Benefits of Compact Electron Beam Adoption in Industrial Processes: Case Studies on Energy and Water Savings and Reduced Pollution Output and Chemical Use

摘要

Advanced Electron Beams (AEB) utilizes an innovative design and manufacturing technology to provide compact electron beams as an efficient, clean and cost effective form of industrial energy. End users are replacing traditional thermal and chemical processes with electron beams in order to reduce pollution, decrease energy consumption, reduce raw material usage, and improve overall productivity across a wide range of applications. Current applications areas include surface sterilization in the medical, beverage, and food packaging industries, curing of inks and coatings for printing, packaging, opto-electronic, and industrial applications, as well as high energy crosslinking for advanced materials applications. While electron beam (EB) technology has been available for over 30 years, adoption of e-beam-enabled industrial processing has historically been very slow due to: a) the complicated maintenance and operation of electron beam sources; b) the prohibitive expense and size of production equipment; and c) the lack of practical and affordable R&D/pilot equipment. AEB has developed electron beam emitters that are simple to use and easy integrate in-line, with a size factor 30 times smaller than traditional e-beam emitters. This new approach to electron beam technology opens up new application possibilities and makes lab scale e-beam R&D more practical.