Tuesday, July 10, 2012, 12:44

Target contains 230 discs of UCx (material from UC2 flakes, batch#01-04062012). 

Total UCx mass (UC2 + C-grv extra + C-foil + Org.) = 38.564g

Total length = 8.0 cm

Target was previously contained with TaC and sintered;  it's wrapped with 3 layers of Ta-heat shield, including the back-block.

A regular TaC-coated endcap is inserted on one end and the other is inserted with a D-cap with two samples  (Marked sample #1 & #2).

The chamber is currently being pumped down.

 Tuesday, July 10, 2012, 19:06

IG currently at 9.1e-6 Torr, BP @ 22mTorr.  

Set TGHT auto-ramping parameters:  

Vacuum limit 5.0 e-6 Torr, (max 6.0 e-6 Torr)

rate = 0.25A/min

TGHT = 55A  

Initiated auto-ramping...

 Tuesday, July 10, 2012, 23:20

TGHT reached to 55A and stayed for about 55min.  The pressure was at 2.5e-5 Torr.

Increases TGHT auto-ramping to 175A to allow burning off most of the organic binder, and the chamber will be vented and cleaned before ramping 

up the heater to 520A.

Ramping rate set to 0.1A/min.

Monday, July 16, 2012, 09:44 

TGHT reached to 175A.  It has taken almost 6 days to burn off the organic binder. (see attachment #1).  

Auto-cool down has initiated.  The chamber will be vented with Ar gas and it will be opened for cleaning of the burn-off binder. 

 Monday, July 16, 2012, 14:20

The chamber was vented with Ar, and the target was removed for cleaning.  There was quite a bit of organic gunge filled the ionizer holder-base plate and condensation out the D-cap (as usual).

The chamber was cleaned and the target was installed back.  It's currently being pumped down.

Once the vacuum reached to 10e- Torr.  The heater will be ramped up to max 520A to finish the sintering process.

 Monday, July 16, 2012, 17:01

Pressure has reached to 9.1e-6 Torr. 

Initiated auto-heating at 1A/min.  Set TGHT = 175A.

 Monday, July 16, 2012, 20:00

TGHt reached to 175A.  Pressure stable at 2.2e-5 Torr.  

Increase target heater to 520A; autoramping at 0.1A/min. 

 Thursday, July 19, 2012, 10:27

TGHT reached to 520A, 5.47V (local 516A, 5.36V) and has stayed for about 4 hours.  IG1 = 9.58e-6 Torr and coming down.  BP=29mTorr.

Thursday, July 19, 2012, 10:29

Auto-cooling down in process...  2A/min for TGHT --> 0A.

 Thursday, July 19, 2012, 16:52

The chamber was vented with Ar gas, and the target was transported to the Ar-glove box. 

The samples were removed from the target.

A new TaC-sintered end-cap was inserted.

The target looks good!

Total time for the conditioning process = 9 days.

See attachment#2 for the overall heating/pressure curves.

John Wong wrote:

John Wong wrote: Wednesday, June 06, 2012, 16:55 The UO2/C green was prepared on June 04, 2012.  UO2 powder used = 50.26g C-grv used = 10.14g.  Dry UO2/C green mass = 61.71g. The green was rolled and wrapped in a piece of graphite sheet. The target boat was wrapped with 3 Ta-heat shield and installed in the Evap#1.  The chamber is currently being pumped down.  Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 11:42 Currently, IEVAPIG1= 1.83e-6 Torr, IEVAP:CG2= 48 mTorr. Backing line pressure is slightly high.  Will get Edi to look into this.  Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 14:38 The backing pump oil was changed (ISAC WP#2012-06-12-1).  IEVAP:CG2 is currently reading 27mTorr and IEVAPIG1 at 1.66e-6 Torr.  Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 16:06 TGHT was tabbed up to 50A and stayed for 1.5 hrs.  Not much change in the pressure, currently at 1.8e-6 Torr, BP @ 25mTorr.   Keep stepping up TGHT current...  Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 16:37 TGHT at 65A.  Pressure is starting to rise.  Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 16:46 Pressure at  6.8e-6 Torr and going up slowly.  Initiated TGHT auto-ramping: Max current = 525A,  rate @ 0.1A/min (see attachment #1)  Wednesday, June 13, 2012, 13:22 TGHT has almost reached to 80A.  Pressure is limiting at 4.5e-6 Torr. (see attachment#2) Thursday, June 14, 2012, 17:11 TGHT has reached to 95.40A, local @ 92A & 0.48V.  Pressure is still limiting at 4e-6 Torr.  (see attachment #3) The TGHT current can not go up above 232A because it's voltage limiting at 1.953V (see attachment#4).  The carbon thermal-reduction process stops and the vacuum is going down to low 10e-6 Torr.  The voltage can not be increased on EPICS; it has to be adjusted locally.   Auto-ramping aborted.   The TGHT current setpoint was lowered down to 228A. Sunday, June 17, 2012, 12:03   Asked ISAC Ops (Ed Parton) to help me increase the voltage locally.  The voltage nob was turned 1/4 clockwise, and the current was tapped up from 228 to 231A, and it was responding.  The voltage nob was further turned to 3/4 clockwise.  Initiated auto-ramping.  Currently, TGHT setpoint at 234.90A, local 231A/1.95V.   Vacuum is responding and it's slowly going up (currently at 2.8e-6 Torr) - The carbon thermal reduction process continues...  Monday, June 18, 2012, 00:20   TGHT is going up slowly, currently at  285A.  The pressure is limiting as the carbonization process is under way (see attachment 5).   Sunday, June 24, 2012, 22:51     The Evaporator IOC has lost communication (see attachment #6).  The TGHT auto ramping was not responding to the vacuum limit and kept ramping up, so the program had to be aborted.   On the live camera,  it showed that TGHT stopped at 311A/3.02V and the pressure was at 5.05e-5 Torr.   An email has sent to Controls and hopefully things get resolved on Monday.

 Monday, June 25, 2012, 15:57

The Control Support group investigated the problem and found out that the fiber converters on both ends failed.  They have been replaced with brand new switches with fiber connections.

 The Evap EPICS is back online. 

John Wong wrote:

Wednesday, June 06, 2012, 16:55 The UO2/C green was prepared on June 04, 2012.  UO2 powder used = 50.26g C-grv used = 10.14g.  Dry UO2/C green mass = 61.71g. The green was rolled and wrapped in a piece of graphite sheet. The target boat was wrapped with 3 Ta-heat shield and installed in the Evap#1.  The chamber is currently being pumped down.  Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 11:42 Currently, IEVAPIG1= 1.83e-6 Torr, IEVAP:CG2= 48 mTorr. Backing line pressure is slightly high.  Will get Edi to look into this.  Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 14:38 The backing pump oil was changed (ISAC WP#2012-06-12-1).  IEVAP:CG2 is currently reading 27mTorr and IEVAPIG1 at 1.66e-6 Torr.  Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 16:06 TGHT was tabbed up to 50A and stayed for 1.5 hrs.  Not much change in the pressure, currently at 1.8e-6 Torr, BP @ 25mTorr.   Keep stepping up TGHT current...  Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 16:37 TGHT at 65A.  Pressure is starting to rise.  Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 16:46 Pressure at  6.8e-6 Torr and going up slowly.  Initiated TGHT auto-ramping: Max current = 525A,  rate @ 0.1A/min (see attachment #1)  Wednesday, June 13, 2012, 13:22 TGHT has almost reached to 80A.  Pressure is limiting at 4.5e-6 Torr. (see attachment#2) Thursday, June 14, 2012, 17:11 TGHT has reached to 95.40A, local @ 92A & 0.48V.  Pressure is still limiting at 4e-6 Torr.  (see attachment #3) The TGHT current can not go up above 232A because it's voltage limiting at 1.953V (see attachment#4).  The carbon thermal-reduction process stops and the vacuum is going down to low 10e-6 Torr.  The voltage can not be increased on EPICS; it has to be adjusted locally.   Auto-ramping aborted.   The TGHT current setpoint was lowered down to 228A. Sunday, June 17, 2012, 12:03   Asked ISAC Ops (Ed Parton) to help me increase the voltage locally.  The voltage nob was turned 1/4 clockwise, and the current was tapped up from 228 to 231A, and it was responding.  The voltage nob was further turned to 3/4 clockwise.  Initiated auto-ramping.  Currently, TGHT setpoint at 234.90A, local 231A/1.95V.   Vacuum is responding and it's slowly going up (currently at 2.8e-6 Torr) - The carbon thermal reduction process continues...  Monday, June 18, 2012, 00:20   TGHT is going up slowly, currently at  285A.  The pressure is limiting as the carbonization process is under way (see attachment 5).

Sunday, June 24, 2012, 22:51  

The Evaporator IOC has lost communication (see attachment #6).  The TGHT auto ramping was not responding to the vacuum limit and kept ramping up, so the program had to be aborted.  

On the live camera,  it showed that TGHT stopped at 311A/3.02V and the pressure was at 5.05e-5 Torr.  

An email has sent to Controls and hopefully things get resolved on Monday. 

 Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 14:38

The backing pump oil was changed (ISAC WP#2012-06-12-1). 

John Wong wrote:

John Wong wrote: Wednesday, June 06, 2012, 16:55 The UO2/C green was prepared on June 04, 2012.  UO2 powder used = 50.26g C-grv used = 10.14g.  Dry UO2/C green mass = 61.71g. The green was rolled and wrapped in a piece of graphite sheet. The target boat was wrapped with 3 Ta-heat shield and installed in the Evap#1.  The chamber is currently being pumped down.    Monday, June 11, 2012, 10:31 Last week during the pump down of the chamber (vacuum got down to low 10e-5 Torr), the cooling was open in preparation of turning on the target heater.  A vacuum excursion was triggered (pressure went up to 300mTorr), and the system was tripped off.  It was suspected that there was some leaks.  A leak test was performed - all the water connecters & joints are fine.  The seal for the chamber lid was found leaky (5e-8 atm cc/sec).  The seal was replaced and the vacuum was improved but no perfect. The chamber has been pumped down over the weekend, pressure currently at 2.3e-6 Torr.  Coincidentally, the TGHT power supply is broken.  The initial action was to turn on the power supply at 0A when the chamber vacuum had gone down to 10-6 Torr.  But the power supply did not regular and shot up to 1000A and caused a vacuum excursion.  Ray Dube will replaced it.

 Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 11:37

Ray Dube repaired the TGHT power supply.  It is now operational.

John Wong wrote:

Wednesday, June 06, 2012, 16:55 The UO2/C green was prepared on June 04, 2012.  UO2 powder used = 50.26g C-grv used = 10.14g.  Dry UO2/C green mass = 61.71g. The green was rolled and wrapped in a piece of graphite sheet. The target boat was wrapped with 3 Ta-heat shield and installed in the Evap#1.  The chamber is currently being pumped down.

 Monday, June 11, 2012, 10:31

Last week during the pump down of the chamber (vacuum got down to low 10e-5 Torr), the cooling was open in preparation of turning on the target heater.  A vacuum excursion was triggered (pressure went up to 300mTorr), and the system was tripped off.  It was suspected that there was some leaks. 

A leak test was performed - all the water connecters & joints are fine.  The seal for the chamber lid was found leaky (5e-8 atm cc/sec).  The seal was replaced and the vacuum was improved but no perfect.

The chamber has been pumped down over the weekend, pressure currently at 2.3e-6 Torr. 

Coincidentally, the TGHT power supply is broken.  The initial action was to turn on the power supply at 0A when the chamber vacuum had gone down to 10-6 Torr.  But the power supply did not regular and shot up to 1000A and caused a vacuum excursion.  Ray Dube will replaced it. 

Wednesday, June 06, 2012, 16:55

The UO2/C green was prepared on June 04, 2012. 

UO2 powder used = 50.26g

C-grv used = 10.14g. 

Dry UO2/C green mass = 61.71g.

The green was rolled and wrapped in a piece of graphite sheet.

The target boat was wrapped with 3 Ta-heat shield and installed in the Evap#1. 

The chamber is currently being pumped down.

 Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 11:42

Currently, IEVAPIG1= 1.83e-6 Torr, IEVAP:CG2= 48 mTorr.

Backing line pressure is slightly high.  Will get Edi to look into this.

 Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 14:38

The backing pump oil was changed (ISAC WP#2012-06-12-1).  IEVAP:CG2 is currently reading 27mTorr and IEVAPIG1 at 1.66e-6 Torr.

 Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 16:06

TGHT was tabbed up to 50A and stayed for 1.5 hrs.  Not much change in the pressure, currently at 1.8e-6 Torr, BP @ 25mTorr.  

Keep stepping up TGHT current...

 Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 16:37

TGHT at 65A.  Pressure is starting to rise.

 Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 16:46

Pressure at  6.8e-6 Torr and going up slowly. 

Initiated TGHT auto-ramping:

Max current = 525A,  rate @ 0.1A/min (see attachment #1)

 Wednesday, June 13, 2012, 13:22

TGHT has almost reached to 80A.  Pressure is limiting at 4.5e-6 Torr. (see attachment#2)

Thursday, June 14, 2012, 17:11

TGHT has reached to 95.40A, local @ 92A & 0.48V.  Pressure is still limiting at 4e-6 Torr.  (see attachment #3)

The TGHT current can not go up above 232A because it's voltage limiting at 1.953V (see attachment#4).  The carbon thermal-reduction process stops and the vacuum is going down to low 10e-6 Torr. 

The voltage can not be increased on EPICS; it has to be adjusted locally.  

Auto-ramping aborted.  

The TGHT current setpoint was lowered down to 228A.

Sunday, June 17, 2012, 12:03  

Asked ISAC Ops (Ed Parton) to help me increase the voltage locally.  The voltage nob was turned 1/4 clockwise, and the current was tapped up from 228 to 231A, and it was responding.  The voltage nob was further turned to 3/4 clockwise. 

Initiated auto-ramping. 

Currently, TGHT setpoint at 234.90A, local 231A/1.95V.  

Vacuum is responding and it's slowly going up (currently at 2.8e-6 Torr) - The carbon thermal reduction process continues... 

Monday, June 18, 2012, 00:20  

TGHT is going up slowly, currently at  285A.  The pressure is limiting as the carbonization process is under way (see attachment 5).

 Monday, June 25, 2012, 16:00

The EPICS control was down on Sunday night. So the auto-ramping was aborted.  

Control group fixed the problem, and the network is back online.

The auto-ramping has been re-initiated. 

TGHT is currently at 314.70A, local at 311/3.04V.  IG at 4.21e-5 Torr, BP at 15mTorr.

 Saturday, June 30, 2012, 23:08

The carbonization process has finished.

TGHT has reached to 520A and maintained at that current for about 5hrs. (see attachment #6).

Initiated auto-cool down.

Tuesday, July 03, 2012, 13:05 

TGHT is now at 0A.  The carbonization process is done.  

It took over 20 days for this process (see attachment #7), due to some control issues & power supply problem. Also the vacuum limit was set to 4.0e-5 Torrr; that might increase the pumping time.  

Next time, try setting the pressure limit to 5.0e-5 Torr.  

The chamber will be vented with Ar, and the UC2 flakes will be transferred to the Ar-glove box.  

Monday, May 14, 2012, 15:04

Due to the differences in the use of the graphite foils in past SiC targets (C-grv foil from Alpha Aesar) and the newly prepared SiC#27 (C-grv foil from Ceramaterial), the out-gassing period for SiC#27 took over 6 days compared to 3 days for the vacuum to come down (see https://elog.triumf.ca/TIS/Evaporator_1/47). 

A few pieces of the new graphite foil is loaded on the target boat to test the out gassing reaction. 

The Evap #1 chamber has been pumped down to low 10e-5. 

Set to same parameter, see attachment#1

Initiated auto heating...

 Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 14:46

The target heater was ramped up to 820A.  There was so much out gassing as the temperature was increased.  The voltage did not hold at that current and the target heater was tripped off after the midnight.  (see attachment #2)

After the chamber was vented, it was discovered that the target boat's legs were bent due to over heating.  Both end of the targets where they touched the base got vaporized.  The boat was also got squeezed.  (see attachment #3).  

However, the heated graphite foils (~1600C at 820A) looks pretty good.  As per the supplier, CeraMaterials, the graphite was treated to 2000C.  See attachment #4 for the certificate.

Tuesday, May 08, 2012, 07:32

Target oven is filled with 240 discs of SiC/C, and wrapped with 3 Ta-foils.

Tot mass= 31.95g (SiC + C foil + Org)

Tot length packed @ 8.2cm

Target was installed in the chamber yesterday and has been pumped down to low 10e-6 torr.

Increased TGHT to 70A and vacuum is starting to rise, currently at 2.6e-6 Torr.

Max target current = 820A or until there is no further reaction. 

 Tuesday, May 08, 2012, 08:55

Pressue is slowly coming down after heating for a while at 70A. 

Initiated auto heating at 0.5A/min. Parameter set for increasing current if <4.0e-5 torr, and backing off if >5.0e-5 torr.

Wednesday, May 09, 2012, 10:31

 There seems to be a pipe leakage in the ISAC-I B2 level, and the cooling water for the evaporator #1 is connected to the pipe.  

The TGHT was tapped down from 115A, and the p/s was turned off.  The water valve is now shut, and Curtis B. is looking into it.  

Wednesday, May 09, 2012, 13:44

As per Curtis, the drainage pipe was leaky, and it has been fixed. The evaporator is now turned back on.  TGHT was tabbed up to 115A, and has remained at that current for an hour.  The pressure is slowly raising, current at 4.6e-6 Torr.

Wednesday, May 09, 2012, 14:24

Initiated TGHT...

Saturday, May 12, 2012, 23:38 

TGHT is ramping up very slowly (currently at 270A) due to pressure restriction.  It has already taken over 4 days.  (see attachment 1: TGHT 0_270A)

Changed the parameter to <5.0e05 Torr for stepping up in current and >6.0e-5 Torr for backing off current.

 Sunday, May 13, 2012, 20:44

Pressure has started to come down to 3e-6 Torr.  Increased heating rate from 0.5A/min to 1.0A/min.

 Monday, May 14, 2012, 01:09

TGHT has reached to 820A and been holding at that current for about 3hr.  The pressure is coming down steadily, currently at 1.6e-5 Torr.

Asked ISAC OPS (Ed P.) to initial the auto-cool down at 03:00h, at 2A/min.

The target should be ready by 10:00h.

 Monday, May 14, 2012, 10:56

TGHT is now at 0A (see attachment 2).  The chamber is now being vented.  The target will be inspected.

Thursday, May 17, 2012, 12:51 

The target looks good and was tested in the teststand, see https://elog.triumf.ca/TIS/Test-Stand/97

It will be used as SiC#27.  

Thursday, April 05, 2012, 16:43

Target oven is coated with TaC.  The oven is wrapped with 3 Ta-heat shields.

The chamber is currently being pumped down.  Vac @ high 10e-5 Torr.  Heater will be turned on once the pressure is gone down to low 10e-6. 

TGHT will be heated up to 820A.

**** Sintering is postponed until the situation with the ventilation in the lab06 is cleared. ****

 Friday, May 04, 2012, 16:59

The short-term solution  for improving the ventilation system and for the safety in operating the evaporators has been implement.  The test results was reviewed and approved by the committee.  The labs (06 and 07) are now back in operational. 

Friday, May 04, 2012, 17:03

Pumping down evaporator, currently a 2.4e-5 Torr.

Turned on TGHT, and stepped up to 85A.  Pressure remained at low e-5 Torr. 

Initiated Auto-heating at 0.5A/min to Max current 820A.  Parameter set:  Increasing current if Vac <4.0e-8 Torr, Backing current if Vac >5.0e-8 Torr.

 Monday, May 07, 2012, 10:38

At 820A, the TaC coating only seemed to have partially sinterred.  Raised TGHT up to 900A and heated for >6hrs.  The vacuum continued to increase as the target heater was raised; that indicated the sintering reaction was ongoing.  (See attachment #1: Targetoven_TaCsintered_acrchive.jpg).

The auto-cool down was initiated last night.  TGHT is now at 0A.  The chamber will be vented.

 Tuesday, February 14, 2012, 20:58

Evaporator is setup for UO2/Nb sintering process.  

Target oven filled with 402 discs of UO2/Nb, 5.0cm in length with tot mass of 61.49g. 

The chamber has been pumped down for 7 hrs, vac is currently at 4.6e-6 Torr. 

Parament set as follow, see attachment 1. 

 TGHT ramped up to 57A.  Pressure is stabilizing at 3.8e-5 Torr.  

Auto heating initiated.  0.1A/min.  Max TGHT = 500A. 

Sunday, February 19, 2012, 11:41 

TGHT has stayed at 500A for >10hrs,  Vac levels at 2.9e-6 Torr.

Target cool down initiated @ 2A/min.

 Monday, February 20, 2012, 10:23

Target has been cooled down over the weekend.  Vac currently at 5.77e-7 Torr.  

See attachment#2: UO2_Nb_1_striptool.jpg 

Chamber  vented in atmosphere.   

Monday, February 20, 2012, 16:23 

Pumps/ power supplies off. 

Evaporator was cleaned Nov 11 from after target was conditioned up to 175A. There was significant condensation of oily fluid on the left side where the target container was open (D-shaped end cap). There were also deposits in the hole for the ionizer, but the ionizer itself seemed to be clean.

 Thursday, November 03, 2011, 08:59

Target was previously coated/sintered with TaC & wrapped with 3 Ta-heat shields, including the back-block. 

Target was loaded with 365 UC2 discs + 3 samples for analysis. 

One regular endcap and one D-cap on the other end where the 3 samples sit. 

Evaporator has been pumped down since last night.  Currently vac @ 2.0e-6 Torr.  

For this final conditioning, here are the instructions: 

1.  Slowly stepping up TGHT  to 100A to burn off the organic binder.  Vacuum is expected to rise to the limit and stay at the plateau for a few days.  

2.  Once the vacuum has come down, the target will be cooldown and the chamber will be vented with Ar.  The cup-holder may be filled with the organic binder and needed to be clean.

3.  Pump back down the evaporator; step up TGHT to 100A and wait for the reaction. 

4.  Initial TGHT auto ramping.  Set TGHT to 520A @ rate of 0.1A/min.  

5.  Allow TGHT to held at 520A for 4 hours, then cool down. 

6.  Remove target from the chamber and store in the air-tight box and transferred to the Ar-glove box. 

Thursday, November 03, 2011, 09:13 

TGHT reached to 55A, and vacuum slowly to rise. Vac @ 5.7e-6 Torr. 

Wil stay at 55A for now... 

 Thursday, November 03, 2011, 09:51

A spike in vacuum and triggered the alarm handler but didn't tripped the TGHT.

Brought TGHT back down to 50A.

Initiated Auto-heating.  Set TGHT to 100A @ 0.1A/min. 

Thursday, November 03, 2011, 18:25  

I just found out that the target heater did not reach to 100A.  The auto-heating was running to bring up TGHT to 100, but the readback stayed at 50A.  Peter K. was contacted.  We stopped the auto-heating program and instantly the target heating jumped to 100A.  Quickly, we brought down the heater to 50A.  (see attachment1 for the stiptool).  Not sure what was happening.  

I stepped up the TGHT manually to 61A, and the pressure is slowing increasing.  

Thursday, November 03, 2011, 19:26  

Something is wrong with the TGHT power supply.  I stepped it up from 55 to 63A, and found the readback stuck at 58 (local @ 56).  So, I tapped the TGHT down to 58A and then the readback followed the setpoint.

I tried again to bring it up to 63 and it stuck at 60A, and tapping down and up the slider triggered the readback to follow the setpoint.  This is a fault in the system. 

Peter was informed, and is taking over this for now.  We need to bring up the THGT up to 100A to burn off the organic binder.  I don't know what we should do from here.  I need a break! 

Friday, November 04, 2011, 15:46  

As per Jane,  there is a problem with the network issue that controls the target heater power supply.  The power supply current is not regulating proper.  (see attachment #2)

TGHT was ramped down from 85A to 0A for Control to work on the problem since this morning.  

See e-fault#5672, WP#2011-11-04-5. 

 Monday, November 07, 2011, 11:12

 Control has fixed the network issue.  

Stepped up to 10A, local read 8A.

 Initiated autoramping, setp TGHT to 20A at 1A/min.  TGHT did reach to 20A with no problem.  

Stepped up further to 30A, local at 28A.  

I conclude that the power supply is now regulating properly.  

Conditioning of UCx#3 continues... 

 Monday, November 07, 2011, 12:14

TGHT at 84.5A, locat @ 82A.  Vacuum hovering at 7.2e-5 Torr.  

Initiated auto-ramping: TGHT set to 100A, at 0.1A/min.  Incrementing current if vac < 5.0e-5 Torr and backing off if vac >6.0e-5 Torr. 

Monday, November 14, 2011, 11:03 

TGHT reached to 175A on Nov 11, 2011 to finish off the organics burnout process. 

Then TGHT was cool down @ 2A/min until TGHT reached to zero.

Evaporator was vented with Ar and the chamber was open.

The target was removed from the evaporator; the organic binder was condensed out from the D-endcap and some from the ionizer tube (See attachment 3 & 4).

One of the samples was retrieved for analysis, and the D-endcap was put back.

The target was installed back, and the chamber was pumped down. 

The sintering and thermal reduction processes continued with TGHT ramped up to 520A.  Heating rate @ 0.1/min. 

Target has been heated at 520A for ~5hrs, vac @ 5.35e-6 Torr. (see attachment 5). 

Wednesday, November 16, 2011, 13:42

 Target looks good.  It has been installed in the heatshield, and it's being stored in the Ar-golve box. 

Evaporator is now off.  

 Thursday, October 06, 2011, 12:19

UO2/C mixture was made on Oct 4 and casted on a piece of glass costed with WD40, and let dried in the fume hood for 2days. 

Dried UO2/C mass = 64.95g

The batch is wrapped with a piece of graphite sheet and waiting to be heated in the evaporator.  

Currently, batch#1 is in the evaporator.

 Wednesday, October 12, 2011, 10:52

UO2/C mixture was loaded on a heatboat and wrapped with 3-Ta heat shields. 

Evaporator has been pumped down overnight, IG currently at 1.57e-6 Torr.

TGHT will be stepped up to 40A. 

Wednesday, October 12, 2011, 11:00  

TGHT @ 40A/0.128V, local @ 37A. IG @ 1.7e-6 Torr.  

Wednesday, October 12, 2011, 12:35 

TGHT tripped off @ 40A due to high vacuum (>8E-5 Torr).  See attachment#1

Vacuum has come down to 8.5e-6 Torr. 

Stepped up TGHT to 35A.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011, 15:19  

TGHT was held at 35A for 2.5 hrs.  IG @ 4.5e-5 Torr.

Initiated auto heating @ 0.1A/min, Max current @ 525A. 

 Thursday, October 20, 2011, 16:15

Vacuum suddenly increased to ~ 7.7e-5 Torr when TGHT @ 317A (see attachment#2).  There could be a shift in the material during the thermal reduction,

and caused a sudden spike in vacuum.

Currently, IG @ 5.2e-5 Torr, TGHT @ 316.7A.

TGHT reached to 525A and held for >4hrs before cooling down (see attachment#3)

UCx was removed from the evaporator and transferred to the Ar-glove box.  

The material looks great! 

Thursday, September 29, 2011, 10:54

UO2/C mixture was made on Tuesday Sept 27, casted on a piece of glass and let dried in the fume hood for ~2days. 

Dried UO2/C mass = 61.72g

Target material is wrapped /w graphite sheet and put on a new heatboat coated/sintered /w TaC.

Heat boat is wrapped with 3-Ta heat shields. 

Evaporator chamber is currently being pumped down. 

Friday, September 30, 2011, 10:01

Evaporator has been pumped down over night, IG currently @ 2.92e-6 Torr, BP @ 27mT.

TGHT will be stepped up to 40A and allow the pressure to slowly increase.  

Friday, September 30, 2011, 10:30  

TGHT is holding at 40A/0.139V  (local @ 37A), and pressure is slowly increasing, expect pressure to stabilize at ~4.5e-5 Torr before being auto-heating.

See attachment#1: TGHT_40A. 

Friday, September 30, 2011, 13:39

TGHT has been at 40A for more than 3 hrs.  Pressure went as high as 6.9e-5 Torr and it's now coming down.  (See attachment#2:  TGHT@40A_3hrs)

Auto-heating is initiating.  TGHT rate @ 0.1A/min to reach to max current of 525A.  (see attachment#3: parameter.jpg) 

Sunday, October 09, 2011, 10:44  

Target heater reached to 520A and held for a few hours.  

Evaporator was cooled down last night and TGHT is now at 0A.

(For the overall process, see Attachment#4: UCx#3_batch1.jpg) 

IG1 @ 5.7e-7 Torr.  Chamber will be vented with Ar on Tuesday. 

TGHT is off and water valve is shut.  

 Tuesday, October 11, 2011, 13:10

Evaporator glovebox was purged with Ar prior to venting the chamber with Ar.  

Layers of burnout marks were coated all around the inside of the evaporator (see attachment#5. Evpr_afterprocess.jpg), 

Before cleaning, the evaporator chamber had ~200,000 cpm. 

The heating boat containing UCx was removed from the evaporator and stored in the "orange" case, then transferred to the Ar-glove box.

Weight of UCx flasks:  47.15g (See attachment#6: UCx#3_batch1_mass.jpg)

The evaporator was thoroughly cleaned; the burnout marks were removed, and it will be used for UCx#3:batch#2 - UO2/C process.

 Thursday, September 22, 2011, 20:21

Target oven was wrapped with 3 Ta-heat shields and has been pumping down.

IG currently @ 3.2e-6 Torr, BP @ 25mT. 

TGHT stepped up to 85A, 

Began auto-heating: TGHT to max 580A @ 0.5A/min. 

Monday, September 26, 2011, 10:23 

TGHT reached to 580A on last Friday and was held at that current for 3hrs then followed by the auto-cooling.

Chamber was vented.

Target oven looks great.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011, 13:23

Target oven was wrapped with 3-Ta heatshields including the back block. 

Target is in the chamber and currently being pumped down.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011, 15:52  

IG @ 5.9e-6 Torr.  

TGHT stepped up to 85A, and pressure slowly rising. 

Started auto heating:  0.5A/min.  TGHT to max 580A.  

Thursday, September 22, 2011, 10:19 

Target was heated up to 580A, and held for 3 hrs. 

Currently IG @ 6.15e-6 Torr.

Auto-cooling started...

Thursday, September 22, 2011, 20:20 

Target oven was removed from the evaporator, and it was successfully sintered with TaC. 

Friday, September 23, 2011, 13:39 :

See attachment1: Archiver_TGHt0-580A.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011, 16:51

Target is wrapped with 3-Ta heat shields. 

Loaded with 555 SiC discs (total mass 64.24g)

18cm in length.

D-end cap on one end, and a regular end end on the other.

Chamber is currently being pump down

 Wednesday, September 14, 2011, 09:58

Evaporator has been pumped down over night, currently IG @ 1.71e-6 Torr. BP @ 23mT.

The target will be heated up to 550A and will wait to see any reaction happen before increasing TGHT (Max 820A).

TGHT stepped up to 90A, local @ 87A.  Pressure slowly rising, IG @ 2.7e-6 Torr. BP @ 23mT. 

Start auto-heating @ 0.5A/min to max TGHT @ 500A.  

 Friday, September 16, 2011, 00:27:

TGHT @ 250A and pressure has already started to come down, currently at 2.8e-5 Torr.  

Increased TGHT rate from 0.5A/min to 2A/min, and pressure started to rise.  Stopped auto-ramping after pressure increased to 4.4e-5 Torr.  (see attachment#1: TGHT_270A-300A.jpg).

Decreased TGHT rate back to 0.5A/min and changed pressure limit to 3.0e-5 Torr.  

Friday, September 16, 2011, 01:49 :

TGHT @ 347A, and pressure seems to come down slowly. 

Change TGHT auto heating to 550A and pressure limit at 2.5e-5 Torr.  Vac currently at 2.4e-5 Torr.  Ramping rate at 0.5A/min. 

Friday, September 16, 2011, 10:58  

TGHT reached 580A and no spike in the vacuum.  Ramping up TGHT to 590A, keeping pressure limit @ 1.35e-5 Torr,

Currently IG @ 1.33 e-5 Torr.  Current TGHT @ 585.5A, local @  579A.

(see attachment 3: TGHT_580A)

Friday, September 16, 2011, 11:35:

TGHT reached to 590A, not much of out-gassing.  Pressure increased from 1.30e-5 Torr to 1.40e-5 Torr.  

Continue ramping up TGHT, set to 700A, pressure limiting @ 1.5e-5 Torr.

Friday, September 16, 2011, 15:29:

TGHT reached to 700A, local @ 692A; pressure was stable at 1.38e-5 Torr throughout the whole time.  

Continues ramping up TGHT to 820A (max) at 0.5A/min; pressure limiting @ 1.5e-5 Torr. 

Friday, September 16, 2011, 22:05 

TGHT reached to 820A (local 810A) and held for ~3hrs.  IG @ 5.4e-6Torr and coming down, BP @ 20mT. 

See attachment#4:  TGHT_820A.

TGHT cooling down begins... 

 Monday, September 19, 2011, 10:08

TGHT was cooled down over the weekend. 

See attachment#4: archiver_TGHT_0-820A. 

Currently, IG @ 6.9e-7 Torr, BP @ 27mT.

Evaporator will be vented. 

Tuesday, September 20, 2011, 08:51 

Target turned out well.  

D-cap was removed and replaced with a regular TaC-coated sintered endcap with a graphite foil.  

See attachments for details.

Target is now ready for assembly and test for test-stand. 

Monday, September 12, 2011, 13:07

Target boat is loaded with coated TaC end caps for sintering.  Target boat is wrapped with 3 Ta-heat shields. 

Max TGHT = 580A

Monday, September 12, 2011, 14:58 

Vac @ 3.72e-6 Torr.  Stepping up TGHT to 90A; pressure starting to increase.

 Monday, September 12, 2011, 15:33

Evaporator tripped twice when TGHT was at 90A and 85A.  Lowered TGHT to 75A.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011, 09:56 

TGHT was on auto-heating and reached to 580A yesterday evening.  The auto cooling began at mid-night after heated for a few hours. 

The chamber will be vented shortly.

See attachment#1: striptool.

Friday, September 09, 2011, 10:05

Target oven coated with TaC, and wrapped with 3-Ta heat shields.  Chamber is currently being pumped down. 

TGHT @ 140A, IG 9.2 e-6 Torr, BP 20mT. 

Started auto heating, rate @ 2A/min, to max current of 820A. 

Friday, September 09, 2011, 12:25

Evaporator tripped off at 163A. 

Stepped TGHT back to 160A.  Vacuum holding at 4.3e-5 Torr.

Monday, September 12, 2011, 09:55

Evaporator was cooled down over the weekend. 

Chamber will be vented shortly.

See attachment#1: striptool