Compact, superconducting radio frequency to improve wastewater treatment

WASHINGTON -- A superconducting accelerator system is under development at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, designed to process wastewater and for use in other environmental cleanup applications.

Water irradiation has already been proven to effectively remove contaminants, but existing accelerator technology incurs high costs and is difficult to scale to industrial applications. Another challenge is posed by the need for liquid helium and attendant refrigeration systems to cool the cavities in accelerators. New superconducting radio frequency (SRF) system advances are poised to eliminate these obstacles to cost-effective water and wastewater irradiation.

Liquid helium-free solutions include a niobium-tin coating to reduce cavity cooling requirements and the advent of compact cryocoolers. A thick, high-purity copper layer applied to the outer surface of SRF cavities by additive manufacturing methods efficiently conducts heat to the cryocooler and aids in cooling the cavities to optimum operating temperatures.

The researchers expect to take advantage of these developments to design an SRF accelerator that can produce an electron beam with enough energy at high enough power for a range of industrial and environmental applications, including treating municipal wastewater.