B. DiGirolamo

A combined ultrasonic flow meter and binary vapour mixture analyzer for the ATLAS silicon tracker

An upgrade to the ATLAS silicon tracker cooling control system may require a change from C3F8 (octafluoro-propane) evaporative coolant to a blend containing 10-25% of C2F6 (hexafluoro-ethane). Such a change will reduce the evaporation temperature to assure thermal stability following radiation damage accumulated at full LHC luminosity. Central to this upgrade is a new ultrasonic instrument in which sound transit times are continuously measured in opposite directions in flowing gas at known temperature and pressure to deduce the C3F8/C2F6 flow rate and mixture composition. The instrument and its Supervisory, Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) software are described in this paper. Several geometries for the instrument are in use or under evaluation. An instrument with a pinched axial geometry intended for analysis and measurement of moderate flow rates has demonstrated a mixture resolution of 3.10-3 for C3F8/C2F6 molar mixtures with 20%C2F6, and a flow resolution of 2% of full scale for mass flows up to 30gs-1. In mixtures of widely-differing molecular weight (mw), higher mixture precision is possible: a sensitivity of <5.10-5 to leaks of C3F8 into part of the ATLAS tracker nitrogen envelope (mw difference 160) has been seen. An instrument with an angled sound path geometry has been developed for use at high fluorocarbon mass flow rates of around 1.2 kgs-1 - corresponding to full flow in a new 60kW thermosiphon recirculator under construction for the ATLAS silicon tracker. Extensive computational fluid dynamics studies were performed to determine the preferred geometry (ultrasonic transducer spacing and placement, together with the sound crossing angle with respect to the vapour flow direction). A prototype with 45deg crossing angle has demonstrated a flow resolution of 1.9% of full scale for linear flow velocities up to 15 ms-1. The instrument has many potential applications.

The cooling capabilities of C2F6/C3F8 saturated fluorocarbon blends for the ATLAS silicon tracker

We investigate and address the performance limitations of the ATLAS silicon tracker fluorocarbon evaporative cooling system operation in the cooling circuits of the barrel silicon microstrip (SCT) sub-detector. In these circuits the minimum achievable evaporation temperatures with C3F8 were higher than the original specification, and were thought to allow an insufficient safety margin against thermal runaway in detector modules subject to a radiation dose initially foreseen for 10 years operation at LHC. We have investigated the cooling capabilities of blends of C3F8 with molar admixtures of up to 25% C2F6, since the addition of the more volatile C2F6 component was expected to allow a lower evaporation temperature for the same evaporation pressure.A custom built recirculator allowed the in-situ preparation of C2F6/C3F8 blends. These were circulated through a representative mechanical and thermal setup reproducing an as-installed ATLAS SCT barrel tracker cooling circuit. Blend molar compositions were verified to a precision of 3.10−3 in a custom ultrasonic instrument.Thermal measurements in a range of C2F6/C3F8 blends were compared with measurements in pure C3F8. These indicated that a blend with 25% C2F6 would allow a reduction in evaporation temperature of around 9oC to below -15oC, even at the highest module power dissipations envisioned after 10 years operation at LHC. Such a reduction would allow more than a factor two in safety margin against temperature dependant leakage power induced thermal runaway.Furthermore, a blend containing up to 25% C2F6 could be circulated without changes to the on-detector elements of the existing ATLAS inner detector evaporative cooling system.

Development of a custom on-line ultrasonic vapour analyzer and flow meter for the ATLAS inner detector, with application to Cherenkov and gaseous charged particle detectors

Precision sound velocity measurements can simultaneously determine binary gas composition and flow. We have developed an analyzer with custom microcontroller-based electronics, currently used in the ATLAS Detector Control System, with numerous potential applications. Three instruments monitor C3F8 and CO2 coolant leak rates into the nitrogen envelopes of the ATLAS silicon microstrip and Pixel detectors. Two further instruments will aid operation of the new thermosiphon coolant recirculator: one of these will monitor air leaks into the low pressure condenser while the other will measure return vapour flow along with C3F8/C2F6 blend composition, should blend operation be necessary to protect the ATLAS silicon tracker under increasing LHC luminosity. We describe these instruments and their electronics.

A Custom Online Ultrasonic Gas Mixture Analyzer With Simultaneous Flowmetry, Developed for the Upgraded Evaporative Cooling System of the ATLAS Silicon Tracker

We describe a combined ultrasonic instrument for continuous gas flow measurement and simultaneous real-time binary gas mixture analysis. In the instrument, sound bursts are transmitted in opposite directions, which may be aligned with the gas flow path or at an angle to it, the latter configuration being the best adapted to high flow rates. The combined flow measurement and mixture analysis algorithm exploits the phenomenon whereby the sound velocity in a binary gas mixture at known temperature and pressure is a unique function of the molar concentration of the two components. The instrument is central to a possible upgrade to the present ATLAS silicon tracker cooling system in which octafluoropropane (C F ) evaporative cooling fluid would be replaced by a blend containing up to 25% hexafluoroethane (C2F6). The instrument has been developed in two geometries following computational fluid dynamics studies of various mechanical layouts. An instrument with 45 crossing angle has been installed for commissioning in the ATLAS silicon tracker cooling system. It can be used in gas flows up to 20 000 l.min-1 and has demonstrated a flow resolution of 2.3% of full scale for linear flow velocities up to 10 m.s in preliminary studies with air. Other instruments are currently used to detect low levels of C2F8 vapor leaking into the N2 environmental gas surrounding the ATLAS silicon tracker. A long-duration continuous study of more than a year has demonstrated a sensitivity to mixture variation of better than 5.10-5.

Development of a custom on-line ultrasonic vapour analyzer/flowmeter for the ATLAS inner detector, with application to gaseous tracking and Cherenkov detectors

Precision sound velocity measurements can simultaneously determine binary gas composition and flow. We have developed an analyzer with custom electronics, currently in use in the ATLAS inner detector, with numerous potential applications. The instrument has demonstrated ~ 0.3% mixture precision for C3F8/C2F6 mixtures and < 10−4 resolution for N2/C3F8 mixtures. Moderate and high flow versions of the instrument have demonstrated flow resolutions of ± 2% of full scale for flows up to 250 l min−1, and ± 1.9% of full scale for linear flow velocities up to 15 m s−1; the latter flow approaching that expected in the vapour return of the thermosiphon fluorocarbon coolant recirculator being built for the ATLAS silicon tracker.

Implementations of Custom Sonar Instruments for Binary Gas Mixture and Flow Analysis in the ATLAS Experiment at the CERN LHC

Precision ultrasonic measurements in binary gas systems provide continuous real-time monitoring of mixture composition and flow. Using custom microcontroller-based electronics, we have developed sonar instruments, with numerous potential applications, capable of making continuous high-precision sound velocity measurements. The instrument measures sound transit times along two opposite directions aligned parallel to - or obliquely crossing - the gas flow. The difference between the two measured times yields the gas flow rate while their average gives the sound velocity, which can be compared with sound velocity vs. molar composition look-up curves to obtain the binary mixture at a given temperature and pressure. The look-up curves may be generated from prior measurements in known mixtures of the two components, from theoretical calculations, or from a combination of the two. We describe the instruments and their performance within numerous applications in the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The instruments can be of interest in other areas where continuous in-situ binary gas analysis and flowmetry are required.

The Thermosiphon Cooling System of the ATLAS Experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider

Abstract The silicon tracker of the ATLAS experiment at CERN Large Hadron Collider will operate around –15°C to minimize the effects of radiation damage. The present cooling system is based on a conventional evaporative circuit, removing around 60 kW of heat dissipated by the silicon sensors and their local electronics. The compressors in the present circuit have proved less reliable than originally hoped, and will be replaced with a thermosiphon. The working principle of the thermosiphon uses gravity to circulate the coolant without any mechanical components (compressors or pumps) in the primary coolant circuit. The fluorocarbon coolant will be condensed at a temperature and pressure lower than those in the on-detector evaporators, but at a higher altitude, taking advantage of the 92 m height difference between the underground experiment and the services located on the surface. An extensive campaign of tests, detailed in this paper, was performed using two small-scale thermosiphon systems. These tests confirmed the design specifications of the full-scale plant and demonstrated operation over the temperature range required for ATLAS. During the testing phase the system has demonstrated unattended long-term stable running over a period of several weeks. The commissioning of the full scale thermosiphon is ongoing, with full operation planned for late 2015.

Implementation of Ultrasonic Sensing for High Resolution Measurement of Binary Gas Mixture Fractions

We describe an ultrasonic instrument for continuous real-time analysis of the fractional mixture of a binary gas system. The instrument is particularly well suited to measurement of leaks of a high molecular weight gas into a system that is nominally composed of a single gas. Sensitivity < 5 × 10−5 is demonstrated to leaks of octaflouropropane (C3F8) coolant into nitrogen during a long duration (18 month) continuous study. The sensitivity of the described measurement system is shown to depend on the difference in molecular masses of the two gases in the mixture. The impact of temperature and pressure variances on the accuracy of the measurement is analysed. Practical considerations for the implementation and deployment of long term, in situ ultrasonic leak detection systems are also described. Although development of the described systems was motivated by the requirements of an evaporative fluorocarbon cooling system, the instrument is applicable to the detection of leaks of many other gases and to processes requiring continuous knowledge of particular binary gas mixture fractions.

An on-line acoustic fluorocarbon coolant mixture analyzer for the ATLAS silicon tracker

The ATLAS silicon tracker community foresees an upgrade from the present octafluoropropane (C3F8) evaporative cooling fluid — to a composite fluid with a probable 10–20% admixture of hexafluoroethane (C2F6). Such a fluid will allow a lower evaporation temperature and will afford the tracker silicon substrates a better safety margin against leakage current-induced thermal runaway caused by cumulative radiation damage as the luminosity profile at the CERN Large Hadron Collider increases. Central to the use of this new fluid is a new custom-developed speed-of-sound instrument for continuous real-time measurement of the C3F8/C2F6 mixture ratio and flow. An acoustic vapour mixture analyzer/flow meter with new custom electronics allowing ultrasonic frequency transmission through gas mixtures has been developed for this application. Synchronous with the emission of an ultrasound ‘chirp’ from an acoustic transmitter, a fast readout clock (40 MHz) is started. The clock is stopped on receipt of an above threshold sound pulse at the receiver. Sound is alternately transmitted parallel and anti-parallel with the vapour flow for volume flow measurement from transducers that can serve as acoustic transmitters or receivers. In the development version, continuous real-time measurement of C3F8/C2F6 flow and calculation of the mixture ratio is performed within a graphical user interface developed in PVSS-II, the Supervisory, Control and Data Acquisition standard chosen for LHC and its experiments at CERN. The described instrument has numerous potential applications — including refrigerant leak detection, the analysis of hydrocarbons, vapour mixtures for semiconductor manufacture and anesthetic gas mixtures.

A custom on-line ultrasonic gas mixture analyzer with simultaneous flowmetry developed for use in the LHC-ATLAS experiment, with wide application in high and low flow gas delivery systems

We describe a combined ultrasonic instrument for continuous gas flow measurement and simultaneous real-time binary gas mixture analysis. In the instrument, sound bursts are transmitted in opposite directions, which may be aligned with the gas flow path or at an angle to it, the latter configuration being the best adapted to high flow rates. Custom electronics based on Microchip® dsPIC and ADuC847 microcontrollers transmits 50kHz ultrasound pulses and measures transit times in the two directions together with the process gas temperature and pressure. The combined flow measurement and mixture analysis algorithm exploits the phenomenon whereby the sound velocity in a binary gas mixture at known temperature and pressure is a unique function of the molar concentration of the two components. The instrument is central to a possible upgrade to the present ATLAS silicon tracker cooling system in which octafluoropropane (C3F8) evaporative cooling fluid would be replaced by a blend containing up to 25% hexafluoroethane (C2F6). Such a blend will allow a lower evaporation temperature and will afford the tracker silicon substrates a better safety margin against leakage current-induced thermal runaway caused by cumulative radiation damage as the luminosity profile at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) increases. The instrument has been developed in two geometries following computational fluid dynamics studies of various mechanical layouts. An instrument with 45° crossing angle has been built in stainless steel and installed for commissioning in the ATLAS silicon tracker evaporative fluorocarbon cooling system. It can be used in gas flows up to 20000 l.min-1, and has demonstrated a flow resolution of 2.3% of full scale for linear flow velocities up to 10 m.s-1 in preliminary studies with air. Other instruments are currently used to detect low levels of C3F8 vapour leaking into the N2 environmental gas surrounding the ATLAS silicon tracker. Gas from several parts of the tracker is aspirated through two instruments and analyzed. A long duration continuous study of more than a year has demonstrated a sensitivity to mixture variation of better than 5.10-5. The developed instrument has many applications where continuous knowledge of binary gas composition is required. Such applications include anaesthesia, the analysis of hydrocarbon mixtures, and vapour mixtures for semiconductor manufacture.