A Custom Online Ultrasonic Gas Mixture Analyzer With Simultaneous Flowmetry, Developed for the Upgraded Evaporative Cooling System of the ATLAS Silicon Tracker

We describe a combined ultrasonic instrument for continuous gas flow measurement and simultaneous real-time binary gas mixture analysis. In the instrument, sound bursts are transmitted in opposite directions, which may be aligned with the gas flow path or at an angle to it, the latter configuration being the best adapted to high flow rates. The combined flow measurement and mixture analysis algorithm exploits the phenomenon whereby the sound velocity in a binary gas mixture at known temperature and pressure is a unique function of the molar concentration of the two components. The instrument is central to a possible upgrade to the present ATLAS silicon tracker cooling system in which octafluoropropane (C F ) evaporative cooling fluid would be replaced by a blend containing up to 25% hexafluoroethane (C₂F₆). The instrument has been developed in two geometries following computational fluid dynamics studies of various mechanical layouts. An instrument with 45 crossing angle has been installed for commissioning in the ATLAS silicon tracker cooling system. It can be used in gas flows up to 20 000 l.min^-1 and has demonstrated a flow resolution of 2.3% of full scale for linear flow velocities up to 10 m.s in preliminary studies with air. Other instruments are currently used to detect low levels of C₂F₈ vapor leaking into the N₂ environmental gas surrounding the ATLAS silicon tracker. A long-duration continuous study of more than a year has demonstrated a sensitivity to mixture variation of better than 5.10^-5.