Economy in utilizing electron beam accelerators

As the typical industrialized processes using electron beam irradiation, the following items may be given: the manufacture of cables covered with cross-linking polyethylene or PVC, heat-contracting material, cross-linking polyethylene foam, etc., and the curing of coatings or surface finishes. The results of investigating economy in these processes are described. First, the running cost of electron beam irradiation equipments is calculated. The result shows that, in general, the unit cost of the equipments becomes small with increasing output, therefore the selection of large power equipments may be advantageous for economy. Other important factors concerning the equipments are the reliability and lifetime which are being improved every year and the improvement of the operational efficiency of the equipments. Next, the comparison of cost was made for each industrialized process of the cables covered with cross-linking polyethylene, polyethylene foam, and the curing of coatings. In general, the processing cost is smaller and the depreciation cost is larger in electron beam irradiation process as compared with conventional processes. In addition, since the productive capacity is larger in electron beam process it is preponderant when the amount of production is large. In the industrialized examples, unique processes or features which are not obtainable by other methods are attained. (Wakatsuki, Y.)