TY - JOUR
T1 - A scintillator purification system for a large scale solar neutrino experiment
AU - Benziger, J. B.
N1 - Funding Information:
Work supported by the Physics Directorate of the National Science Foundation under grant PHY9313919 as part of the Borexino Solar Neutrino Experiment. The results from the Counting Test Facility have been an effort of the entire Borexino collaboration (see NIMA 406 (1998) 411-426 for collaborator list).
PY - 1999/8
Y1 - 1999/8
N2 - An on-line purification system for a large-scale low-background liquid scintillation detector has been tested with the 5-ton liquid scintillation detector, the Counting Test Facility at Gran Sasso. Counter-current water extraction removes polar and charged impurities such as ions and metal salts. Vacuum distillation of the entire scintillator has been applied to remove both radioactive impurities and chemical impurities that affect the optical properties of the scintillator. Filtration with a 0.05 μm particulate filter removed suspended dust particles that may contain U, Th and K. Nitrogen stripping was employed to remove dissolved water and noble gases (e.g. 85Kr) from the scintillator. The system has effectively reduced the internal back in the 5 ton liquid scintillation detector from 470±90 events/d to the detection limit of the detector (±45 events/d) in the energy window 250<E<800 keV.
AB - An on-line purification system for a large-scale low-background liquid scintillation detector has been tested with the 5-ton liquid scintillation detector, the Counting Test Facility at Gran Sasso. Counter-current water extraction removes polar and charged impurities such as ions and metal salts. Vacuum distillation of the entire scintillator has been applied to remove both radioactive impurities and chemical impurities that affect the optical properties of the scintillator. Filtration with a 0.05 μm particulate filter removed suspended dust particles that may contain U, Th and K. Nitrogen stripping was employed to remove dissolved water and noble gases (e.g. 85Kr) from the scintillator. The system has effectively reduced the internal back in the 5 ton liquid scintillation detector from 470±90 events/d to the detection limit of the detector (±45 events/d) in the energy window 250<E<800 keV.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0920-5632(99)00530-7
DO - 10.1016/S0920-5632(99)00530-7
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0033236999
SN - 2405-6014
VL - 78
SP - 105
EP - 110
JO - Nuclear and Particle Physics Proceedings
JF - Nuclear and Particle Physics Proceedings
IS - 1-3
ER -