Candidates to Replace R-12 as a Radiating Gas in Cherenkov Detectors

Published

April 14, 2018

Author(s)

Allan H. Harvey, Yauheni Paulechka, Patrick F. Egan

Abstract

Dichlorodifluoromethane (R-12) has been used as a radiating gas in pressure threshold Cherenkov detectors for high-energy particle physics. However, that ozone-depleting compound is becoming unavailable due to the Montreal Protocol. To find a replacement with suitably high refractive index, we use a combination of theory and experiment to examine the polarizability and refractivity of several non-ozone-depleting compounds. Our measurements show that the third- generation refrigerants R-1234yf and R-1234ze(E) have sufficient refractivity to replace R-12. If the slight flammability of these compounds is a problem, an alternative is R-218 (octafluoropropane), which is non-flammable but has a high Global Warming Potential.

Citation

Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section B-Beam Interactions With Materials and Atoms

Volume

425

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2018.04.006

Keywords

Cherenkov detector, R-12, R-1234yf, R-1234ze(E), refractive index

Citation

Harvey, A. , Paulechka, Y. and Egan, P. (2018), Candidates to Replace R-12 as a Radiating Gas in Cherenkov Detectors, Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section B-Beam Interactions With Materials and Atoms, [online], https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2018.04.006 (Accessed October 9, 2025)