Distillation and gas stripping purification plants for the JUNO liquid scintillator

The optical and radiochemical purification of the scintillating liquid which will fill the detector of the JUNO experiment plays a crucial role in achieving its scientific goals. Given its gigantic mass and dimensions, and an unprecedented target value of about 3 % at 1 MeV in energy resolution, JUNO has set severe requirements on the parameters of its scintillator, such as attenuation length (L at > 20 m at 430 nm), light yield, and content of radioactive contaminants ( 238 U, 232 Th < 10 -15 g/g). To accomplish these needs, the scintillator will be processed using several purification methods, including distillation under vacuum and gas stripping, carried out in two large-scale plants installed at the JUNO site. In this paper, the layout, operating principles, and technical aspects which have driven the design and construction of the distillation and gas stripping plants are reviewed. The distillation is effective in enhancing the optical properties and removing high-boiling radioactive impurities ( 238 U, 232 Th, 40 K), while the stripping process exploits pure water steam and high-purity nitrogen to extract gaseous contaminants ( 222 Rn, 39 Ar, 85 Kr, O 2 ) from the scintillator. The plant operating parameters have been tuned during the recent commissioning phase at the JUNO site and several quality control measurements and tests have been performed to evaluate the performances of the plants. Preliminary results on the efficiency of these purification processes will be shown.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment
Published
2024-09-19
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2024.169887
Citations
6
Primary Topic
Neutrino Physics Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.96
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article

Distillation and gas stripping purification plants for the JUNO liquid scintillator

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6 citations
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment
Neutrino Physics Research
3.96
article

Distillation and gas stripping purification plants for the JUNO liquid scintillator

L. Votano, C. Sirignano, Andrea Triossi, Andrea Serafini, Raimondo Bruno, D. Orestano, N. Giudice, A. Romani, M. Sisti, G. Verde, R. Caruso, Arsenii Gavrikov, F. Petrucci, A. Re, Giuseppe Andronico, L. Miramonti, E. Previtali, V. Antonelli, Rosa Maria Guizzetti, D. Basilico, G. Ranucci, Fabio Mantovani, Andrea Barresi, M. Grassi, G. Sava, Nunzio Guardone, A. Martini, Beatrice Jelmini, Carlo Venettacci, R. Brugnera, Vanessa Cerrone, I. Lippi, S. Dusini, Bernardo Ricci, Virginia Strati, Catia Clementi, Marco Danilo Claudio Torri, Antonio Bergnoli, F. Ortica, A. Paoloni, Lorenzo Loi, Claudio Lombardo, A. Garfagnini, Claudio Coletta, M. Redchuck, Antonio Cammi, Lorenzo Lastrucci, Cecilia Landini, Andrea Fabbri, P. Lombardi, S. Parmeggiano, M. Borghesi, P. Saggese, S. Aiello, E. Percalli, E. Stanescu Farilla, C. Tuvé, D. Chiesa, Marco Beretta, B. Caccianiga, S. M. Mari, M. Nastasi, G. Felici, Marco Giammarchi, M. Montuschi, L. Stanco, A. Budano, A. Brigatti
article en
6 citations

Abstract

The optical and radiochemical purification of the scintillating liquid which will fill the detector of the JUNO experiment plays a crucial role in achieving its scientific goals. Given its gigantic mass and dimensions, and an unprecedented target value of about 3 % at 1 MeV in energy resolution, JUNO has set severe requirements on the parameters of its scintillator, such as attenuation length (L at > 20 m at 430 nm), light yield, and content of radioactive contaminants ( 238 U, 232 Th < 10 -15 g/g). To accomplish these needs, the scintillator will be processed using several purification methods, including distillation under vacuum and gas stripping, carried out in two large-scale plants installed at the JUNO site. In this paper, the layout, operating principles, and technical aspects which have driven the design and construction of the distillation and gas stripping plants are reviewed. The distillation is effective in enhancing the optical properties and removing high-boiling radioactive impurities ( 238 U, 232 Th, 40 K), while the stripping process exploits pure water steam and high-purity nitrogen to extract gaseous contaminants ( 222 Rn, 39 Ar, 85 Kr, O 2 ) from the scintillator. The plant operating parameters have been tuned during the recent commissioning phase at the JUNO site and several quality control measurements and tests have been performed to evaluate the performances of the plants. Preliminary results on the efficiency of these purification processes will be shown.

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated EquipmentVol. 1069
University of Milan (IT), University of Ferrara (IT), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Ferrara (IT), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Catania (IT), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano (IT), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano Bicocca (IT)
Openalex Percentile: Top 5%
Neutrino Physics Research
3.96
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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