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Environment-friendly gas mixtures for Resistive Plate Chambers: an experimental and simulation study

Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) have shown stable operation at the Large Hadron Collider and satisfactory efficiency for the entire Run 1 (2010-2013) and Run 2 (2015-2018) with C$_{2}$H$_{2}$F$_{4}$-based gas mixtures and the addition of SF$_{6}$ and i-C$_{4}$H$_{10}$. Since its global warming potential (GWP) is high, C$_{2}$H$_{2}$F$_{4}$ is phasing out of production due to recent European Union regulations and as a result its cost is progressively increasing. Therefore, finding a new RPC gas mixture with a low GWP has become extremely important. This contribution describes the simulation of the RPC efficiency with tetrafluoropropene C$_{3}$H$_{2}$F$_{4}$ (HFO1234ze), a hydrofluoroolefin with very low GWP. Simulation results are systematically compared with measurements of RPC efficiency in C$_{3}$H$_{2}$F$_{4}$-based gas mixtures with the addition of different combinations of Ar, He, CO$_{2}$, O$_{2}$ and i-C$_{4}$H$_{10}$ in various concentrations. This simulation allows the study of the interplay between C$_{3}$H$_{2}$F$_{4}$ and the other gas components in the mixture as well as may allow the identification of the most promising environment-friendly gas mixtures with C$_{3}$H$_{2}$F$_{4}$ for RPCs.