Design of a 10 MeV, 1000 kW average power electron-beam accelerator for wastewater treatment applications

Abstract

We present the technical and engineering design of a medium energy (10 MeV) and high average power (1000 kW) electron-beam accelerator intended for irradiation treatment of high-volume industrial and municipal wastewater. The accelerator uses a Nb3Sn superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavity for producing the high average beam power with >90% rf to beam efficiency. The design of the accelerator is tailored for industrial settings by adopting the cryocooler conduction-cooling technique for the SRF cavity instead of a conventional liquid helium bath cryosystem. The technical design is supplemented with a detailed analysis of capital and operating cost of the accelerator. The designed accelerator can treat up to 12 million gallons per day of wastewater, requires capital of ∼$8 M for construction, and has ∼13.5 ¢/ton/kGy in material processing cost.