Acquisition of a helium liquefier for the São Carlos region

• Grant number: 09/53983-6
• Support Opportunities: Multi-user Equipment Program
• Start date: August 01, 2010
• End date: September 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Condensed Matter Physics
• Principal Investigator: Otaciro Rangel Nascimento
• Grantee: Otaciro Rangel Nascimento
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• EMU web page: Página do Equipamento Multiusuário não informada
• Type of equipment: Tipo de Equipamento Multiusuário não informado
• Manufacturer: Fabricante não informado
• Model: Modelo não informado

Abstract

In this project, we propose the purchase and installation of a helium liquefier, our objective being to ensure the supply of liquid helium to all of the users in the São Carlos region. The USP São Carlos Institute of Physics (IFSC) has a long tradition in cryogenic infrastructure, routinely having been able to furnish nitrogen and liquid helium to its users since the early 1970s. The IFSC currently has a helium liquefaction plant made by Koch (now Linde), model 1410, that was installed in April of 1986 and serves all of the research laboratories in the region. This helium liquefier has been in operation for more than 23 years, producing 1000 to 1500 l of helium monthly. The liquid helium produced was distributed to the following users: those at the IFSC; those at the Federal University of São Carlos; those at the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center of the São Carlos Santa Casa de Misericórdia Hospital; those at the Brazilian Agency for Agricultural Research Instrumentation Center at São Carlos; those at the USP Riberão Preto School of Philosophy, Science, and Literature; and those at the USP São Carlos Institute of Chemistry. Because of the extensive use, this liquefier has already long surpassed the lifetime estimated by the manufacturer. Therefore, it has undergone innumerable repairs and its production of liquid helium (in l/h) has been progressively diminishing over the last few years. The specialists have informed us that it will undoubtedly fail at any moment. In view of these facts, we propose the acquisition of a new liquefier to replace the current one. The liquefier that we are requesting is nearly identical to the one it will replace, the only difference being that the manual control system has been replaced with a computerized electronic system that provides greater precision and ease of operation. (AU)