Speaker
Description
The Extreme Energy Events (EEE) Project is based on the deployment of cosmic-ray telescopes in Italian high schools with the active contribution of students and teachers in the construction and operation of the detectors.
The telescope network counts ~60 tracking detectors, each one made by three Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPC) with an active surface of 158x82 cm
The search for new eco-friendly gas mixtures is a challenge that many experiments are facing, action even more important for the EEE project, given the important role in the outreach and student education. Therefore, the collaboration has decided to phase out the gas mixture in use and start an R&D on alternative mixtures environmentally sustainable. Apart from maintaining the telescope performance, further requirements for the new mixtures are related to the cost, security and compatibility with the current gas distribution system. It should also be possible to operate the detector within the bias voltage that the electronics is currently able to provide.
New binary gas mixtures, compatible with the project requirements, have been identified and are currently under investigation, with a few telescopes already fully running with the new mixtures. MRPCs performance, in terms of resolution (time and space), efficiency, stability and aging are currently being evaluated and optimized. In this contribution the EEE project and the performance of the telescopes will be described. Test strategy and preliminary results with the new gas mixtures will be reported.
| Collaboration | EEE |
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