The electron curtain accelerator is named for its feature to generate a curtain-like electron beam. It is a kind of low-energy accelerator, typically operating energy from 80 to 300 keV. As a DC high-voltage electron accelerator, its main structure consists of a cylindrical stainless steel vacuum chamber shielded with lead. The cathode assembly is concentrically arranged within the vacuum chamber, and the filament is either a long axial filament or a set of longitudinally arranged multiple filaments. During operation, the cathode filament is at a negative high voltage, and electrons are accelerated by this negative high voltage to form a curtain-like beam. The beam then passes through a titanium foil into the air, where it irradiates materials for processing purposes.

IMP has carried out technological research in this field and successfully developed a self-shielded benchtop Electron Curtain Accelerator, which has been applied in laboratory sample irradiation experiments. The developed high-power Electron Curtain Accelerator achieves a beam current of 400 mA and enables long-term stable operation. Its technical parameters have reached leading domestic levels, as detailed in Table 2.

Table 2. The main parameters of electron curtain accelerator.

Figure 4. The high power electron curtain accelerator.

High beam power Recirculate Coaxial resonator cavity electron accelerator (Recotron) development at IMP

Radiation sterilization is one of the civilian non-power nuclear technology applications and a strategically emerging industry strongly supported by China. Radiation sterilization includes ionizing radiation such as X-rays, gamma rays, and electron beams, with corresponding devices including cobalt-60 sources, X-ray devices, and electron accelerators. The Recirculate Coaxial resonator cavity electron accelerator (Recotron) is a type of accelerator similar to the Rhodotron, characterized by its compact structure, high beam power, high electrical conversion efficiency, and wide range of adjustable beam parameters, making it highly promising for broad market applications. This accelerator can be used for electron beam irradiation sterilization, with a processing speed several times faster than that of conventional Linac accelerators. It can also be used for high-power X-ray sterilization via an X-ray conversion target, serving as an alternative to cobalt-60 sources. Additionally, this type of accelerator can be employed in the production of certain medical radioisotopes, such as molybdenum-99.

IMP initiated the development of this type of accelerator in 2021 and, after three years of effort, successfully developed a prototype. The R&D team has systematically mastered the key physics, technology, and engineering transformation of this type of accelerator, meeting the basic requirements for market-oriented promotion. The accelerator parameters are listed in Table 1, and a 10 MeV/30 kW Recotron prototype photo is shown in Figure 1. A design schematic of a dual-purpose irradiation center capable of utilizing both electron beams and X-rays is shown in Figure 2.

Table 3. The parameters of the Recotron.

Figure 5. The photo of the Recotron.

Figure 6. The concept design of the Irradiation Center based on Recotron with two product lines (the vertical irradiation is electron beam and the horizontal irradiation is the X-ray).

Contact:

Mrs. Wang

Tel: 0931-4969624

mail: wangwenlu@impcas.ac.cn

Fax: 0931-4969619

ADD: 509 Nanchang Road, Lanzhou Gansu, China, 730000