Not with a big bang but with the quiet stroke of a pen, representatives of Air Products (AP) and Fermi Research Alliance (FRA), which manages and operates the U.S. DOE Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory known as Fermilab, signed a contract for AP to supply a custom nitrogen (N₂) liquefier equipment package to support research of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, DUNE.

The vast caverns of DUNE will house large cryostats filled with liquid argon (Ar). These large Ar cryostats will enable the detection of neutrinos coming from a proton accelerator beam generated about 800 miles away in Batavia, Illinois. The N2 liquefaction system, designed by AP, will be used to continually cool and re-condense the Ar that boils off from the neutrino detection system.

The customized N₂ refrigeration equipment package includes technology from several AP business units including Rotoflow® turbomachinery equipment, PRISM® Membrane Solutions for N₂ generation, and AP’ Cold Box technology.