Speaker
Description
About 80% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at CERN arise from the use of fluorinated gases in gaseous particle detectors, primarily C$_2$H$_2$F$_4$, SF$_6$ and CF$_4$, reaching the order of hundred-thousands of tCO$_2$e per year. This is challenging not only from an environmental perspective, but also due to financial and regulatory considerations. In the following years, the purchase of the necessary gases will pose a challenge due to the F-Gas Regulation update and the upcoming ban on Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
To replace and minimise the use of GHGs, the CERN Gas Group has a multi-strategy mitigation plan in place. In addition to reducing the consumption of such gases by means of gas recirculation and recuperation systems, in the long term, we seek eco-friendly gas mixtures that will maintain or even improve the experimental performance of different detector technologies.
In this contribution, the focus will be on Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) and Micro Pattern Gaseous Detectors (MPGD). Detectors are tested both in laboratory and irradiation facilities to assess their performance with several eco-friendly gas mixtures. The performance is defined by checking detector efficiency, as well as time resolution, charge distribution, cluster size and currents.
To reduce C$_2$H$_2$F$_4$ consumption in the near term at LHC experiments, we present the performance of CO$_2$-based gas mixtures in comparison with the Standard Gas Mixture, including an ageing test on the chosen concentration. As a long-term solution, the results of RPC detectors operated with different Hydrofluoroolefins (HFO) and Novec gases as replacements for both C$_2$H$_2$F$_4$ and SF$_6$ will be shown. Focusing on different gaseous particle detection technologies, preliminary results for MPGDs operated with reduced CF$_4$ concentration will also be presented.
| Position | Doctoral Student |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Université Paris-Saclay |
| Country | France |