NEO Beam Facility

The Neo Beam facility is one of Ohio's leading research facilities used by the Program on Electron Beam Technology. The facility is located in the town of Middlefield, Ohio, about 30 miles southeast of Cleveland.

Its main physical characteristics are described below.

• Floor Plan: 20,000 sq. ft.
  • Academic Area
    • Laboratories
      • Dosimetry: Development and characterization of dosimeters.
      • Plastics Technology: UTM, environment chamber (200C to 40C), mill, hydraulic press, paddle mixer, air-circulating oven.
    • Conference (class) room with video conferencing capabilities.
  • Production Area
    • Conveyor cart system
    • Reel-to-reel system
    • Docks for trailer loading and unloading
  • Accelerator Area
    • Dynamitron accelerator (5 MeV and 150 kW @ 30mA)
    • Scanner system. Width: 122 cm; Scanning frequency: 100 Hz
    • Sterilization option
    • Extended energy range: down to 1 MeV
    • High resolution beam control for low currents
    • Beam room area: 630 sq. ft.
    • Access to beam room
      • Maze: conveyor system (13 X 6 sq. ft.)
      • Slot: reel-to-reel system (6 X 50 in2).
      • Orifices: other uses (6, 2, and 1 in. diameter).
  • Offices

About the Electron Accelerator

Electron Accelerators, like the Dynamitron© (pictured to the left), work the same way as a television set, with a few differences.

Inside a volume (the beam tube) where the air has been extracted, electrons are generated by heating a filament. When the filament is heated, it produces electrons. A voltage gradient causes the electrons to be drawn (extracted) from the area surrounding the filament.  The electrons are then accelerated and collimated as they travel down the beam tube and through the a magnet. This magnet scans the beam back and forth, producing a "shower" of electrons that crosses a titanium window separating the vacuum region from the atmosphere.  In the case of the television tube, typical accelerating voltages are 25 kV; in the case of an industrial electron accelerator like the Dynamitron, these voltages are 10 to 200 larger. A television set is able to generate images as a result of the electrons hitting the fluorescent screen of the picture tube. A Dynamitron produces a beam of electrons that crosses the metal window, impinging on the product under irradiation, and giving rise to physical, chemical, and in some cases, biological changes.

Electrons accelerated by a voltage of 5 MV travel at 99.6% of the speed of light; that is, they are moving at a speed just shy of about 300,000 km/sec (or 186,000 mi/hr).  In an industrial accelerator, the electron beam current can be varied, and is much larger than in a television tube.  In the latter, currents are several microamperes; in the electron accelerator, the current is roughly 1,000 times larger.  A TV tube produces a microscopic beam; the Dynamitron produces an beam about 3 to 5 cm in diameter.