Benchmarking the design of the cryogenics system for the underground argon in DarkSide-20k
Abstract
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.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2408.14071,
title = {Benchmarking the design of the cryogenics system for the underground argon in DarkSide-20k},
author = {20k Collaboration and F. Acerbi and P. Adhikari and P. Agnes and I. Ahmad and S. Albergo and I. F. M. Albuquerque and T. Alexander and A. K. Alton and P. Amaudruz and M. Angiolilli and E. Aprile and R. Ardito and M. Atzori Corona and D. J. Auty and M. Ave and I. C. Avetisov and O. Azzolini and H. O. Back and Z. Balmforth and A. Barrado Olmedo and P. Barrillon and G. Batignani and P. Bhowmick and S. Blua and V. Bocci and W. Bonivento and B. Bottino and M. G. Boulay and A. Buchowicz and S. Bussino and J. Busto and M. Cadeddu and M. Cadoni and R. Calabrese and V. Camillo and A. Caminata and N. Canci and A. Capra and M. Caravati and M. Cárdenas-Montes and N. Cargioli and M. Carlini and A. Castellani and P. Castello and P. Cavalcante and S. Cebrian and J. Cela Ruiz and S. Chashin and A. Chepurnov and L. Cifarelli and D. Cintas and M. Citterio and B. Cleveland and Y. Coadou and V. Cocco and D. Colaiuda and E. Conde Vilda and L. Consiglio and B. S. Costa and M. Czubak and M. D'Aniello and S. D'Auria and M. D. Da Rocha Rolo and G. Darbo and S. Davini and S. De Cecco and G. De Guido and G. Dellacasa and A. V. Derbin and A. Devoto and F. Di Capua and A. Di Ludovico and L. Di Noto and P. Di Stefano and L. K. Dias and D. Díaz Mairena and X. Ding and C. Dionisi and G. Dolganov and F. Dordei and V. Dronik and A. Elersich and E. Ellingwood and T. Erjavec and M. Fernandez Diaz and A. Ficorella and G. Fiorillo and P. Franchini and D. Franco and H. Frandini Gatti and E. Frolov and F. Gabriele and D. Gahan and C. Galbiati and G. Galiński and G. Gallina and G. Gallus and M. Garbini and P. Garcia Abia and A. Gawdzik and A. Gendotti and A. Ghisi and G. K. Giovanetti and V. Goicoechea Casanueva and A. Gola and L. Grandi and G. Grauso and G. Grilli di Cortona and A. Grobov and M. Gromov and M. Guerzoni and M. Gulino and C. Guo and B. R. Hackett and A. Hallin and A. Hamer and M. Haranczyk and B. Harrop and T. Hessel and S. Hill and S. Horikawa and J. Hu and F. Hubaut and J. Hucker and T. Hugues and E. V. Hungerford and A. Ianni and V. Ippolito and A. Jamil and C. Jillings and S. Jois and P. Kachru and R. Keloth and N. Kemmerich and A. Kemp and C. L. Kendziora and M. Kimura and A. Kish and K. Kondo and G. Korga and L. Kotsiopoulou and S. Koulosousas and A. Kubankin and P. Kunzé and M. Kuss and M. Kuźniak and M. Kuzwa and M. La Commara and M. Lai and E. Le Guirriec and E. Leason and A. Leoni and L. Lidey and M. Lissia and L. Luzzi and O. Lychagina and O. Macfadyen and I. N. Machulin and S. Manecki and I. Manthos and L. Mapelli and A. Marasciulli and S. M. Mari and C. Mariani and J. Maricic and M. Martinez and C. J. Martoff and G. Matteucci and K. Mavrokoridis and A. B. McDonald and J. Mclaughlin and S. Merzi and A. Messina and R. Milincic and S. Minutoli and A. Mitra and A. Moharana and S. Moioli and J. Monroe and E. Moretti and M. Morrocchi and T. Mroz and V. N. Muratova and M. Murphy and M. Murra and C. Muscas and P. Musico and R. Nania and M. Nessi and G. Nieradka and K. Nikolopoulos and E. Nikoloudaki and J. Nowak and K. Olchanski and A. Oleinik and V. Oleynikov and P. Organtini and A. Ortiz de Solórzano and M. Pallavicini and L. Pandola and E. Pantic and E. Paoloni and D. Papi and G. Pastuszak and G. Paternoster and A. Peck and P. A. Pegoraro and K. Pelczar and L. A. Pellegrini and R. Perez and F. Perotti and V. Pesudo and S. I. Piacentini and N. Pino and G. Plante and A. Pocar and M. Poehlmann and S. Pordes and P. Pralavorio and D. Price and S. Puglia and M. Queiroga Bazetto and F. Ragusa and Y. Ramachers and A. Ramirez and S. Ravinthiran and M. Razeti and A. L. Renshaw and M. Rescigno and F. Retiere and L. P. Rignanese and A. Rivetti and A. Roberts and C. Roberts and G. Rogers and L. Romero and M. Rossi and A. Rubbia and D. Rudik and M. Sabia and P. Salomone and O. Samoylov and E. Sandford and S. Sanfilippo and D. Santone and R. Santorelli and E. M. Santos and C. Savarese and E. Scapparone and G. Schillaci and F. G. Schuckman and G. Scioli and D. A. Semenov and V. Shalamova and A. Sheshukov and M. Simeone and P. Skensved and M. D. Skorokhvatov and O. Smirnov and T. Smirnova and B. Smith and A. Sotnikov and F. Spadoni and M. Spangenberg and R. Stefanizzi and A. Steri and V. Stornelli and S. Stracka and S. Sulis and A. Sung and C. Sunny and Y. Suvorov and A. M. Szelc and O. Taborda and R. Tartaglia and A. Taylor and J. Taylor and S. Tedesco and G. Testera and K. Thieme and A. Thompson and T. N. Thorpe and A. Tonazzo and S. Torres-Lara and A. Tricomi and E. V. Unzhakov and T. J. Vallivilayil and M. Van Uffelen and L. Velazquez-Fernandez and T. Viant and S. Viel and A. Vishneva and R. B. Vogelaar and J. Vossebeld and B. Vyas and M. Wada and M. B. Walczak and H. Wang and Y. Wang and S. Westerdale and L. Williams and R. Wojaczyński and M. Wojcik and M. M. Wojcik and T. Wright and X. Xiao and Y. Xie and C. Yang and J. Yin and A. Zabihi and P. Zakhary and A. Zani and Y. Zhang and T. Zhu and A. Zichichi and G. Zuzel and M. P. Zykova},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2408.14071},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
44 pages, 25 figures, 1 table. Updated to match the published journal version