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The liquid lead taget at nELBE

Galindo, V.; Erlebach, S.; Gerbeth, G.; Weiss, F.-P.

The radiation source ELBE (Electron Linear accelerator with high Brilliance and low Emittance) at Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (FZD) has a superconducting linear accelerator with electron energies up to 40 MeV as a central instrument, and it will be used to produce sub-ns neutron pulses by stopping the electrons in a heavy radiator and producing neutrons by bremsstrahlung photons through (gamma,n) reactions. The neutron radiator consists of a liquid lead circuit. The volume of the radiator for the neutron production is chosen as small as possible in order to avoid multiple n scattering, which would broaden the neutron pulse. Power deposition of the electron beam in the small radiator volume of 1cm3 reaches up to 25 kW and any solid high Z number material would melt. A liquid lead target circulated by an electromagnetic pump is presented as a suitable solution. The heating power introduced by the electrons is removed through an additional heat exchanger. Typical flow velocities of the lead are between 1 m/s and 5 m/s in the radiator section. From the thermal and mechanical point of view, molybdenum turned out to be the most suited target wall material in the region where the electrons impinge on the neutron radiator. Model experiments in a pilot facility and numerical simulations of the flow, temperature and thermal stress distributions in the loop and
simulation of the efficiency of a lead-GaInSn-water heat exchanger are presented.

Keywords: liquid lead neutron target

  • Lecture (Conference)
    Workshop on modern methods using fast neutrons for research related to the transmutation of nuclear waste, 13.-15.02.2008, Dresden, Germany

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-11064
Publ.-Id: 11064