09.04.2021Vertical DARWIN Demonstrator Commissioning

After the final assembly steps and following a thorough test campaign of all the cryogenics and gas systems of our full-height DARWIN Demonstrator, the first (commissioning) run was successfully conducted. It started at the end of February with the fill of about 80 kg of xenon and lasted until the beginning of April with a successful gas recuperation. During that period, the recirculation speed of the gas purification loop and the heat exchange efficiency was benchmarked and all the subsystems were studied in operation. We learned about the behaviour of the setup under different thermodynamic conditions and in particular about the procedures for filling, recirculation and recuperation. For that reason, we are very happy that everything went well and the systems work safely and stably as designed and expected. On the right, you can see a picture of the copper cold head taken through a view port on the cryo-tower. Liquid xenon is condensing in a small stream and returning from the heat exchangers in a larger stream. We are looking forward to the upcoming upgrades before the next run: The installation of the first stage of the purity monitor as well as the add-on liquid recovery system.