Extreme argon purity in a large, non-evacuated cryostat

Abstract

Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LArTPCs) show promise as scalable devices for the large detectors needed for long-baseline neutrino oscillation physics. Over the last several years at Fermilab a staged approach to developing the technology for large detectors has been developed. The TPC detectors require ultra-pure liquid argon with respect to electronegative contaminants such as oxygen and water. The tolerable electronegative contamination level may be as pure as 60 parts per trillion of oxygen. Three liquid argon cryostats operated at Fermilab have achieved the extreme purity required by TPCs. These three cryostats used evacuation to remove atmospheric contaminants as the first purification step prior to filling with liquid argon. Future physics experiments may require very large detectors with tens of kilotonnes of liquid argon mass. The capability to evacuate such large cryostats adds significant cost to the cryostat itself in addition to the cost of a large scale vacuum pumping system. This paper describes a 30 ton liquid argon cryostat at Fermilab which uses purging to remove atmospheric contaminants instead of evacuation as the first purification step. This cryostat has achieved electronegative contamination levels better than 60 parts per trillion of oxygen equivalent. The results of this liquid argon purity demonstration will strongly influence the design of future TPC cryostats.