LBNF Argon Distribution Equipment IDIQ

Please see the attached RFP and Statement of Work for complete information. In short, the Argon Distribution Equipment serves:

• To transfer gaseous and liquid argon throughout the underground portion of the LBNF, housed 4850 ft (1478 m) below the surface level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF).


• To transfer, in limited capacity, gaseous and liquid nitrogen (for regeneration) throughout the underground portion of the LBNF.


• As a connection between the various other argon subsystems at the LBNF for the ultimate purpose of building and maintaining a clean reservoir of LAr within the LBNF cryostats.


• To install hardware and equipment delivered by partners as In-Kind Contributions (IKC).


• To provide dry Nitrogen gas to the cryostat insulation space.


• To provide the capability of injecting xenon gas from cylinders into the manifold containing argon vent gas from cryostat feedthroughs, heading to argon condensing.


• As a connection between the LAr Purification and Purity Monitors.

To analyze GN2 content of GAr from the surface during cryostat filling.

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.