International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Research Applications and Utilization of Accelerators

4-8 May 2009, Vienna

Prospects and Challenges for the Industrial Use of Electron Beam Accelerators

A.J. Berejka

Ionicorp, Huntington, New York, United States of America

Corresponding Author: berejka@msn.com

There are >1400 high-current electron beam (EB) accelerators being used in industrial manufacturing operations around the world. The traditional market segments of the use of EB crosslinking for wire and cable jacketing, the crosslinking of heat shinkable tubings and films, and the partial crosslinking of components for use in tire manufacture as well as for the curing of inks, coatings and adhesives are outlined. The emergence of industrial EB processing is put into an historical context. The fastest growing market segment for industrial EB equipment has been that in the low-energy area. This has contributed to the major environmental impact of industrial EB processing: the near-elimination of the use of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and their consequent elimination of greenhouse gas emissions from high speed coating and printing operations that use low-energy EB processing. The major low-energy EB equipment suppliers have down-sized accelerators making them more affordable for product development and industrial use. A new end-use area using low-energy EB has emerged. That is the use of low-energy EB for the surface decontamination of packaging materials that will be used for food and medical products just prior to these materials entering aseptic packaging equipment. Mid-energy accelerators have also been down-sized, with more beam power being offered in self-shielded accelerators. The development of very high power (300 kW to 700 kW), high-energy accelerators (5.0 MeV to 7.0 MeV) has made X-ray conversion a viable industrial process. Equipment that will be used exclusively in the X-ray mode for medical device sterilization is being installed. Studies of the industrial EB market over several decades have been expanded to include uses in Eastern European countries. The prospects for industrial EB processing depend upon the industry meeting a number of challenges:

1. the need to address the market in a coherent manner;
2. the need to be more astute in the selection of areas for applications development;
3. the need to emphasize energy efficiency;
4. the need to develop trained professionals; and
5. the need for enhanced industry wide communication.

These points are elaborated upon in this paper.