LBNF Argon Receiving System

Summary of RFP LBNF-357714-JD Scope: The Argon Receiving system serves as the point of entry for Argon to the greater LBNF systems. The system is located at the surface level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), some 4850 feet (1478 meters) above the cavern spaces that house the DUNE detectors.

The system thus serves to not only accept Argon deliveries, but also to test them for acceptability, temporarily store them, and finally to vaporize stored LAr to be transferred underground via the nearby Ross Shaft. The successful bidder shall engineer, manufacture, pack, deliver, install, and perform the acceptance tests at SURF for the Argon Receiving for LBNF.

The Subcontractor shall furnish all labor, professional engineering services, equipment, and materials to deliver the supply in accordance with the requirements of this SOW to SURF in the vicinity of Lead, South Dakota. The supply includes two (2) dedicated truck stations to offload liquid argon (LAr) to be used at LBNF. Further, the LAr tanks shall be equipped to reject their contents to trucks at the appropriate stations. This shall facilitate the recovery of LAr at the end of the experiment.

The supply additionally comprises two (2) 50 m3 LAr storage tanks, to be used in conjunction with two (2) additional 50 m3 tanks outside the scope of this supply (provided by FRA, to be installed by the Subcontractor) to provide surface-level storage of LAr, for a total of 200 m3.

The supply tanks may be temporary installations required only for the duration of the active LAr delivery and fill of the belowground LAr cryostats (expected to continue until end of 2033) or may be permanent fixtures depending on which route is most cost effective. The tanks outside the scope of this supply shall be permanently installed. The Subcontractor shall install each of the tanks onsite, including both those required in the supply and those provided by FRA.

The supply further includes any necessary equipment to discharge LAr from the tanks and subsequently vaporize it so that Gaseous Argon (GAr) may be sent to the relevant LBNF cryogenics subsystems, as well as test deliveries and tank contents for purity. Finally, the supply includes all interconnecting piping and equipment (including all control and safety valves, etc.) between the aforementioned components (including the two tanks outside the supply’s scope), as well as all documents and drawings for the design.

LBNF Project Background: LBNF (http:/lbnf-dune.fnal.gov/) will provide the infrastructure necessary to support the massive neutrino detectors located deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, SD. The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will employ four (4) such detectors, housed in cryostats requiring almost 70,000 tons of liquid argon (LAr), about 17,500 tons for each cryostat.

DUNE (http://www.dunescience.org/) is expected to achieve transformative discoveries, making definitive determinations of neutrino properties, examining the dynamics of supernovae that produced the heavy elements necessary for life, and probing the possibility of proton decay.