How does an electron beam accelerator work?

There are several different methods to accelerate electrons to form a beam. The accelerators used by E-BEAM Services are direct current, which provide a continuous versus a pulsed beam. As an example, our accelerators operate in the same way as a traditional cathode ray television set.

Electrons are extracted from a electron gun located within in a high level vacuum system. The electrons are accelerated by a magnetic field of three to five million volts and scanned into a curtain of electrons. (By comparison, a TV operates in the range of just 25 thousand volts!) The electrons then exit the vacuum system through a thin titanium foil, where they strike the product that is being conveyed at a controlled speed through the curtain of electrons.

The voltage of the magnetic field is called the energy of the accelerator, and it determines how deeply the electrons will penetrate into the product. The dose is controlled by varying the beam current and line speed to accumulate the proper quantity of electrons in the product. For more information on these parameters, see my blog on the Important Parameters of an Electron Beam.

And for further information about how electron beams operate, an description is provided in videos available on our website; the E-BEAM Crosslinking Process at 0:40, and the E-BEAM Sterilization Process at 0:49.