Design and Analysis of Cooling System for Linear Accelerator (LINAC)

Abstract

A LINAC is an electron accelerating structure that uses radio frequency power to accelerate electrons. It has many scientific applications, and industrial applications such as microwave sterilization, pasteurization, and preservation of foods, and also in medical applications such as radiotherapy and medical sterilization. For thermally stable operation of the LINAC, it is required to prevent it from temperature-induced frequency shifts. LINAC operation at a high duty cycle dissipates average power of several kW in the structure. The main objective is to minimize the temperature rise to maximize the energy gained by the electron, reduction in thermal deformation of the cavities due to temperature rise and also to operate the LINAC within the efficient bandwidth of the RF source. An optimal thermal design with a web cooling channel system is developed for the efficient functioning of LINAC by using FEA. A water-cooled system (web cooling) for the room temperature 5 MeV traveling wave LINAC has been developed. It has been observed that the rise in temperature, thermal deformation, and energy loss are less in the developed design as compared to the pre-existing one. With the lower rise in temperature, the thermal detuning observed in LINAC will also be less. This makes the LINAC more efficient.