A new cold cooling system using krypton for the future upgrade of the LHC after the Long Shutdown 4 (LS4)

Abstract

Future silicon detectors for High Energy Physics Experiments will require operation at lower temperatures to cope with radiation damage of the sensors and consequent increase of the dark current, beyond the limit of the current CO2 evaporative cooling system. This, together with many other requirements such as mass minimization and high radiation hardness, pushes the need of a new advanced cooling technology. The new coolant shall be able to approach ultra-low temperatures below -60 °C, withstand high radiation levels while having cooling lines diameters comparable to the currently achieved with the CO2 technology. Among different natural working fluids, krypton appears as a promising coolant for the thermal management of future detectors in high-irradiated environments. The thermodynamic properties of krypton do not allow the use of a pumped loop cycle but rather impose a need of a novel cooling technology. A new ejector-supported krypton cycle is presented, highlighting the cycle dynamics involved due to the different temperature levels normally encountered during the detector lifetime.

A new cold cooling system using krypton for the future upgrade of the LHC after the Long Shutdown 4 (LS4)