Wed May 11 16:20:21 2011:  The HP-FEBIAD (w.o#38481-8) was filled with SiC (8.5mm, 555 discs).  The target is wrapped with 3 Ta-heat shields and is in the evaporator, which is being pumped down. 

Thu May 12 10:52:48 2011:  The evaporator ion gauge, IEVAPIG1 filament burnt out.  The gauge comes in two filaments, so it is now running on the second one.  The chamber has been pumped down overnight, currently it's @ 2.29e-6 torr. 

Thu May 12 11:15:59 2011:  TGHT was stepped up to 80A, vac @ 2.47e-6 Torr.  Begin auto heating at 1A/min to 820A and will increase the rate to 2A/min if the vacuum is stable. 

Thu May 12 12:27:35 2011:   TGHT went up to 101A, and the vacuum started to reach close to the trip limit (8.7e-6 Torr).  TGHT was auto ramped down but the vacuum kept rising and tripped off the heater @ 94A.  TGHT was turned back on after 30mins, vac @ 8.7e-6 Torr.  TGHT was tapped up slowly to 95A.  The ramping rate has also decreased to 0.5A/min.  (See attachment#1: high_vacuum)

Thu May 12 12:58:51 2011:  Lowered TGHT to 90A.  Vac stayed at 7.8e-5 Torr.

Fri May 13 15:47:42 2011:  TGHT @ 128A, incrementing rate @ 1A/min, Vac @ 5.4e-5 Torr after 30 hrs. (See Attachment#2:  current_pressure_30hrs)

Fri May 13 16:22:54 2011:  THGT and vacuum over the past 12 hrs.  (See Attachment#3: current_pressure_past12hrs)

Mon May 16 11:03:54 2011:  THGT reached to 820A and held for over 12 hrs.   (See Attachment#4_Sintering process). 

Tue May 17 16:26:34 2011

Problem Occurred: 

• The end caps of the target got vaporized after the sintering process.  (See Attachment#5:  end_caps_vaporized)
• The caps were not coated with TaC and a D-shaped graphite foil were used. 
  

Solutions: 

• The caps were removed - No damage to the target oven.  (See Attachment#6/#7: left_end/ right_end )
• New caps  were used and coated with TaC.   Two circled-graphite foils were used on the both ends and then sealed with the TaC coated caps. (See Attachment 8: TaC_coated_endcaps)
• Re-heating the target to 820A.

Tue May 17 16:35:13 2011:  Target is wrapped with 3 Ta-heat shields.  The target is in the evaporator which is being pumped down.  

Tue May 17 19:34:55 2011:  TGHT stepped up to 80A, Vac holding at 5.2e-6 Torr.  Auto heating began after 25 mins later.  Rate set at 2A/min to max 820A. 

 Tue May 17 22:02:36 2011:  TGHT @ 382A, Vac @ 1.23 e-5 Torr.  Increased ramping rate @ 3A/min.  Cooling down process will begin at 04:00 of May18, 2011;  ISAC Ops will help to start the auto cooling process.

Wed May 18 11:39:47 2011:  The cooling down process ended; TGHT reached to zero.  The camber will be vented. 

Wed May 18 13:12:24 2011:  Target is wrapped with 3 Ta-heat shields and is installed in the evaporator which is being pumped down.

Wed May 18 23:11:42 2011:  TGHT was raised to 40A and held for about 6 hours; Vac gradually came down to 2.1e-6 Torr.  TGHT increased to 90A and pressure is going up, currently vac @ 2.9 e-5 Torr.  Auto heating will begin soon at 0.5A/min --> 820A.  

Thu May 19 10:23:34 2011:  TGHT at 92A/0.32V, vac @ 4.47 e-5 torr.  (See Attachment#1: heating_past_12hrs)

Tue May 24 10:22:59 2011:  TGHT reached to max currrent 820A and held for over the long weekend.  The cooling process began at 15:00 yesterday.  Evaporator is vented.  P/S off.

Mon May 30 17:03:01 2011

The end caps of the target after the sintering process were found damage; the caps were vaporized just like the previous SiC target w.o#38481-8.  (See attachments#2: SiC000-003).  After some investigation, it looks like some reaction had occurred when the target heater was ramped up beyond 550A.  (See Attachment#3: SiC_striptool).

The yellow solid will be analyzed using EDX/SEM.  More details will be posted later....

Wednesday, September 14, 2011, 10:16 

SEM/EDX were done.  See attachment #9 for the EDX results. 

The formation of the yellow solid is the condensation of silicon.  As seen on the EDX results, the solid is mainly Si, C and some trace of Al (could be from the loading rod).  

The new D-end cap has be used to allow a better out-gassing.  

Wednesday, July 27, 2011, 12:58: 

Target length = 11.2cm

Total UC2/C foils = 245 discs

Total U/cm2 = 15.27g

Target has been pumped down over night,  Vac currently @ 1.64e-6 Torr.  BP @ 38mT.

TGHT @ 76A/0.27V.  Vacuum went up slowly to 4.8e-5 Torr.  TGHT brought back down to 68A, vacuum is holding at 4.8e-5 Torr. 

Wednesday, July 27, 2011, 14:43: Vac @ 2.3e-5 Torr.  Start auto-heating.  0.5A/min, TGHT max = 525A.

Sunday, July 31, 2011, 10:43:  TGHT has reached to 525A.  The pressure came down when the heater was stable at that current (see attachment: striptool_july 31); this implies that more power is needed to finish the carbonization process.  Peter Kunz was informed, and we decided to increase the target heater to 580A.  I will continue to monitor this from home. 

-----------------------------------

On Aug 01, Peter and I agreed to increase the TGHT to 600A (see attachment: striptool_july31_600A) .  Based on the heating curve with 3 Ta-heat shield @ 600A, the would give ~ 2050C/3700W (300C/1600W more than UCx#2).  By looking at the striptool, the pressure came down soon after.  More power might be needed to finish the carbonization process; however as per Peter the graphite vapour pressure increases above 2000C, and we don't know what will happen above that temperature.  So, we will keep it at 600A until the pressure comes down to low 10e-6 Torr.  Then I will being the auto cooling.  Anyway, we are running at 580A online.  On the safe side, 600A may be enough for the conditioning.   

-----------------------------------

 Tuesday, August 02, 2011, 11:19:  TGHT has reached to zero current (see attachment: UCx#2_conditioning).  The evaporator will be vented with Ar.

 Friday, August 05, 2011, 10:49

Unfortunately, after the evaporator was vented with Ar, the target was found be be broken into 3 segments. More details later...

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. 

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. 

Saturday, August 29, 2015, 16:10: Roughing

Saturday, August 29, 2015, 16:10: Starting turbo

Saturday, August 29, 2015, 16:12: Turbo running. IG1 at 2.4E-4 T

Laura Lambert wrote:

Tuesday, May 23, 2017, 14:42 UO2/C green was prepared May 16th, 2017. The cast peeled off the glass nicely May 17th, 2017. Initial UO2 powder used = 50.25g (Inventory R-01032A, UO2 + bottle = 876.80g before use) Graphite powder used = 10.32g Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 61.70g  The green was rolled up and wrapped in a piece of graphite sheet. The Ta-target boat was wrapped with 1 long layer of heat shield and installed in evap1 today. Chamber pumped down today. Target boat will be ramped up to 520A at the rate of 0.1A/min. Vacuum limit stop at 5.0e-5 Torr, backing off at 6.0e-5 Torr. IG1 = 4.80e-6 Torr Tapped up to 30A, 0.45V Waited ~1hr, vacuum stable. IG1 = 8.3e-6 Torr Initiating auto-ramp  Wednesday, May 24, 2017, 09:26 IG1 = 5.5e-5 Torr TGHT = 64A, 0.72V Vacuum currently yo-yo-ing. Changing vacuum limits to attempt to speed up process. Vacuum limit stop at 1.0e-4 Torr, backing off at 5.0e-4 Torr. Once vacuum settles and vacuum starts to drop will adjust limits again accordingly.  Wednesday, May 24, 2017, 11:17 IG1 = 1.2e-4 Torr TGHT = 69A, 0.74V TGHT direct readout = 66A, 0.73V Thermometer attached to TP = 41.0C Room temp = 24.0C Wednesday, May 24, 2017, 13:16  Vacuum going well. Stable yo-yo-ing at current vacuum limit. TP = 41.5C, RT = 23.9C IG1 = 1.2e-4 Torr TGHT = 71A, 0.77V Increasing vacuum limit stop to 2.0e-4 Torr. Thursday, May 25, 2017, 13:03 Vacuum has stabilized. TGHT = 188A, 1.85V IG1 = 2.2e-5 Torr. Adjusting vacuum limits so when 2nd phase starts, vacuum does not spike. Vacuum limit stop at 5.0e-5 Torr, backing off at 1.0e-4 Torr.

 Friday, May 26, 2017, 13:40

Everything tripped off this morning at around 4:30am

This was not due to the vacuum spiking as one would expect.

No power bumps according to  ISAC controls.

Looking back on elogs  [see elog i.d. 145] evap1 had also tripped off during the last round of carbonizing UO2, however last time everything tripped off ~60A.

For last trip off the water valve remained open and on.

This time  WV1 showed yellow in the TGHT epics box, off under WV epics box, but black [open] in the WV epics box diagram [see screenshot for better understanding].

Water valves are closed - confirmed in person - water wheels not turning.

Trip-off occured ~275A.

Vacuum was stable at trip-off point; IG1 ~6e-6 Torr 

Reason: currently unknown.

Laura Lambert wrote:

Laura Lambert wrote: Laura Lambert wrote:  Tuesday, May 23, 2017, 14:42 UO2/C green was prepared May 16th, 2017. The cast peeled off the glass nicely May 17th, 2017. Initial UO2 powder used = 50.25g (Inventory R-01032A, UO2 + bottle = 876.80g before use) Graphite powder used = 10.32g Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 61.70g  The green was rolled up and wrapped in a piece of graphite sheet. The Ta-target boat was wrapped with 1 long layer of heat shield and installed in evap1 today. Chamber pumped down today. Target boat will be ramped up to 520A at the rate of 0.1A/min. Vacuum limit stop at 5.0e-5 Torr, backing off at 6.0e-5 Torr. IG1 = 4.80e-6 Torr Tapped up to 30A, 0.45V Waited ~1hr, vacuum stable. IG1 = 8.3e-6 Torr Initiating auto-ramp  Wednesday, May 24, 2017, 09:26 IG1 = 5.5e-5 Torr TGHT = 64A, 0.72V Vacuum currently yo-yo-ing. Changing vacuum limits to attempt to speed up process. Vacuum limit stop at 1.0e-4 Torr, backing off at 5.0e-4 Torr. Once vacuum settles and vacuum starts to drop will adjust limits again accordingly.  Wednesday, May 24, 2017, 11:17 IG1 = 1.2e-4 Torr TGHT = 69A, 0.74V TGHT direct readout = 66A, 0.73V Thermometer attached to TP = 41.0C Room temp = 24.0C Wednesday, May 24, 2017, 13:16  Vacuum going well. Stable yo-yo-ing at current vacuum limit. TP = 41.5C, RT = 23.9C IG1 = 1.2e-4 Torr TGHT = 71A, 0.77V Increasing vacuum limit stop to 2.0e-4 Torr. Thursday, May 25, 2017, 13:03 Vacuum has stabilized. TGHT = 188A, 1.85V IG1 = 2.2e-5 Torr. Adjusting vacuum limits so when 2nd phase starts, vacuum does not spike. Vacuum limit stop at 5.0e-5 Torr, backing off at 1.0e-4 Torr.    Friday, May 26, 2017, 13:40 Everything tripped off this morning at around 4:30am This was not due to the vacuum spiking as one would expect. No power bumps according to  ISAC controls. Looking back on elogs  [see elog i.d. 145] evap1 had also tripped off during the last round of carbonizing UO2, however last time everything tripped off ~60A. For last trip off the water valve remained open and on. This time  WV1 showed yellow in the TGHT epics box, off under WV epics box, but black [open] in the WV epics box diagram [see screenshot for better understanding]. Water valves are closed - confirmed in person - water wheels not turning. Trip-off occured ~275A. Vacuum was stable at trip-off point; IG1 ~6e-6 Torr  Reason: currently unknown.        Friday, May 26, 2017, 15:43 Starting pumping down again this afternoon while trying to understand trip-off - no progress on that end. IG1 = 4.9e-6 Torr Tapped up to 40A, 0.24V Vacuum spiked to 2e-5 Torr Backed off to 35A, 0.20V Showing lower voltage output than the last round that had tripped off...but ramping is so early on/ low current, hard to tell... Vacuum stable. IG1 = 5.4e-6 Torr Target boat will be ramped up to 275A [trip-off point] at the rate of 0.1A/min. Vacuum limit stop at 5.0e-5 Torr, backing off at 6.0e-5 Torr.   TP = 37.9C, RT = 25.2C

 Monday, May 29, 2017, 08:21

Initially it looks like not enough time had been allowed for the vacuum to settle before initiating the auto-ramp resulting in the vacuum spiking and tripping off the system.

A closer look shows that is not the case.

Note: the vacuum limits were set to stop at 5.0e-5 Torr, backing off at 6.0e-5 Torr. 

The TGHT started to back off when the vacuum was ~6e-6 Torr, this is considered a good vacuum and should not have caused the system to initiate backing off yet.

Over the course of ~1min, evap1 had backed off all the way down to 0A.

At this point the vacuum was now up to ~1.75e-5 Torr and still rising.

~34min after the TGHT had reached 0A, the vacuum eventually reached 8e-4 Torr and tripped off the evaporator.

See photos attached.

Thursday, July 13, 2017, 12:48

NOTE: hot lab reached 27degrees every day this week and went up to 28C today! 

This is with the small portable fan running.

27C was reached even with both evaporators off.

When at 28C: evap2 = ~1500C and evap1 = 35A

 Thursday, July 20, 2017, 15:58

Hot lab reached 30C today.

Small fan off - unsure if able to run due to contamination spread...

Both evap1 and evap2 were under vacuum but had not initiated ramping up yet.

Laura Lambert wrote:

Wednesday, July 12, 2017, 17:06 Target container was previously coated with TaC and sintered. Container is wrapped with 3 layers of Ta-heat shield, including the center block The target consists of 400 discs of UCx with 13.60cm in length [8 packs of 5 + 360 single discs/ 2.6cm on left side, 2.8cm on right side wrt ionizer into page]. Discs in target are arranged as follows: 1pack / 60singles / 1pack / 60singles / 1pack / 60singles / 2packs / 60singles / 1pack / 60singles / 1pack / 60singles / 1pack A regular TaC coated endcap is inserted left, wrt the ionizer tube pointing down. The right side is open with a TaC coated spring to help hold materials in. The chamber is currently pumping down. TGHT will be ramped up to 450A at 0.1A/min [same current used to reach 1900C in evap2 when sintering TaC coating - elog373 evap2] Parameter setup: 5.0e-5 good vac, 6.0e-5 bad vac. Thursday, July 13, 2017, 12:49 Tapped up manually to 35A. Waited ~2hrs, vacuum stable: IG1 = 2.64e-6 Torr Initiating auto-ramp.

 Thursday, July 13, 2017, 14:48

Update: auto-ramp not started.

With recent updates to evap1 epics, not everything was uploaded correctly.

TGHT auto-ramp system not working: parameter boxes have white outline indicating locked.

No parameters can be inputed and therefore unable to start auto-ramp.

 Friday, July 14, 2017, 15:56

Problems still not fixed.

Have tapped up manually to 50A, 0.59V

Vacuum stable; IG1 = 5.26e-6 Torr.

Will remain at setpoints over weekend before continuing to ramp up manually...

 Monday, July 17, 2017, 15:10

New problems:

Paddle wheels for evap2 need replacing asap [see elog evap2 i.d.378]

In order to replace, supply/ return need to be turned off and a full purge; therefore, evap1 must be off otherwise it will trip off from no water.

Evap2 needs to be fixed asap and cannot wait for this process to be complete.

Evap1 had been tapped up manually to 60A.

Tapping down manually to 0A so one can start the paddle wheel replacement work tomorrow.

 Tuesday, July 18, 2017, 15:31

Paddle wheels for evap2 replaced and up and running again.

IG1 = 1.2e-6 Torr.

Starting to tap back-up manually...

Laura Lambert wrote:

Laura Lambert wrote: Laura Lambert wrote: Laura Lambert wrote:  Wednesday, July 12, 2017, 17:06 Target container was previously coated with TaC and sintered. Container is wrapped with 3 layers of Ta-heat shield, including the center block The target consists of 400 discs of UCx with 13.60cm in length [8 packs of 5 + 360 single discs/ 2.6cm on left side, 2.8cm on right side wrt ionizer into page]. Discs in target are arranged as follows: 1pack / 60singles / 1pack / 60singles / 1pack / 60singles / 2packs / 60singles / 1pack / 60singles / 1pack / 60singles / 1pack A regular TaC coated endcap is inserted left, wrt the ionizer tube pointing down. The right side is open with a TaC coated spring to help hold materials in. The chamber is currently pumping down. TGHT will be ramped up to 450A at 0.1A/min [same current used to reach 1900C in evap2 when sintering TaC coating - elog373 evap2] Parameter setup: 5.0e-5 good vac, 6.0e-5 bad vac. Thursday, July 13, 2017, 12:49 Tapped up manually to 35A. Waited ~2hrs, vacuum stable: IG1 = 2.64e-6 Torr Initiating auto-ramp.    Thursday, July 13, 2017, 14:48 Update: auto-ramp not started. With recent updates to evap1 epics, not everything was uploaded correctly. TGHT auto-ramp system not working: parameter boxes have white outline indicating locked. No parameters can be inputed and therefore unable to start auto-ramp.  Friday, July 14, 2017, 15:56 Problems still not fixed. Have tapped up manually to 50A, 0.59V Vacuum stable; IG1 = 5.26e-6 Torr. Will remain at setpoints over weekend before continuing to ramp up manually...  Monday, July 17, 2017, 15:10 New problems: Paddle wheels for evap2 need replacing asap [see elog evap2 i.d.378] In order to replace, supply/ return need to be turned off and a full purge; therefore, evap1 must be off otherwise it will trip off from no water. Evap2 needs to be fixed asap and cannot wait for this process to be complete. Evap1 had been tapped up manually to 60A. Tapping down manually to 0A so one can start the paddle wheel replacement work tomorrow.  Tuesday, July 18, 2017, 15:31 Paddle wheels for evap2 replaced and up and running again. IG1 = 1.2e-6 Torr. Starting to tap back-up manually...    Wednesday, July 19, 2017, 14:12 TGHT auto-ramp fixed. Since TBHT isn't hooked up yet, epics thinks TBHT has tripped off. Currently during auto-ramp, every time steps up: states TBHT tripped off. This is not the case but not a big deal as we will soon have TBHT hooked up and this won't be an issue. Also it only states it, doesn't stop auto-ramp and therefore technically works fine/ will go with this for now... Note: Might be a few spikes on striptool from past hour when IOC was rebooted.    Wednesday, July 19, 2017, 14:16 Tapped up manually to 30A yesterday. Continued manual tap up today and reached 60A. Initiated auto-ramp. IG1 = 4.4e-6 Torr

 Thursday, July 20, 2017, 14:48

TGHT tripped off yesterday evening 

Auto-ramping was fixed but a few more glitches in the system caused the TGHT to trip.

Please refer to photos.

When auto-ramp is running and vacuum reaches the parameter set for 'Good Vacuum', the auto-ramp should stop until the vacuum drops below the good vacuum at which point it can then continue to auto-ramp.

When auto-ramp is running and vacuum reaches the parameter set for 'Bad Vacuum', the auto-ramp should initiate auto-cool/ramp-down until the vacuum drops to the good vacuum parameter at which point it can then proceed with the 'Good Vacuum' requirement.

With this scenario, the auto-ramp system ignored the parameters set for good and bad vacuum, proceeded past both points and continued to ramp until the vacuum eventually reached it's trip off vacuum causing the TGHT to trip.

The TGHT current was at ~90A when it tripped off, so the target should be OK.

Marla Cervantes wrote:

Friday, January 19, 2018, 12:29 Circles from cast 1 were used, the same as the last round of 1stepUCx [see elog i.d. 164] A 14mm punch was used to punch out circles from the cast. 35 circles were packed into a graphite sample container. 35 x UO2/C circles = 5.69 g Graphite container = 6.84 g Graphite container is placed inside a target boat. Boat previously coated with TaC and sintered. Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3-layers of heat shield and installed in Evap1. Chamber currently pumping down.

 Monday, January 22, 2018, 15:48

A power outage on Sunday tripped off EVAP1.

Marla Cervantes wrote:

Monday, January 29, 2018, 09:26 35 circles of 14 mm diameter were packed into a graphite sample container. 35 x UO2/C circles = 4.94 g Graphite container = 5.03 g Graphite tube is placed inside a target boat. Boat previously coated with TaC and sintered. Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3 new Ta foils for heat shielding and the boat was installed in Evap1. Chamber currently pumping down.

 Monday, January 29, 2018, 11:06

A power outage around 10 am tripped off EVAP1.

 Thursday, February 08, 2018, 14:50

35 circles from cast#2 of 14 mm diameter were packed into a graphite sample container.

35 x UO2/C circles = 4.76 g

Graphite container = 5.3 g

Graphite tube is placed inside a target boat.

Boat previously coated with TaC and sintered.

Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3 new Ta foils for heat shielding and the boat was installed in Evap1.

Chamber currently pumping down.

 Friday, February 09, 2018, 10:40

Initial IGP1 = 4.54e-7 Torr

Tapped up entire process manually to 520A in 25 min

TGHT = 520 A, 5.49 V

Vacuum coming down indicating carbonization process complete.  

Current suddenly tripped off from 520 A to 0 A.

There was not a power outage.

There was good vacuum.

Water cooling did not trip off 

 Tuesday, February 13, 2018, 11:39

35 circles of 14 mm diameter were packed into a graphite sample container.

35 x UO2/C circles = 5.74 g

Graphite container = 5.20 g

Graphite tube is placed inside a target boat.

Boat previously coated with TaC and sintered.

Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3 used Ta foils for heat shielding and the boat was installed in Evap1.

Chamber currently pumping down.

 Tuesday, February 13, 2018, 15:30

Initial IGP1 = 2.73x10e-6 Torr

Tapped up entire process manually to 520 A in 30 min

TGHT = 520 A, 5.41 V

Vacuum coming down nicely indicating carbonization process complete.

Current trip off after 5 min of being at 520 A.

 Wednesday, February 14, 2018, 15:32

EVAP1 vented with Argon and the target was removed.

Target was transferred to glove box.

Ta boat and graphite container look unbroken.

Laura Lambert wrote:

Wednesday, March 28, 2018, 11:35 D-shaped discs were cut from cast 2, the same as the last sample of 1stepUCx [see elog i.d. 197] A 13mm punch was used to punch out discs from pre-cut strips using the old method. The target consists of 195 discs with 8.1cm in length - all single discs, no packs. 195 x UO2/C discs = 19.79g Graphite insert is placed inside a target boat with both endcaps on. Boat previously coated with TaC and sintered. Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3-layers of heat shield and installed in evap1 yesterday afternoon. Chamber pumped down overnight.  Wednesday, March 28, 2018, 13:33 IGP1 = 4.03e-7 Torr Tapped up TGHT manually to 80A, 0.83V - waited 50min, vacuum started to drop/stabilize. Continued to tap up manually to 430A, 4.22V Started out slow with a rate of ~10A/5min, and slowly increased to a rate of ~10A/min as vacuum stabilized, slowing down again when reaching carbonization outgassing. Auto ramp at 0.2A/min from 430A-520A. Thursday, March 29, 2018, 10:04 Reached 520A around 2am. TGHT = 520A, 5.13V IGP1 = 1.74e-6 Torr Initiated auto-cool this morning at a rate of 1.0A/min.

 Monday, April 09, 2018, 16:00

ISAC controls performed a PLC switch over compromising the nuclear ventilation controls WITHOUT NOTIFYING ME  

This is the 2nd time in a month this has happened without being notified.

Evap1 has therefore tripped.

During this switch there was a problem which caused the turn over to take even longer.

Sat here tapping reset until nuclear ventilation was 'back on'.

Vacuum proceeded to drop once the tests were complete, then started to spike again, nuc vent remained not ok after tests were done nuc vent ok.

Marla Cervantes wrote:

Tuesday, June 12, 2018, 18:20 35 circles of 14 mm diameter of cast #4 were packed into a graphite sample container. 30 x UO2/C circles = 4.07 g Graphite container mass = 5.3 g Graphite tube is placed inside a target boat. Boat previously coated with TaC and sintered. Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3 used Ta foils for heat shielding and the boat was installed in Evap1. Chamber currently pumping down. Wednesday, June 13, 2018, 10:29  Initial IGP1 = 6.43e-7 Torr Tapped to 80A at 10A/10s with 20 s waiting period each 10 A Waited 5 min for vacuum to stabilize. Tapped to 90 A at 10A/10s with 20 s waiting period each 10 A Waited 5 min to tap to 100 A  Waited 14 min for vacuum to stabilize Tapped to 400 A at 25A/30s with 30 s waiting period each 25 A Tapped to 520 A at 20A/30s with 30 s waiting period each 20 A Max pressure ~0.06 Torr

 Wednesday, June 13, 2018, 11:08

Pressure was dropping indicating full carbothermal reduction but the current tripped off to 0 A.

Monday, October 22, 2018, 17:55 

UO2/C green was prepared , September 24, 2018

Initial UO2 powder used = 50.11 g (Inventory R-01032A, UO2 + bottle = 374.03 g before use)

Graphite powder used = 10.13 g

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 62.45 g 

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

The Ta-target boat was wrapped with 3-layers of heat shield [2 reused, 1 new] and installed in evap1.

Currently pumping down.

 Tuesday, October 23, 2018, 15:38

IGP1 = 2.44e-6 Torr,

Tapped to 60 A at 10A/10s with 20 s waiting every 10 A,

Waited 28 min to vacuum to stabilize,

tapped to 80 A at 10A/10s with 20 s waiting every 10 A,

max pressure 7x10-3 Torr, waited 50 min to vacuum to drop

Tapped to 100 A at 10A/10s with 20 s waiting every 10 A,

max pressure 4x10-2 Torr, tapped current to 80 A,

The pressure was dropping, when it was at 2x10-2 Torr, the current tripped off.

IGP1 = 1x10-4 Torr

Tapped back to 60 A at 10A/10s with 20 s waiting every 10 A,

waited 5 min to tap to 80 A at same rate

waited 5 min to tap to 100 A at same rate

waited 25 min to vacuum to drop from 2e-2 Torr to 8e-4Torr

Tapped to 110 A at same rate

John Wong wrote:

Thursday, October 11, 2018, 18:06 Target consists of 284 UCx discs, total packing length of 8.0 cm.  Container was previously coated/sintered with TaC (see elog #417) in Evap#2 with TGHT set to 400A and TBHT 230A, but there was a problem with the readback.  Will ramp up TGHT to 400A to see if the carbonization is complete; if not, additional 50A on TGHT can be applied. One end-cap is inserted on the right, wrt to the ionizer, and left end is open.  Vacuum initial setting: Good Vac = 5.0 e-5 Torr, Bad vac = 8.0 e-5 Torr. pressure level will be monitored accordingly... Auto-ramping setting TGHT: 60 wait time, 0.2A/min, final 400A (or addtional of 50 A if required as mentioned above) TGHT: 60 wait time, 0.2A/min, final 230A.  Chamber is currently being pumped down.  Friday, October 12, 2018, 15:35 Chamber has pumped down to 1.8e-6 Torr.  Stepping up TGHT and TBHT to 40A.  Friday, October 12, 2018, 17:07 TGHT/TBTH was held at 40A reaching max pressure of 1.7e-5 before slowly coming down.  Initiated autoramping.  Thursday, October 18, 2018, 11:10 TGHT reached to 400A/3.98V, pressure is coming down from the upper limit at around 320A which indicated the carbonization is approaching to completion (see attachment#1).  However, two more out-gassing steps are typically observed as TGHT reached around 450 A (see previous UCx conditioning process).  Currently the pressure is at 1.04 e-5 torr.  Auto-ramping TGHT to 450A at 1A/min, continue to observe the vacuum...  Thursday, October 18, 2018, 12:57 TGHT reached to 450A/4.6V. Pressure is coming down from 1.6 e-5 Torr. (see attachment#2).  Will remain at this heating current until pressure reached to mid 10-6 torr.

 Friday, October 19, 2018, 10:00

TRIUMF had a total power outage, the TBHT  and TGHT current had been ramped down already.

Marla Cervantes wrote:

Monday, October 22, 2018, 17:55  UO2/C green was prepared , September 24, 2018 Initial UO2 powder used = 50.11 g (Inventory R-01032A, UO2 + bottle = 374.03 g before use) Graphite powder used = 10.13 g Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 62.45 g  The green was rolled up and wrapped in a piece of graphite sheet. The Ta-target boat was wrapped with 3-layers of heat shield [2 reused, 1 new] and installed in evap1. Currently pumping down  Tuesday, October 23, 2018, 15:38 IGP1 = 2.44e-6 Torr, Tapped to 60 A at 10A/10s with 20 s waiting every 10 A, Waited 28 min to vacuum to stabilize, tapped to 80 A at 10A/10s with 20 s waiting every 10 A, max pressure 7x10-3 Torr, waited 50 min to vacuum to drop Tapped to 100 A at 10A/10s with 20 s waiting every 10 A, max pressure 4x10-2 Torr, tapped current to 80 A, The pressure was dropping, when it was at 2x10-2 Torr, the current tripped off. IGP1 = 1x10-4 Torr Tapped back to 60 A at 10A/10s with 20 s waiting every 10 A, waited 5 min to tap to 80 A at same rate waited 5 min to tap to 100 A at same rate waited 25 min to vacuum to drop from 2e-2 Torr to 8e-4Torr Tapped to 110 A at same rate waited 3 min  to tap to 120 A at same rate waited 1 min  to tap to 130 A at same rate waited 1 min  to tap to 140 A at same rate   waited 15 min to pressure to drop from 6e-2 Torr to 7e-4 Torr   Changing manual rate to 10A/10s with waiting periods of 1 min, current was increased from 140 A to 260 A with this rate.   Changing manual rate to 20A/10s with waiting periods of 30 s, current was increased from 260 A to 480 A with this rate.   Waiting 4 min for the pressure to increase.   Changing the rate to 5A/30s, tapped until 510 A,   Changing the waiting period to 1 min, kept tapping to 530 A,   The pressure was dropping, when it was at 2x10-2 Torr, the current tripped off   The vacuum limit is 5e-1 Torr, and the pressure was dropping, there was no reason for the current to trip.   The pumps seems to be fine in the hot lab.

 Wednesday, October 24, 2018, 17:51

Rod from controls checked on the system, seems that the controls are not the cause of the trip

Rod suggested that the power supply might be overheating, 

thermocouples were installed on the surface of the power supply to register the temperature during the process

Tapping the current up again at accelerated rate see spread sheet for details.

Since pressure was not decreasing the current was increased to 595 A (rate 1A/min) [see figure CT-2]

The power supply's maximum temperature was 32.7 C which is a difference of 9.7 degrees with respect to the initial temperature. 

The target will remain at maximum temperature overnight.