[en] A 10 MeV, 10 kW RF Electron Linac, for radiation application either in Electron Beam mode or X-Ray mode is installed and commissioned at Electron Beam Centre, Kharghar, India. The accelerator is being regularly operated at 3kW average beam power for industrial and experimental irradiation applications. The control system is designed using Real time embedded controller, with FPGA for pulse generation. The State Machine Architecture is used for the implementation of the logic. The acquisition and the control of the I/O signals are done in every 100ms. Devices of RS-232 protocol are controlled remotely using suitable converters. For RS-232 devices data is obtained in every 1 sec. Data between Controller and the PC is transferred over Ethernet. PC is used for local display of the faults and the parameters. Sample and Hold circuit is developed for acquiring the pulse signals and converter it to DC to display it on the PC. Database for logging accelerator parameter is developed in SQL. It stores the linac parameters and fault data along with process data. The process data stores the details of experiment, sample, user, irradiation dose etc details. The report generation feature is available to generate various report with specific data on linac parameter, experimental details etc. This paper describes the salient feature of the software and hardware implementation used in the control system of the 10MeV RF Linac. (author)

[en] The indigenous 10 MeV RF electron linac at Electron Beam Centre, Navi Mumbai has been operated routinely for various radiation processing applications. Performance of the linac at 10 MeV has been found to be reliable upto an average beam power of 3 kW. Dose uniformity over a scan length of 680 mm is measured to be within ±5%. This paper outlines the performance of 3 kW operations of 10 MeV Linac. A discussion of some of the applications carried out in this facility is also presented

[en] Control system for RF source of 30 MeV, 3 kW RF Linac for neutron generation is being developed. The system consists of two 15 MeV linac structures, each powered independently with klystron rated for 7.5 MW(pk)/7.5 kW(avg). Two klystron modulators of 160kV, 110A, 7μs and 250Hz feed pulsed power into the klystron, which produces RF power at 2856 MHz. The klystrons will be driven by low power RF driver amplifiers programmed for matching phase, frequency and power into the linac. Both the driver amplifiers are controlled through RS-232 Protocol. The HV pulsing and RF drive for the klystron has been interlocked with water flow, arc detector, SF6 gas pressure etc. The control system is designed using Real time embedded controller, where pulses for synchronization are being generated in FPGA. Most of the power supplies like electromagnet, HVDC, etc. are on RS-232 protocol. These power supplies are controlled via suitable RS-232 to Ethernet converter. State machine topology is being used to design the logic. The database for logging data is developed in SQL. This paper describes the details of the software implementation and hardware used to realize the control of the RF power source. (author)

[en] A prototype on-axis coupled cavity RF electron linac for industrial applications is under development. The linac has been designed to deliver a 10 MeV pulsed beam with an average power of 10 kW. The RF frequency is 2856 MHz, while the duty cycle and pulse repetition rate are 0.4% and 400 Hz respectively

[en] Presently electron accelerator technology is well established and popular towards radiation processing to cater various societal needs including polymers modifications, food preservation, seed mutations, medical sterilizations, radiation therapy, gemstone exotic coloration, waste managements, cargo scanning and overall basic research. In this reference BARC has set electron RF linear accelerator (Linac) of 10 MeV at Electron Beam Centre (EBC), Kharghar, Navi Mumbai based upon full indigenous design. In this facility the major source of radiation is bremsstrahlung x-rays as produced by hitting of electron beam to the structural materials, product to be processed, auxiliary systems like conveyor etc. To avoid the radiation hazards the Linac is located inside a shielding cell made up of 2.6 m thick concrete. The shielding is sufficient to reduce the radiation level well below the regulatory permissible limit of 1 μSv/h. Electron beam propagates in air as radiation processing happens in aerated conditions which results in generation of ozone due to air radiolysis. Ozone is a potential safety hazard and mandates to maintain 0.1 ppm threshold for human occupancy. Suitable ventilation system is designed and incorporated to ensure the same. Present paper elaborates the details of the various safety systems incorporated to ensure radiation and ozone safety in 10 MeV Linac to provide safe environment to the operating personnel and public as well as environment. (author)

[en] Electron beam has established an imperative role in the field of radiation treatment to modify physico-chemical characteristics of materials which requires to cater the different societal needs. Applicability of electron accelerators has created huge interest among researchers of various areas in last few decades. The driving force in this regard is reliability in interaction of electron beam with materials. The inimitable part of electron beam treatment is its full controllability and the treatment is implemented on the final stage of production, even post packaging at normal atmospheric conditions. These make it very attractive over the conventional alternative approaches including chemical treatments, autoclave etc. In the present document we emphasize the utilization of electron accelerators, at EBC, BARC, in diverse fields like agriculture, semiconductor industries, polymers, food preservation, waste management, material science, radiography & security and other basic researches. The scopes of futuristic development, in this field, along with associated challenges are also elaborated. (author)

[en] An optically isolated remote operation and data acquisition system has been designed and developed for ECR Ion source required for LEHIPA. There are various sub-systems of ECR ion source like three no. of High Voltage supplies, two solenoid coil supplies, a microwave generator, vacuum controller and a LCW plant. A fiber optic ring topology was implemented to connect different sub-systems. This paper describes the components of optical network and the development of software for remote operation and data acquisition. (author)

[en] A 9 MeV RF Electron accelerator is being jointly developed by BARC and ECIL for Cargo scanning at ECIL, Hyderabad. In order to operate the Linac from control room, various parameters, like Vacuum, RF Power, Pulse Repetitive Rate, RF Frequency, Focusing coil current, RF Driver Gain of the Linac, etc., need to be monitored and controlled. These parameters are acquired from various devices Vacuum Controller, Power Meter, Synchronous Trigger Generator, Signal Generator, Solenoid Coil Supply and Driver Amplifier respectively. All the devices have their own set of command formats and protocol, which need to be integrated into a single system. This paper describes the design features of the software and experience of use of control software during beam operations. (author)

[en] A 40 kV electron gun is designed and developed using the Pierce configuration for the focusing electrode. Simulations were carried out using CST Particle Studio. The Gun is a thermionic type electron gun with indirect heating of the LaB₆ cathode. The gun is capable of delivering a beam current of more than 1.0 A at 40 kV with a beam size of less than 4 mm. The cathode assembly housing the LaB₆ cathode pellet consists of cups and heat shields made out of Tantalum and Rhenium sheets. The cathode assembly and the electron gun was fabricated, assembled and tested on test bench. This paper presents the gun design, cathode conditioning, HV cold conditioning, beam characterization and grid biasing experiments on test bench. (author)

[en] For cargo scanning, high energy X-rays are required. These X-rays can be generated from accelerated electrons. A 9 MeV Cargo scanning RF LINAC has been developed at ECIL, Hyderabad. The Microwave power source required for RF Linac is a klystron-based system generating 5.5 MW peak, 10 kW average, at 2.856 GHz. Various components required for microwave source were identified, procured, tested and integrated into the source. Microwave source was tested on water load, then it was connected to LINAC and RF conditioning and e-beam trials were successfully done. For operating the microwave source, a PC based remote handling system was also designed and developed for operating various power supplies and instruments of the microwave source, including the Klystron modulator, Signal generator and other devices. The accelerator operates in pulse mode, requiring synchronous operation of the Klystron modulator, RF driver amplifier and E-gun modulator. For this purpose, a synchronous trigger generator was designed and developed. This paper describes the development and testing of microwave source and its remote operating system. The results of beam trials are also discussed in this paper. (author)