CO2 Cooling Systems

A standardized approach to the design of CO2 cooling units based on the successful “2-PACL”(1) cycle has been put in place in close collaboration with NIKHEF, where the concept was first developed in 2000 for the Silicon Tracker of AMS02 and for the VELO detector of LHCb. The CO2 units are roughly divided in three classes, based on cooling power, dimension and complexity of the control architecture. The largest unit realised today is the 15 kW pilot plant realised for the upgrade of the CMS PIX detector, the smallest is the 100 W portable unit known as “TRACI”(2), of which 6 units have been already distributed to experiments and partner institutes. The team has also been heavily involved in the construction and commissioning of the cooling plant for the ATLAS IBL, for which two mid-class units (~ 2 kW power) have been assembled.
(1) 2-Phase Accumulator Controlled Loop
(2) Transportable Apparatus for CO2 Investigations