? • Further purging? • High purity system with high regeneration? • Specification for leak testing • Specification for tank surfaces, tank cleaning, procedures during detector construction, cable insulation • Specification for all argon handling equipment and piping • Further development needed FLARE Cryogenics, RLSchmitt

13. Purification Testing • Testing is needed to prove high purity can be achieved without evacuation and with reasonable fabrication requirements • Outgassing in vacuum has been studied, but how is the rate affected by an Argon atmosphere or temperature? • Testing can be done on a reasonable scale FLARE Cryogenics, RLSchmitt

14. Effort estimates • Purity issues, a man-year of process engineering, plus technician and drafting support • M&S budget to avoid re-inventing parts that are commercially available, $100k • Refrigeration and Supply, two man-months of engineering to improve cost estimate FLARE Cryogenics, RLSchmitt