4 MeV high-voltage accelerator with 500 kW electron beam for radiation sterilization

Growing interest in X-ray radiation at an industrial scale for various kind s of processes has stimulated a requirement for high-efficiency and low-cos t X-ray production. At powers greater than 100 kW, high-voltage electron ac celerators based on the transformer-rectifier principle have the highest ef ficiency of conversion of electric power to an accelerated electron beam (n ot: less than 80%), which makes them quite attractive for industrial applic ations. Some preliminary results of the design of a 4 MeV, 500 kW accelerat or are presented in this paper. The accelerator can be used in the electron beam mode, or as an X-ray source, or it can be run in a mixed mode where p art of electron beam is directed at the object to be irradiated near the su rface and the other part is converted to X-rays for deeper penetration, Usi ng several different types of magnetic-held beam-forming systems which incl ude scanning, the accelerator can be adapted for practically any form of ma terial and product irradiation with high efficiency. Versions of installati ons for irradiation of cylindrical objects (logs, pipes) and box-shaped com ponents (packed food, for example) are given in the paper. (C) 2001 Elsevie r Science Ltd. All rights reserved.