NSF Award
9461878
There is currently an active interest in the development of improved methods to decontaminate and disinfect waste water. Direct electron beam irradiation is attractive since radical formation and attack on contaminants is energy efficient and relatively nonselective. Effective decontamination has been demonstrated with an energy investment well below 1.0 MRads. Although various electron accelerators have been applied, large scale implementation has been impeded by excessive size, initial cost, reliability, or scaleability. Induction accelerator technology as developed at Science Research Laboratory (SRL) offers the promise to surmount these limitations. The objective of this effort is to develop a new, low cost and reliable process for decontamination of process and wastewater using linear induction accelerator technology. Electron beams are produced with the SRL accelerator in a compact configuration which employs the reliability of all-solid-state switching to provide high average power through high pulse rate. Preliminary tests at SRL at 1.2 MeV electron energy have shown effective and efficient destruction of organic contaminants in water. The proposed Phase I work will expand these data to a wider range (1-1000 ppm) in initial concentrations, and a wider range (0.05-6.0 MRads) in dosage to provide a basis for system conceptual design, optimization and costing. In addition, since peak dose rate for induction accelerators is higher (100-1000 times) than rates delivered by electrostatic accelerators, this parameter will be varied to seek potential further improvement in system efficiency. The existing SNOMAD-IV induction accelerator at SRL with recent upgrade to 1.5 MeV will be used in this effort. This system has been coupled to a flowing contaminated water system to provide a unique facility for the proposed research.
