TRIUMF has just signed a major contract with Air Liquide Advanced Technologies (AL-AT) to provide major components of the cryogenic system for the new ARIEL laboratory. The deal will provide ARIEL with the world-class engineering and infrastructure for maintaining the ultra-cold temperatures required for the flagship e-linac accelerator. Air Liquide will have the opportunity to show case its technology at a major scientific laboratory in North America. Air Liquide and TRIUMF will form a solid team for ARIEL's advances in isotopes for science and medicine.
Air Liquide is among the world leaders in gases for industry, health and the environment. Because of this diverse expertise and skills, Air Liquide Advanced Technologies is well-matched to fulfill the complex technological needs of a big science research facility like TRIUMF. To meet the demanding requirements for ARIEL, TRIUMF took bids from around the world to find the most competitive. AL-AT will be providing liquid helium refrigeration and liquefaction equipment, along with associated support systems such as helium gas management and purity analysis.
The cryogenic technology from AL-AT is critical to the ARIEL facility and its associated electron accelerator (e-linac). The facility will feature a next-generation superconducting accelerator, which will require supercool temperatures - just two degrees above absolute zero - in order to operate at its peak performance. The equipment to be delivered by Air Liquide will be a major component of realizing the ultra-low temperatures required for operating the ARIEL e-linac. Air Liquide will design, manufacture and deliver custom cryogenic equipment, and provide its expertise for installation and inspection of the system.
With its groundbreaking last month, Phase I of the ARIEL project is to be completed in July 2013 with beams from the e-linac available by 2015. The contract with Air Liquide is a key milestone as it secures another critical system for the e-linac's success, and heralds a phase of intensified activity that continues to keep the construction on track and within its budget. TRIUMF looks forward to the successful completion of the ARIEL laboratory with this key contract awarded to Air Liquide. Air Liquide Advanced Technologies's contribution of new technologies will help TRIUMF in driving the field---and industry---forward.
--by Aaron Lao, TRIUMF's Communication Assistant