Before began the carbonization process, two cameras were setup in the hotlab for monitoring the evaporator and the power supply.  On duty ISAC Ops also helps to monitor on a regular basis and to grab the striptools + cameras (twice/shift) and put this information in the ISAC Logbook with subject header:  "UCx_2011_A 'date time'", for easy search.  

Wed May 25 14:39:31 2011:  UO2/C cast was dried in the fumehood over the weekend.  The cast was pilled off from the coated WD40 glass plate, rolled up and put in a target heating boat (/w TaC coating & sintered).   The boat was wrapped with 3 Ta-heat shields, then installed in the evaporator which is currently being pumped down.

Thu May 26 11:40:06 2011:  Vac @ 1.75e-6 torr, BP @ 0.032T.  TGHT stepped up to 30A/0.092V (panel @ 27A), ; TGHT has been held for over 10 mins, no change in vacuum yet.

Thu May 26 11:46:48 2011: TGHT @ 40A/0.123V (panel @ 37A), Vac 2.3e-6 Torr, BP@0.032T. 

Thu May 26 15:13:19 2011:  TGHT has been at 40A/0.123V for sometime.  Currently, Vac @ 4.39e-5 Torr, BP@ 0.27T.  (See Attachement#1)

Thu May 26 17:28:36 2011:  Auto ramping has begun.  (see attachment#2).  TGHT @ 40.60A, (panel @ 38A), vac @ 3.84 e-5 Torr.  

Wed Jun 1 13:28:58 2011:  TGHT currently at 395A/3.16V, vac @ 4.47e-5 Torr.  Heating sequence changed for the increment from 4.5e-5 Torr to 5.0e-5 Torr. 

Fri Jun 3 09:54:28 2011 :  The organics burnoff and the carbonization process are complete (see Attachment#3 for the striptool).  The cooling process will begin at a rate of 2A/min.  

Tue Jun 14 21:24:41 2011 :  The evaporator was about to be vented by argon on Jun 10 (Fri), but it was found that the argon cylinder was almost empty; a new one was replaced (see Attachment #4: Evaporator_Ar_flow).  After the argon cylinder was replaced,  the evaporator was purged with the gas and the vent valve was connected to the cylinder for venting of the evaporator.  The target oven was removed and stored in the hermetic transfer vessel, then transferred to the glove box.  (See attachment #5: UC2, Note: typo. Should read Ar gas, NOT N2).  The flakes were stored in the jar labelled "Stock# 2011_A", with total weight of 35g. 

Before began the carbonization process, two cameras were setup in the hotlab for monitoring the evaporator and the power supply.  On duty ISAC Ops also helps to monitor on a regular basis and to grab the striptools + cameras (twice/shift) and put this information in the ISAC Logbook with subject header:  "UCx_2011_B 'date time'", for easy search.  

P/S camera: http://isaccamera1, user/pw = admin

Evaporator camera: http://isac-cam01, user =admin, pw=yield 

Thu Jun 30 12:24:31 2011

UO2 used = 50.29g 

Green UO2/C = 71.96g, rolled up /w graphite sheet (15cm x 12cm), and put in the target boat, then wrapped with 3 Ta-heat shields.  The target is installed in the evaporator and is being pumped down.

Thu Jun 30 12:45:39 2011: Currently Vac @ 3.75e-5, CG2 @ 0.045T.

Friday, July 01, 2011, 13:28:  Vac @ 2.2-6 Torr.  TGHT set at 10A yesterday.   

Friday, July 01, 2011, 13:42:  TGHT stepped up to 36A (panel 33A), 0.134V.  No change in vacuum,  2.38e-6 Torr, CG @33mT. 

Friday, July 01, 2011, 13:51:  TGHT stepped up to 50A (panel 47A), 0.194V.  Vac @ 5.7e-6 Torr, CG2 @ 33mT.  

Friday, July 01, 2011, 14:09 :  Vac was rising slowly.  TGHT stepped up to 57A and the pressure started to increase faster.  TGHT was brought back down to 30A, and vac is coming down gradually.  (See attachment 1#2: Startup Vac/Current)

Friday, July 01, 2011, 14:16 :  Auto ramping began.  0.1/min, max currently @ 525A. (see attachement #3: Parameter)

Monday, July 04, 2011, 12:33:  TGTH @ 146.20A, Vac @ 4.74e-5 Torr.  (see attachment#4: 3-day trend).  Increase auto ramping rate to 0.5/min. 

Monday, July 04, 2011, 13:01:   TGHT @ 148A, Vac @ 5.20e-5 torr.  Auto rampiing paused until vacuum goes down to 5.0e-5 torr.  (see attachment#4)

Monday, July 04, 2011, 17:34:  TGHT @ 220A, VAC started to come down, indicating the burning off organics was done.  Increased heating rate to 1A/min. 

Friday, July 08, 2011, 21:30:  As per Peter Kunz, "I started the target cooldown sequence for IEVAP:TGHT1 at 20:35. The pressure came down to 4e-6 torr. The ramp down rate is 2A/min. Please check if the target heater current comes down to 0A. Then it can cool off over the weekend."

Monday, July 11, 2011, 12:17:  Evap glove box flashed with Ar gas, set pressure ~100psi.  Chamber also vented with Ar, set pressure  @ ~5psi.

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, 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! 

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.  

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:

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.  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. 

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. 

Thursday, July 19, 2012, 17:09

UO2/C green was prepared on June 13, 2012. 

UO2 powder used = 50.32g (Inventory R-00835A UO2 + bottle = 946.48g left)

Graphite powder used = 10.00g

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.

 Friday, July 20, 2012, 09:50

IG1 currently at 6.2e-6 Torr, BP @ 31mTorr. 

The target will be ramped up to 520A at 0.1A/min. 

Vacuum limit stop at 5.0e-5 Torr, backing off at 6.0e-5 Torr.

TGHT tabbed up to 50A.  Not much of change in the vacuum.

Initiated autoramping..

Friday, July 20, 2012, 10:18  

TGHT tripped up at 51A due to high vacuum.  

Lowered TGHT to 30A and begin auto ramping.  Pressure is holding at 7e-5 Torr. 

 Wednesday, July 25, 2012, 11:57

TGHT has reached to 100A, and the vacuum is starting to come down from the high limit, 5e-5 Torr. (see attachment#1).  

The organic burn-off is almost to complete and the carbonization process will begin soon. 

Tuesday, August 07, 2012, 12:18

The carbonization process is completed.  The target heater reached to 520A (local 515A,5.17V), vacuum at 4.0 e-6 Torr. (see attachment #2)

Cooling down is in process at 2A/min.

 Tuesday, August 07, 2012, 17:44

TGHT has reached to 0A.  IG currently @ 1.3e-6 Torr, BP @ 34mTorr. 

The chamber will be vented with Ar gas tomorrow and the UC2 flakes will be transfer to the Ar-glove box.

Tuesday, April 02, 2013, 17:25

UO2/C green was prepared on Mar 11, 2013.

UO2 powder used = 50.32g (Inventory R-00835A UO2 + bottle = 896.16

Graphite powder used = 10.00g

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

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

The chamber is currently being pumped down.

The target 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.

 Wednesday, April 03, 2013, 11:28

IG1 currently at 3.56e-6 Torr, BP at 28mTorr.

Tabbing up TGHT to 50A.

After 20 mins, IG got up to 7.5e-5 torr (tripping at 8e-5 Torr).  Lower TGHT to 20A. 

Initiated autoramping...

 Monday, April 15, 2013, 14:33

The domestic water will be shut off tomorrow, April 16 at 07:00 for ARIEL work.  The evaporator cooling water will be shut off; therefore the process must stop for now.

TGHT is current at 315.5A, IG1 at 5.2e-5 Torr. 

Cooling down at 1A/min.

 Tuesday, April 16, 2013, 16:28

The cooling water is back online.  The carbonization process will continue...

TGHT will be ramped up to 300A at 2A/min.  Then the ramping rate will changed to 0.1A/min to have TGHT reach to 520A.

IG is currently at 1.2e-6 Torr.

 Wednesday, April 17, 2013, 10:53

TGHT continues to ramp at 0.1A/min.

 Sunday, April 21, 2013, 22:11

The synthesis of UC2 is complete. 

Auto cooling is initiated.  Ramping down at 1A/min.

The chamber will be vented with Ar tomorrow.

Monday, May 06, 2013, 14:29

UO2/C green was prepared on May 2, 2013 and let dry over the weekend.

UO2 powder used = 50.36g   (Inventory R-00835A UO2 + bottle = 896.30)

Graphite powder used = 10g

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

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

The chamber is currently being down down.

The target 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.

 Tuesday, May 07, 2013, 11:12

Currently, IG @ 5.6e-6 Torr; BP @ 25mTorr.  Vacuum spikes intermittently...

Stepping up TGHT to 50A.  After about 15 min, vacuum climbed up to 5.5e-5 Torr. 

Lowered TGHT to 25A, and continue heating at that current...

 Tuesday, May 07, 2013, 12:18

Vacuum is coming down to 2.6e-5 Torr.

Auto-heating initiated...

 Friday, May 24, 2013, 14:19

The carbonization process has come the end.

TGHT has reached to 520A for ~14hrs. 

IG1 @ 6.34e-6 Torr, BP @ 25mTorr.

Autocooling is initiated; ramping rate @ 1A/min.

The chamber will be remained under vacuum, and will be vented in Ar next week.

 Monday, May 27, 2013, 14:11

The chamber was vented with Ar. 

UC2 was transfered to the Ar glovebox. 

Evap#1 is off.

 Wednesday, May 29, 2013, 17:14

See attachment#1 for TGHT vs IG1 data retrieval.

 Tuesday, June 25, 2013, 14:35

UO2/C green was prepared on June 18, 2013 and let dry over the weekend.

UO2 powder used = 50.25g (Inventory R-00835A UO2 + bottle = 845.94g - before use)

Graphite powder used = 10.0g

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

The Ta-target boat was wrapped with a 3-Ta heat shields and installed in the Evap#1 on June 24, 2013

The chamber has been pumped down

IG1 currently at 4.6E-06 torr

Target will be ramped up to 520A at the rate of 0.1A/min

Vacuum limit stop at 5.0E-05 torr, backing off at 6.0E-05 torr

Laura Lambert wrote:

Tuesday, June 25, 2013, 14:35 UO2/C green was prepared on June 18, 2013 and let dry over the weekend. UO2 powder used = 50.25g (Inventory R-00835A UO2 + bottle = 845.94g - before use) Graphite powder used = 10.0g The green was rolled up and wrapped in a piece of graphite sheet. The Ta-target boat was wrapped with a 3-Ta heat shields and installed in the Evap#1 on June 24, 2013 The chamber has been pumped down IG1 currently at 4.6E-06 torr     Target will be ramped up to 520A at the rate of 0.1A/min Vacuum limit stop at 5.0E-05 torr, backing off at 6.0E-05 torr

 Tuesday, June 25, 2013, 16:26

TGHT was stepped up to 30A for about 1hr and lowered to 20A before the pressure went up t0 ~ 1.5e-5 Torr.

Auto ramping initiated...

1. stage - burning off organics complete

2. stage - carbonization began 1-8 am 2013/07/02

Peter Kunz wrote:

1. stage - burning off organics complete 2. stage - carbonization began 1-8 am 2013/07/02

 Thursday, July 11, 2013, 16:11

EPICS was down and wiped out all the strip tools, but Evap stayed on.  Data archivers showed the system was down at around mid-night on July 10 - no data was archived for 12 hours. 

TGHT has stayed at 520A (max) for at least 4 hours since I started the Evap EPICS back.

Vacuum is currently at 7.7e-6 Torr. 

The carbonization process is complete.

Auto-cool down in process - at 1A/min.

John Wong wrote:

Peter Kunz wrote:   1. stage - burning off organics complete 2. stage - carbonization began 1-8 am 2013/07/02  Thursday, July 11, 2013, 16:11 EPICS was down and wiped out all the strip tools, but Evap stayed on.  Data archivers showed the system was down at around mid-night on July 10 - no data was archived for 12 hours.  TGHT has stayed at 520A (max) for at least 4 hours since I started the Evap EPICS back. Vacuum is currently at 7.7e-6 Torr.  The carbonization process is complete. Auto-cool down in process - at 1A/min.

 Monday, July 15, 2013, 09:43

The TGHT reached to zero on Friday and the chamber has been left under vacuum over the weekend, currently at 1.3e-6 Torr.

The chamber will be vented in Ar and the UC2 flakes will be transported into the Ar-glove box.

The process is complete

Thursday, August 22, 2013, 17:31

1st attempt:

UO2/C green was prepared on Aug 14, 2013 (wed).  The slurry was cast on a piece of glass coated with WD40.

The cast was let dry until Aug 26 (Mon) - couldn't peel off from the glass. 

2nd attempt:

So, scrapped off cast, mixed with 30ml H20 in the WC jar, re-milled for 3 hrs, and cast/let dry over night  - SAME SHIT! couldn't peel off!  Don't understand why?!

3rd attempt:

scrapped off, added the additional compositions:

1g PEG400,1g Glycerol, 10g 7% PVA, 2ml n-butanol, 2ml methonal, 20ml DI H2O.

Re-milled for 3 hours, cast and let dry!  Wahlaa... it works! (See attachment#1: pretty uranium pancake!)

However... During this process, some lost of uranium was resulted.  The slurry was more viscous than normal.  Some material was stuck to the WC jar wall and the balls.

Initial UO2 powder used = 50.14g (Inventory R-00835A UO2 + bottle = 795.56 before use)

Graphite powder used = 10g.

1st attempt dried UO2/C + organic  mass = 55.75g

2nd attempt = didn't measure

3rd attempt + additional org mass = 44.5g  (expecting to loss more uranium from the scraping/sticking to jar/balls)

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

The Ta-target boat was wrapped with 3-Ta layers of heat shield and installed in Evap1 on Aug 22, 2013.

Chamber is currently being pumped down. IG1 @ 2.4e-4 Torr.

Target 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

 Monday, August 26, 2013, 11:28

Chamber has been pumped down over the weekend.  IG currently @ 5.2e-6 Torr, BP @ 38mTorr.

Stepped up TGHT to 30A/0.151V. 

 Monday, August 26, 2013, 12:28

TGHT has been at 30A for almost 50 min.  Pressure has gone up but stabled at ~ 3.7e-5 Torr.

Initiated auto-ramping...

 Monday, September 09, 2013, 15:35

The carbonization process has come to an end. 

TGHT is at 520A for almost a day; IG currently at 1.3e-5 Torr (coming down), see attachment #2.

Auto cooling initiated at 2A/min.

The chamber will be vented with Ar.

John Wong wrote:

Thursday, August 22, 2013, 17:31 1st attempt: UO2/C green was prepared on Aug 14, 2013 (wed).  The slurry was cast on a piece of glass coated with WD40. The cast was let dry until Aug 26 (Mon) - couldn't peel off from the glass.  2nd attempt: So, scrapped off cast, mixed with 30ml H20 in the WC jar, re-milled for 3 hrs, and cast/let dry over night  - SAME SHIT! couldn't peel off!  Don't understand why?! 3rd attempt: scrapped off, added the additional compositions: 1g PEG400,1g Glycerol, 10g 7% PVA, 2ml n-butanol, 2ml methonal, 20ml DI H2O. Re-milled for 3 hours, cast and let dry!  Wahlaa... it works! (See attachment#1: pretty uranium pancake!) However... During this process, some lost of uranium was resulted.  The slurry was more viscous than normal.  Some material was stuck to the WC jar wall and the balls. Initial UO2 powder used = 50.14g (Inventory R-00835A UO2 + bottle = 795.56 before use) Graphite powder used = 10g. 1st attempt dried UO2/C + organic  mass = 55.75g 2nd attempt = didn't measure 3rd attempt + additional org mass = 44.5g  (expecting to loss more uranium from the scraping/sticking to jar/balls) The green was rolled up and wrapped in a piece of graphite sheet. The Ta-target boat was wrapped with 3-Ta layers of heat shield and installed in Evap1 on Aug 22, 2013. Chamber is currently being pumped down. IG1 @ 2.4e-4 Torr. Target 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

 Friday, August 23, 2013, 15:08

The chamber wasn't pumping down well; there was a problem with the seal on the lid.

Rick M. replaced it. 

The chamber is currently being pumped down;  it seems OK!

John Wong wrote:

John Wong wrote: Thursday, August 22, 2013, 17:31 1st attempt: UO2/C green was prepared on Aug 14, 2013 (wed).  The slurry was cast on a piece of glass coated with WD40. The cast was let dry until Aug 26 (Mon) - couldn't peel off from the glass.  2nd attempt: So, scrapped off cast, mixed with 30ml H20 in the WC jar, re-milled for 3 hrs, and cast/let dry over night  - SAME SHIT! couldn't peel off!  Don't understand why?! 3rd attempt: scrapped off, added the additional compositions: 1g PEG400,1g Glycerol, 10g 7% PVA, 2ml n-butanol, 2ml methonal, 20ml DI H2O. Re-milled for 3 hours, cast and let dry!  Wahlaa... it works! (See attachment#1: pretty uranium pancake!) However... During this process, some lost of uranium was resulted.  The slurry was more viscous than normal.  Some material was stuck to the WC jar wall and the balls. Initial UO2 powder used = 50.14g (Inventory R-00835A UO2 + bottle = 795.56 before use) Graphite powder used = 10g. 1st attempt dried UO2/C + organic  mass = 55.75g 2nd attempt = didn't measure 3rd attempt + additional org mass = 44.5g  (expecting to loss more uranium from the scraping/sticking to jar/balls) The green was rolled up and wrapped in a piece of graphite sheet. The Ta-target boat was wrapped with 3-Ta layers of heat shield and installed in Evap1 on Aug 22, 2013. Chamber is currently being pumped down. IG1 @ 2.4e-4 Torr. Target 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      Friday, August 23, 2013, 15:08 The chamber wasn't pumping down well; there was a problem with the seal on the lid. Rick M. replaced it.  The chamber is currently being pumped down;  it seems OK!

 Tuesday, September 10, 2013, 12:13

The TGHT reached zero on Monday and the chamber was left under vacuum overnight at 1.3e-6 Torr.

The chamber was accidentally vented in air until ~25mTorr for ~10min, then it was quickly pumped down again for ~10min before it was vented in Ar.

The chamber was vented in Ar and the UC2 flakes were transported into the Ar-glove box.

The process is complete 

Thursday, September 19, 2013, 15:35

UO2/C green was prepared on Aug 17, 2013. The slurry was cast on a piece of glass coated with WD40.

The cast was let dry until Aug 19, 2013.

Initial UO2 powder used = 49.97g (Inventory R-00835A UO2 + bottle = 745.42 before use)

Graphite powder used = 10.12g

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 59.62g

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

The Ta-target boat was wrapped with 3-Ta layers of heat shield and installed in Evap1 on Sept 19, 2013.

Chamber is currently being pumped down. IG1 @ 9.97e-12T.

Target 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

Laura Lambert wrote:

Thursday, September 19, 2013, 15:35 UO2/C green was prepared on Aug 17, 2013. The slurry was cast on a piece of glass coated with WD40. The cast was let dry until Aug 19, 2013. Initial UO2 powder used = 49.97g (Inventory R-00835A UO2 + bottle = 745.42 before use) Graphite powder used = 10.12g Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 59.62g The green was rolled up and wrapped in a piece of graphite sheet. The Ta-target boat was wrapped with 3-Ta layers of heat shield and installed in Evap1 on Sept 19, 2013. Chamber is currently being pumped down. IG1 @ 9.97e-12T. Target 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

 Friday, September 20, 2013, 13:48

Chamber has been pumped down overnight.  IG at 6.2e-6 Torr, BP @ 32mT.

Stepping up TGHT to 30A.

 Friday, September 20, 2013, 15:12

TGHT auto ramping initiated.  

 Monday, October 07, 2013, 14:09

TGHT has reached to 520A/5.5V.

Vac at 7.7e-6 Torr. 

The carbonization process is complete.

Auto-cooling is initiated at 2A/min, and the chamber will be vented in Ar after the target is cooled.

 Thursday, October 09, 2014, 13:36

*update* RENAME: batch #07 - 09192013 to UC2Flk_00 used for UCx#11

 Wednesday, February 05, 2014, 14:13

1st attempt:

UO2/C green was prepared on Feb 4, 2014 [tues]. The slurry was cast on a piece of glass coated with WD40.

The cast was let dry until Feb 5, 2014 [wed] - the cast was cracked and too much WD40 was used because there were oil patches [see attached photo: cast1]; however, the cast peeled off the glass very nicely.

2nd attempt:

Due to cracked and oil patches, decided to re-mill and try again.

Scrapped off cast, added the additional compositions:

1g PEG400, 1g Glycerol, 14g 5% PVA, 2mL n-butanol, 2mL methanol, 20mL DI H2O

Re-milled for 3 hours and cast onto glass coated with slightly less WD40.

Before even allowing cast to dry, can see the slurry is far too thick. The slurry would not spread at all.

Will let dry overnight and attempt to scrape off and re-mill with more DI H2O tomorrow.

 Thursday, February 06, 2014, 10:57

Second cast was a lot thicker, but peeled off the glass nicely, will not re-cast. [see attached photo: cast2]

Some material was stuck to the WC jar wall and the balls, same as previously.

Initial UO2 powder used = 50.24g (Inventory R-00855A UO2 + bottle = 695.52g before use)

Graphite powder used = 10.05g

1st attempt = did not measure

2nd attempt dried UO2/C + organic mass = 46.56g (expecting to lose more uranium from re-casting a second time/ sticking to jar + balls)

The green was rolled up and wrapped in a piece of graphite sheet. [see attached photo: target boat]

The Ta-target boat was wrapped with 3-layers of heat shield and installed in EVAP1.

Chamber us currently being pumped down.

Target 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.

 Friday, February 07, 2014, 10:15

Chamber has pumped down overnight. IG1 currently @ 2.4e-6 Torr.

 Stepped up TGHT to 35A/0.187V.

Friday, February 07, 2014, 12:02 

TGHT sat at 35A for 2hrs. Pressure took a while to fully stabilize, currently sitting at 1.9e-5 Torr [see attached photo: pre auto-ramp]

Initiating auto-ramping.

 Monday, February 24, 2014, 13:37

TGHT reached max setpoint of 520A on friday night.

Power = 5.45V

IGP1 = 3.2e-6 Torr.

Carbonization process is complete.

Initiating auto-cooling at 2.0A/min.

 Thursday, October 09, 2014, 13:41

update rename: batch #09 - 02062014 to UC2Flk_01

 Monday, March 24, 2014, 17:50

UO2/C cast was prepared on March 21 and let dry over the weekend.  The cast looks pretty good, and it was rolled up and wrapped in a piece of graphite sheet. 

The Ta-target boat was wrapped with 3-layers of heat shield and installed in EVAP1.

Chamber is currently being pumped down.

Target 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.

 Tuesday, March 25, 2014, 15:55

Chamber has been pumped down to 6.8e-6 Torr. BP 47mTorr.

Stepping up TGHT 35A/0.264V.  Vac stabilizing at 6.0e-5 Torr. 

Tuesday, March 25, 2014, 17:43

Auto-ramping initiated.

 Friday, April 11, 2014, 11:49

TGHT reached to max 520A.

Carbonization process is complete (see attachment)

IG at 9.3e-6 Torr.

 Cooling down TGHT at 2A/min

Will vent the chamber with Ar on Monday

 Monday, April 14, 2014, 16:41

UC2 flakes was removed from the chamber and transferred in to the Ar glovebox.

Evap off.

 Tuesday, August 26, 2014, 11:54

UO2/C green was prepared Aug 20, 2014. The slurry was cast on a piece of glass coated with WD40 on Aug 21, 2014.

The cast peeled off the glass nicely Aug 22, 2014 and let dry until Aug 25, 2014.

Some materials were stuck on the WC jar wall and balls as always noted.

Initial UO2 powder used = 50.75g (Inventory R-00835A UO2 + bottle = 595.37g before use)

Graphite powder used = 10.78g

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 62.86g

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

The Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3-Ta layers of heat shield and installed in Evap1.

Chamber is currently being pumped down.

Target 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

 Wednesday, August 27, 2014, 11:18

Chamber has pumped down overnight. IG1 = 6.4e-6 Torr

Stepped TGHT up to 35A.

 Wednesday, August 27, 2014, 14:41

Waited 1.5hrs for vacuum to fully stabilize, currently sitting at 2.2e-5 Torr.

Initiating auto-ramp.

 Friday, September 12, 2014, 14:09

TGHT reached max 520A/5.6V last night.

Carbonization process complete (see attachment: carbonization)

IG1 = 7.6e-6 Torr 

Initiating auto-cool at 2A/min

Will vent the chamber with Ar on Monday.

 Monday, September 22, 2014, 14:52

complete, UO2/C in glove box

 Thursday, October 09, 2014, 13:45

update rename: batch #11 - 08262014 to UC2Flk_03

 Tuesday, September 23, 2014, 14:54

UO2/C green was prepared Sept 18, 2014. The slurry was cast on a piece of glass coated with WD40 on Sept 19, 2014.

The cast was let dry over the weekend and peeled off the glass nicely Sept 22, 2014.

Some materials were stuck on the WC jar wall and balls as always noted.

Initial UO2 powder used = 50.04g (Inventory R-00835A UO2 + bottle = 544.51g before use)

Graphite powder used = 9.98g

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 59.35g

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

The Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3-layers of heat shield and installed in Evap1.

Chamber is currently being pumped down.

Target 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.

 Wednesday, September 24, 2014, 11:27

Chamber pumped down overnight.

IGP1 = 2.3e-6 Torr

Manually stepping TGHT up to 30A

 Wednesday, September 24, 2014, 14:00

Vacuum stable.

IGP1 = 1.3e-5 Torr.

Initiating auto-ramp.

Laura Lambert wrote:

Tuesday, September 23, 2014, 14:54 UO2/C green was prepared Sept 18, 2014. The slurry was cast on a piece of glass coated with WD40 on Sept 19, 2014. The cast was let dry over the weekend and peeled off the glass nicely Sept 22, 2014. Some materials were stuck on the WC jar wall and balls as always noted. Initial UO2 powder used = 50.04g (Inventory R-00835A UO2 + bottle = 544.51g before use) Graphite powder used = 9.98g Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 59.35g The green was rolled up and wrapped in a piece of graphite sheet. The Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3-layers of heat shield and installed in Evap1. Chamber is currently being pumped down. Target 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.  Wednesday, September 24, 2014, 11:27 Chamber pumped down overnight. IGP1 = 2.3e-6 Torr Manually stepping TGHT up to 30A  Wednesday, September 24, 2014, 14:00 Vacuum stable. IGP1 = 1.3e-5 Torr. Initiating auto-ramp.

 Friday, October 10, 2014, 13:51

TGHT has reached to 520A for over 20hrs;  Carbonization process is complete (see attachment).

Ramping down at 2A/min. 

As much as I like to come to work, Monday is a holiday.  So, the chamber will be kept under vacuum. 

On Tuesday, the chamber will be vent in Ar. 

Friday, October 17, 2014, 11:47  

Vented and taken out on tuesday.

 Monday, January 26, 2015, 11:19

UO2/C green was prepared Jan 20, 2015. The slurry was cast on a piece of glass coated with WD40 on Jan 21, 2015.

The cast was let dry over the weekend and peeled off the glass nicely Jan 26, 2014. [see attached picture]

Some materials were stuck on the WC jar wall and balls, consistent with every time.

Initial UO2 powder used = 50.32g (Inventory R-00835A, UO2 + bottle = 494.52g before use)

Graphite powder used = 10.02g

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 60.33g

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

The Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3-layers of heat shield and installed in Evap1.

Chamber is currently being pumped down.

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.

 Wednesday, January 28, 2015, 11:33

change of plan.

there will be several interruptions over the course of the next month including a planned power outage and water shut off.

therefore UO2/C cannot be carbonized as these interruptions  will trip off the system when UO2/C would be at max temperature.

EVAP1 is now turned off and the flakes will be stored in the fume hood until further notice.

 Thursday, April 09, 2015, 16:03

EVAP1 has been cleaned.

Target boat has been reloaded into evap1 and currently pumping down.

Will initiate ramp up tomorrow.

 Friday, April 10, 2015, 08:05

IGP1 = 1.7e-6 Torr

Tapped up manually to 35A.

Waited ~2hrs, vacuum stable.

IGP1 = 9.7e-6 Torr.

Initiating auto-ramp.

 Monday, April 20, 2015, 11:20

TGHT reahed 520A, 5.78V on the weekend.

The boat has been sitting at max setpoint for 4.5hours.

Carbonization process is complete [See attachment].

IGP1 = 3.4e-6 Torr.

Initiating auto-cool at 2A/min.

 Tuesday, April 21, 2015, 16:20

Vented in Ar and opened up today.

Now in glove box.

 Monday, May 11, 2015, 11:58

UC2 flakes produced = 46.477g

 Monday, May 11, 2015, 11:45

UO2/C green was prepared May 6, 2015. The slurry was cast on a piece of glass coated with WD40 on May 7, 2015.

The cast peeled off the glass nicely May 8, 2014 and finished drying over the weekend. [see attached picture]

Some materials were stuck on the WC jar wall and balls, consistent with every time.

Initial UO2 powder used = 50.44g (Inventory R-00835A, UO2 + bottle = 444.23g before use)

Graphite powder used = 10.05g

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 61.23g

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

The Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3-layers of heat shield and installed in Evap1.

Chamber is currently being pumped down.

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.

 Tuesday, May 12, 2015, 08:40

IG1 = 3e-6 Torr

Tapping up manually to 35A...

Tuesday, May 12, 2015, 12:18

Waited ~2.5hrs.

Vacuum stable.

IG1 = 1.3e-5 Torr.

Initiating auto-ramp.

 Monday, May 25, 2015, 09:29

TGHT reached max setpoints on the 22nd.

IGP1 = 2.2e-6 Torr.

TGHT = 520A, 5.28V

Carbonization process is complete [see attachment].

Initiating auto-cool at 2.0A/min.

 Wednesday, May 27, 2015, 08:47

Vented in argon and opened up yesterday afternoon.

Uranium flakes in glove box.

 Wednesday, May 27, 2015, 16:09

UC2 flakes produced = 47.647g

 Thursday, July 30, 2015, 17:10

The mixture of UO2/C was prepared on July 13, 2015.  See screen shot for more info. 

The material is loaded into a target boat and wrapped with 3 layers of Ta-heat shield. 

 Chamber is currently being pumped down

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.

 Friday, July 31, 2015, 14:33

Chamber has been pumped down overnight, currently at 3.3e-6 Torr.

Manually stepping up to 35A.

Set auto ramping TGHT to 200A at 0.1A/min for over the long weekend.  This current should be safe to just burn off the organic binder but not to start the carbonization process. 

John Wong wrote:

Thursday, July 30, 2015, 17:10 The mixture of UO2/C was prepared on July 13, 2015.  See screen shot for more info.  The material is loaded into a target boat and wrapped with 3 layers of Ta-heat shield.   Chamber is currently being pumped down 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.  Friday, July 31, 2015, 14:33 Chamber has been pumped down overnight, currently at 3.3e-6 Torr. Manually stepping up to 35A. Set auto ramping TGHT to 200A at 0.1A/min for over the long weekend.  This current should be safe to just burn off the organic binder but not to start the carbonization process.  Wednesday, August 05, 2015, 11:05    TGHT reached 200A about 5 hours ago.  Organic burn out is complete.   Begin carbonization:  Increase TGHT to 520A at 0.1A/min rate.

 Tuesday, August 11, 2015, 08:38

IGP1 = 6.8e-6 Torr

TGHT = 520A, 5.5V

TGHT sat at max setpoint for ~15hours

Initiating auto-cool at 2.0A/min.

 Wednesday, August 12, 2015, 16:02

Vented in Argon and opened up this afternoon.

Transferred into glove box.

 Wednesday, August 19, 2015, 11:02

UO2/C green was prepared Aug 11, 2015. The slurry was cast on a piece of glass coated with WD40 on Aug 12, 2015.

The cast peeled off the glass nicely Aug 14, 2014 and finished drying over the weekend. [see attached picture]

Some materials were stuck on the WC jar wall and balls, consistent with every time.

Initial UO2 powder used = 50.34g (Inventory R-00835A, UO2 + bottle = 343.60g before use)

Graphite powder used = 10.14g

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 61.42g

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

The Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3-layers of heat shield and installed in Evap1.

Chamber has been pumped down overnight, currently at IG1 = 2.5e-6 Torr.

Manually stepping up to 35A.

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.

 Wednesday, August 19, 2015, 14:05

Waited ~2.5hrs, vacuum stable.

IG1 = 1.2e-5 Torr.

Initiating auto-ramp.

 Monday, August 31, 2015, 09:38

EVAP 1 tripped off saturday 29th, due to a power outage with TGHT = ~450A at time of trip-off.

EVAP1 lost vacuum for ~4.5hrs [see archived photo]

Visual check performed of EVAP1 - OK.

IGP1 = 6.4e-7 Torr.

Re-initiating carbonization process.

 Monday, August 31, 2015, 10:05

Tapped up manually to 30A.

Vacuum stable.

Initiating auto-ramp at 2.0A/min to a final setpoint of 200A.

 Monday, August 31, 2015, 11:33

Increased max setpoint to 250A at 2.0A/min.

According to the archive, step 1 of the carbonization process was complete and vacuum dropped at ~TGHT = 250A

Vacuum still stable IGP1 = 2.7e-6 Torr.

Once 250A achieved, changed auto ramp to 0.2A/min with a final setpoint of 300A over lunch.

Will tap up manually after lunch.

 Monday, August 31, 2015, 13:07

IGP1 = 1.66e-6 Torr.

TGHT = 262A, 2.3V

Turning off auto-ramp, taking over manually...

 Monday, August 31, 2015, 16:15

Tapped up manually to TGHT = 355A, 3.5V

IGP1 = 5.8e-6 Torr.

Re-initiating auto-ramp at 0.1A/min with a final setpoint of 520A

 Wednesday, September 02, 2015, 09:04

IG1 = 7.5e-6 Torr

TGHT = 520A, 5.53V

TGHT remained at max setpoints ~12.5hours.

Carbonization process is complete.

Initiating auto-cool at 2.0A/min.

 Thursday, September 03, 2015, 11:55

UCx vented in Ar, removed from evap1 and currently in glove box this morning.

Will measure quantity obtained this afternoon.

 Thursday, September 03, 2015, 13:27

Attached are a few notable striptool screenshots from the entire carbonization process.

UCxflk_08 = 46.926g

 Monday, September 14, 2015, 15:28

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 61.31g

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

The Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3-layers of heat shield and installed in Evap1.

 Wednesday, September 16, 2015, 17:55

The work in the B2 level is done; the nuclear ventilation for the evaporators is now operational. 

Tried to turn on the backing pump, but failed. 

Submitted an fault #8428 to vacuum group

 Thursday, September 17, 2015, 12:23

Vacuum group responded to the e-fault, and a new pump is installed.

Chamber is currently being pumped down.

 Friday, September 18, 2015, 14:12

Chamber pressure is at 3.0e-6 Torr.

TGHT stepped up to 30A.

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.

 Friday, September 18, 2015, 16:05

Pressure stabilized at 3.6e-5 Torr. 

Initiate autoramping

 Monday, September 21, 2015, 11:38

TGHT was found tripped off at 50A on Saturday at about 6am; the backing pump gauge went up to 150mTorr at the same time (see attachment)

Note that a refurbished backing pump was installed before starting this process.  It could be a leak somewhere; will let vacuum group to inspect this. 

 Monday, September 21, 2015, 15:34

Vacuum group took a look at the pump.  It was the bleeding valve that was not properly close while the pump was installed.  So after some period of running, the valve got loosen from the pump's vibration and caused the leak. 

The pump is now back to operational. 

Chamber is being pumped again.  Once the vacuum is good, TGHT will be stepped up to 50A and autoramping will be initiated once it's ready.

 Monday, September 21, 2015, 17:51

TGHT at 50A, IG at 3.6e-6 Torr.

Initiated autoramping.

 Wednesday, September 30, 2015, 10:11

TGHT has reached to 520A/5.36V.  The carbonization process is complete, vacuum at 3.29e-6 Torr, BP at 12mTorr. (see attachment#2)

Initiated auto-cooling at 2A/min.

 Wednesday, December 02, 2015, 14:08

UO2/C was cast onto a graphite sheet in the fume hood and let dry.

Initial UO2 powder used = 25.11g (Inventory R-00835A, UO2 + bottle = 243.44g before use)

Graphite powder used = 5.16g

A 13mm punch was used to punch out discs from an 11mm wide strip.

5 discs were packed into one end of the graphite tube and a single 1cmx2cm strip was placed in the other end.

graphite tube = 4.57g

5 x UO2/C discs = 0.62g

2cm x 1cm strip = 0.21g

the graphite tube is placed inside a target boat.

The Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3-layers of heat shield and installed in Evap1.

Pumping down overnight.

Thursday, December 03, 2015, 09:23 

IG1 = 5.7e-6 Torr.

Stepped up manually to 60A.

Waited ~1hr45, vacuum stable.

IG1 = 6.3e-6 Torr.

Initiating auto-ramp.

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.

 Monday, December 07, 2015, 10:45

UO2/C reached 520A yesterday and has remained at max setpoint for 15hrs.

IG1 = 5.2e-6 Torr.

TGHT = 520A, 5.35V

Carbonization process is complete.

Initiating auto-cool at 2.0A/min.

 Wednesday, December 09, 2015, 10:09

Vented in argon and took the materials out yesterday.

Currently sitting in glove box.

All five discs and strip had fallen out of graphite tube and were sitting directly on the target boat.

^not sure if due to removal of heat shields [moving target boat around shook materials out of tube] or if this happened during carbonization process.

materials stuck to graphite foil fairly well, able to handle foils with tweezers and inspect without materials flaking off.

lightly scraped top of discs with spatula - no materials flaked off.

minor cracks are visible on discs.

graphite tube shows no visible changes.

 Thursday, December 10, 2015, 08:54

Filled graphite tube with 34 UO2/C discs cast onto graphite.

34 discs = 4.10g

graphite tube = 4.64g

IG1 = 2.8e-6 Torr.

Stepped up manually to 35A.

Waited ~1hr15, vacuum stable.

IG1 = 5.8e-6 Torr.

Initiating auto-ramp.

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.

 Monday, December 14, 2015, 08:58

IG1 = 3.9e-6 Torr.

TGHT = 520A, 5.7

UO2/C reached 520A yesterday and has remained at max setpoint for ~12hrs.

Carbonization process is complete.

Initiating auto-cool at 2.0A/min.

 Friday, December 18, 2015, 15:37

Vented in argon and removed from evap1

Graphite tube appears golden in colour [ see photo attached]

Materials spilled out of graphite tube, could be partially due to movement of target boat between evaporator and glove box and removal of heat shields.

Black graphite tube in weigh boat behind target is the graphite tube from the first round in evap1, shows a comparison in colour difference between the two rounds.

The difference between round 1 and round2:

-round1 contained 5 single discs packed together and a single 1cm/2cm square on the other end

-round2 contained 34 discs packed together consuming the whole graphite tube

All other parameters ie. max setpoints, were the same.

 Tuesday, March 08, 2016, 10:01

UO2/C green was prepared March 2, 2016.

This was the first time using the new rack built for holding multiple casts [see photo attached]

The cast peeled off the glass nicely March 3, 2014 and finished drying over the weekend. [see attached picture]

Some materials were stuck on the WC jar wall and balls, consistent with every time.

Initial UO2 powder used = 50.03g (Inventory R-00835A, UO2 + bottle = 218.54g before use)

Graphite powder used = 10.14g

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 60.08g 

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

The Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3-layers of heat shield and installed in Evap1.

Chamber has been pumped down overnight, currently at IG1 = 4.5e-6 Torr.

Manually stepping up to 35A...

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.

Tuesday, March 08, 2016, 16:01

Waited ~3hrs, vacuum stable.

IG1 = 1.4e-5 Torr.

Initiating auto-ramp.

 Monday, March 21, 2016, 08:33

IG1 = 1.9e-6 Torr

TGHT = 520A, 5.13V

TGHT remained at max setpoints for ~63.5hrs [over the weekend].

Carbonization process is complete.

Initiating auto-cool at 2.0A/min.

 Thursday, March 24, 2016, 10:19

vented in argon and removed from evap1.

stored in glove box.

total flakes produced: 46.26g

Tuesday, April 05, 2016, 10:58

UO2/C green was prepared March 31, 2016.

The cast peeled off the glass nicely April 1, 2016 and finished drying over the weekend. [see attached picture]

Some materials were stuck on the WC jar wall and balls, consistent with every time.

Initial UO2 powder used = 50.47g (Inventory R-00835A, UO2 + bottle = 168.33g before use)

Graphite powder used = 10.05g

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 59.50g 

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 and installed in evap1 yesterday.

Chamber has been pumped down overnight, currently at IG1 = 3.7e-6 Torr.

Manually stepping up to 35A...

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.

Tuesday, April 05, 2016, 15:04

Waited ~4hrs, vacuum stable.

IG1 = 8.5e-6 Torr.

Initiating auto-ramp.

 Friday, April 15, 2016, 13:50

IG1 = 3.2e-6 Torr

TGHT = 520A, 5.15V

TGHT remained at max setpoints for ~10hrs

Carbonization process is complete.

Initiating auto-cool at 2.0A/min.

 Monday, April 18, 2016, 11:08

vented in argon and removed from evap1.

stored in glove box.

will measure flakes produced tomorrow...

 Tuesday, April 19, 2016, 15:32

UC2 flakes produced = 45.99g

Friday, September 23, 2016, 16:01

*Note: materials were scaled back small amount since only 48.5g of UO2 was left in bottle when usually 50g required to make slurry

UO2/C green was prepared September 22, 2016.

The cast peeled off the glass nicely September 23, 2016 and loaded into evap1.

Some materials were stuck on the WC jar wall and balls, consistent with every time.

Initial UO2 powder used = 48.52g (Inventory R-00835A, no more UO2 left in bottle! Empty bottle = 68.33g)

Graphite powder used = 9.78g

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 59.21g 

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 and installed in evap1 today.

Chamber is currently pumping down, will remain under vacuum over weekend and initiate ramping process monday.

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.

Monday, September 26, 2016, 13:52

IG1 = 1.56e-6 Torr

Tapped up to 35A

Waited ~1.5hrs, vacuum stable.

IG1 = 1.23e-5 Torr

Initiating auto-ramp

 Friday, October 07, 2016, 13:19

TGHT tripped off oct 5th at 7pm   alarm handlers were not on, so pager never went off

TGHT was at ~450A and vacuum stable when it tripped off

Reason for this is currently unknown

Ion gauge didn't trip off, neither did the water

Auto-ramping at 2.0A/min back up to 400A currently...

 Friday, October 07, 2016, 16:30

TGHT was ramped up to 420A at 2.0A/min today

IG1 = 4.9e-5 Torr

Changed ramping rate to 0.1A/min for the TGHT with a final setpoint of 520A

Alarm handlers on: if anything happens over weekend pager will go off

Tuesday, October 11, 2016, 10:30 

IG1 = 1.2e-6 Torr

TGHT = 520A, 5.35V

TGHT has remained at max setpoint for ~2.5days

Carbonization process is complete.

Initiating auto-cool at 2.0A/min.

 Wednesday, October 12, 2016, 16:23

Vented in Ar and opened up evap1 this morning.

Stored in glove box.

Flakes look good, ~45g produced.

 Monday, November 07, 2016, 13:29

UO2/C green was prepared Nov 3rd, 2016.

This is the first cast made with the new batch of UO2 [but from the same purchase as the last batch]

The cast peeled off the glass nicely Nov 4th, 2016 and finished drying over the weekend.

Some materials were stuck on the WC jar wall and balls, consistent with every time.

Initial UO2 powder used = 50.16g (Inventory R-01032A, UO2 + bottle = 1078.15g before use)

Graphite powder used = 10.03g

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 60.91g 

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 and installed in evap1 today.

Chamber is currently pumping down, IG1 = 2.4e-5 Torr.

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.

 Tuesday, November 08, 2016, 07:43

IG1 = 2.4e-6 Torr

Tapped up to 35A, 0.50V

Waited ~50min, vacuum stable.

IG1 = 1.3e-5 Torr

Initiating auto-ramp

Laura Lambert wrote:

Monday, November 07, 2016, 13:29 UO2/C green was prepared Nov 3rd, 2016. This is the first cast made with the new batch of UO2 [but from the same purchase as the last batch] The cast peeled off the glass nicely Nov 4th, 2016 and finished drying over the weekend. Some materials were stuck on the WC jar wall and balls, consistent with every time. Initial UO2 powder used = 50.16g (Inventory R-01032A, UO2 + bottle = 1078.15g before use) Graphite powder used = 10.03g Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 61.91g  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 and installed in evap1 today. Chamber is currently pumping down, IG1 = 2.4e-5 Torr. 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.  Tuesday, November 08, 2016, 07:43 IG1 = 2.4e-6 Torr Tapped up to 35A, 0.50V Waited ~50min, vacuum stable. IG1 = 1.3e-5 Torr Initiating auto-ramp

 Tuesday, November 15, 2016, 09:59

TGHT reached to 520A/5.12V; however the pressure was still remained high at the limit 5.0e-5 Torr which indicating that the carbonization process isn't complete yet.

Increase TGHT to 520A at a ramping rate of 0.1A/min.

John Wong wrote:

Laura Lambert wrote:  Monday, November 07, 2016, 13:29 UO2/C green was prepared Nov 3rd, 2016. This is the first cast made with the new batch of UO2 [but from the same purchase as the last batch] The cast peeled off the glass nicely Nov 4th, 2016 and finished drying over the weekend. Some materials were stuck on the WC jar wall and balls, consistent with every time. Initial UO2 powder used = 50.16g (Inventory R-01032A, UO2 + bottle = 1078.15g before use) Graphite powder used = 10.03g Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 61.91g  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 and installed in evap1 today. Chamber is currently pumping down, IG1 = 2.4e-5 Torr. 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.  Tuesday, November 08, 2016, 07:43 IG1 = 2.4e-6 Torr Tapped up to 35A, 0.50V Waited ~50min, vacuum stable. IG1 = 1.3e-5 Torr Initiating auto-ramp    Tuesday, November 15, 2016, 09:59 TGHT reached to 520A/5.12V; however the pressure was still remained high at the limit 5.0e-5 Torr which indicating that the carbonization process isn't complete yet. Increase TGHT to 520A at a ramping rate of 0.1A/min.

 Wednesday, November 16, 2016, 11:55

*John increased maxTGHT setpoint to 530A not 520A

When the TGHT reached 520A, the vacuum was still at it's limit. Usually the vacuum starts to drop and stabilize slightly before the max setpoint is reached.

In the photo from UCx_flk10 at ~490A, the vacuum started to drop indicating the carbonization process was complete.

In the image posted from the current carbonization process one can see the vacuum was still at its limit when the TGHT reached its max set point of 520A meaning the carbonization process remains incomplete.

 Thursday, November 17, 2016, 07:36

Vacuum still high, carbonization remains incomplete.

Remained at 530A for ~18hrs

TGHT = 530A, 5.24V

IG1 = 3.8e-5 Torr

Increasing max setpoint to 540A.

 Thursday, November 17, 2016, 13:54

Vacuum remains high after ramping up to 540A, IG1 = 4.5e-5 Torr - still not fully carbonized

TGHT = 540A, 5.36V

Increasing max setpoint to 550A

 Thursday, November 17, 2016, 15:29

Vacuum still high

Increasing max setpoint to 580A

See excel to confirm this remains under 4kW

Wouldn't want to go much above 4kW otherwise container will break

 Friday, November 18, 2016, 13:14

Vacuum stable and decreasing - carbonization process complete.

Evap1 has remained at max setpoints for ~6.5hrs

IG1 = 5.6e-6 Torr

TGHT = 580A, 5.69V

Initiating auto-cool at 1.0A/min

 Monday, November 21, 2016, 16:20

Vented in Ar and opened up evap1 today.

Stored in glove box.

UC2 flakes produced = 47.23g

 Tuesday, November 29, 2016, 16:13

UO2/C green was prepared Nov 23rd, 2016.

The cast peeled off the glass nicely Nov 24th, 2016 and finished drying over the weekend.

Some materials were stuck on the WC jar wall and balls, consistent with every time.

Initial UO2 powder used = 50.61g (Inventory R-01032A, UO2 + bottle = 1028.05g before use)

Graphite powder used = 10.16g

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 61.94g 

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

A new Ta target boat is being used due to the previous one being old and is now very expanded.

The last round of flakes being carbonized [UC2flk_13] showed a slight change in current and power from previous carbonization process', also indicating the target boat should be retired.

The new boat has only been used once in evap1 to sinter some endcaps earlier in the year.

This target boat is slightly different than the old one because both ends are open, no endcaps are attached to the boat.

The Ta-target boat was wrapped with 3-layers of heat shield and installed in evap1 today.

Chamber is currently pumping down...

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.

Wednesday, November 30, 2016, 13:09

IG1 = 3.2e-6 Torr

Tapped up to 35A, 0.34V

Waited ~2hrs, vacuum stable.

IG1 = 8.7e-6 Torr

Initiating auto-ramp

 Monday, December 12, 2016, 09:15

Vacuum stable - carbonization process complete.

Evap1 remained at max setpoints over wknd

IG1 = 1.47e-6 Torr

TGHT = 520A, 5.12V

Initiating auto-cool at 1.0A/min

 Tuesday, December 13, 2016, 16:30

Vented in Ar and opened up evap1 today.

As previously mentioned this new target boat has no endcaps and one can see in the photo more materials have dispersed onto the sides of evap1

These materials appear to be mostly graphite since there are no visible holes through the graphite wrapping that surrounds the UC2 flakes.

Stored in glove box.

 Friday, March 03, 2017, 08:53

UO2/C green was prepared Feb 28th, 2017.

The cast peeled off the glass nicely March 2nd, 2017 and loaded into evap1.

Some materials were stuck on the WC jar wall and balls, consistent with every time.

Initial UO2 powder used = 50.08g (Inventory R-01032A, UO2 + bottle = 977.24g before use)

Graphite powder used = 10.05g

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 63.21g 

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 and installed in evap1 today.

Chamber pumped down overnight.

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 = 3.2e-6 Torr

Tapped up to 35A, 0.40V

Waited ~5hrs, vacuum stable.

IG1 = 6.8e-6 Torr

Initiating auto-ramp

 Monday, March 06, 2017, 08:47

Evap1 tripped off fri night.

See attached screenshot of strip tool.

Had continued to ramp up and was at ~340A, but since the power supply had tripped off this was not actually being applied.

TGHT set back to zero, auto-ramp turned off.

Will investigate further before re-starting...

 Tuesday, March 07, 2017, 09:50

Have not figured out reasoning behind power trip.

According to controls, there were no power bumps at that time.

Water was still on - had not tripped off.

Tapped back up manually to 40A yesterday morning.

Remained at 40A overnight.

IG1 = 4.46e-6 Torr this morning.

TGHT = 40A, 0.38V

Re-initiated auto-ramp.

 Monday, March 13, 2017, 15:46 by AM

IG1 = 5.2E-5 Torr

TGHT= 436A 4.28V

Thursday, March 16, 2017, 08:37 by AM

TGHT reached 520A @ 5.37V this morning. Vacuum  at 6.2E-6 Torr

Friday, March 17, 2017, 08:21 by AM

520A @ 5.37V this morning. Vacuum  at 2.2E-6 Torr

Ramping down

 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.

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:  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

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.

Laura Lambert wrote:

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.

 Tuesday, May 30, 2017, 07:41

Still unsure as to why evap1 tripped off again.

Put evap1 back under vacuum/ turned turbo pump on and opened isolation valve yesterday afternoon.

Vacuum good this morning...nothing tripped off...

 Tuesday, May 30, 2017, 08:21

IG1 = 2.3e-6 Torr

Tapped up manually to 40A, 0.24V

Waited ~1hr

IG1 = 4.5e-6 Torr

Initiated auto-ramp at 0.2A/min up to a final setpoint of 250A

 Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 09:37

IG1 = 2.4e-6 Torr

TGHT = 250A, 2.57V

Increasing max setpoint to 275A [the trip off point] at a rate of 0.2A/min

Vacuum is currently stable and low; increasing limits to:

Vacuum limit stop at 1.0e-4 Torr, backing off at 5.0e-4 Torr.

 Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 13:39

IG1 = 3.7e-6 Torr

TGHT = 275A, 2.80V

Increasing max setpoint to final setpoint of 520A at a rate of 0.2A/min

Vacuum is currently stable and low; keeping  current limits.

Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 15:57

IG1 = 8.14e-6 Torr

TGHT = 300A, 3.08V

Vacuum stable.

Decreasing ramping rate to 0.1A/min for overnight heating.

turbo pump = 40.5C; room temp = 25.1C

 Thursday, June 01, 2017, 09:00

IG1 = 4.2e-5 Torr

TGHT = 396A, 4.06V

Vacuum stable.

Increasing ramping rate to 0.2A/min.

turbo pump = 41.6C; room temp = 24.3C

 Thursday, June 01, 2017, 13:18

IG1 = 1.25e-4 Torr

TGHT = 439A, 4.48V

Vacuum stable.

Changing vacuum limits.

Vacuum limit stop at 2.0e-4 Torr, backing off at 5.0e-4 Torr.

turbo pump = 42.3C; room temp = 24.6C

 Thursday, June 01, 2017, 15:48

IG1 = 1.95e-4 Torr

TGHT = 467A, 4.81V

Vacuum stable.

Changing vacuum limits and ramping rate for heating overnight.

Decreasing ramping rate to 0.1A/min

Vacuum limit stop at 1.0e-4 Torr, backing off at 5.0e-4 Torr.

turbo pump = 44.1C; room temp = 25.3C

 Friday, June 02, 2017, 07:19

IG1 = 1.26e-4 Torr

TGHT = 473A, 4.77V

Vacuum stable.

Changing vacuum limits and ramping rate.

Increasing ramping rate to 0.2A/min

Vacuum limit stop at 2.0e-4 Torr, backing off at 5.0e-4 Torr.

 Friday, June 02, 2017, 10:18

IG1 = 2.04e-4 Torr

TGHT = 498A, 5.08V

Vacuum stable.

Changing vacuum limits.

Vacuum limit stop at 3.0e-4 Torr, backing off at 5.0e-4 Torr.

Fan has been inserted - pointed at turbo pump, TP temp's have decreased.

tp = 32.1C; rt = 24.7C

 Friday, June 02, 2017, 13:22

IG1 = 2.4e-4 Torr

TGHT = 520A, 5.40V

Vacuum stable and decreasing.

Carbonization process almost complete.

Will remain at max setpoints over the weekend.

TP = 28.2C; RT = 24.5C

 Monday, June 05, 2017, 08:51

IG1 = 1.75e-6 Torr

TGHT = 520A, 5.29V

Carbonization process complete!

Remained at max setpoints over the weekend.

Initiating auto cool at 1.0A/min

 Tuesday, June 06, 2017, 15:56

Vented in Ar and removed today.

Currently in glove box.

 Monday, June 12, 2017, 11:44

Flakes produced: 48.00g

 Monday, June 12, 2017, 11:41

UO2/C green was prepared June 7th, 2017.

The cast peeled off the glass nicely June 8th, 2017.

Initial UO2 powder used = 50.10g (Inventory R-01032A, UO2 + bottle = 776.36g before use)

Graphite powder used = 10.06g

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 62.98g 

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 [reused from last carbonization] and installed in evap1 this morning.

Chamber pumped down.

Target boat will be ramped up to 520A.

Vacuum limit stop at 5.0e-5 Torr, backing off at 6.0e-5 Torr.

IG1 = 1.58e-5 Torr

Tapped up to 30A, 0.21V

Waited ~1hr45, vacuum stable.

IG1 = 8.59e-6 Torr

Initiating auto-ramp at 0.1A/min

 Tuesday, June 13, 2017, 10:32

IG1 = 5.0e-5 Torr

TGHT = 65A, 0.47V

Vacuum currently yo-yo-ing, but stable.

Changing vacuum limits.

Vacuum limit stop at 2.0e-4 Torr, backing off at 5.0e-4 Torr.

Increasing ramping rate to 0.2A/min.

Thursday, June 15, 2017, 16:24  

IG1 = 1.96e-4 Torr

TGHT = 520A, 5.18V

TGHT has reached 520A, the vacuum remains at it's limit.

Vacuum usually drops and stabilizes slightly before the max setpoint is reached indicating carbonization process complete.

Since vacuum remains high, this indicates the carbonization remains incomplete.

Conditions have changed such as vacuum limits, which has greatly sped up the process.

This increase in speed could have an impact on the current at which the carbonization occurs.

Increasing max setpoint to 530A and re-initiating auto-ramp.

 Friday, June 16, 2017, 08:32

Vacuum stable, started decreasing when TGHT reached 530A - carbonization process complete.

Evap1 has remained at max setpoints for ~11hrs, but has remained at low vacuum for ~5hrs.

IG1 = 5.56e-6 Torr

TGHT = 530A, 5.31V

Initiating auto-cool at 1.0A/min

TP = 24.9C, RT = 24.3C

*note TP now has water cooling as well as fan pointed at it for this entire process

 Monday, June 19, 2017, 16:16

Vented in Ar and transferred from evap1 to glove box this a.m

UC2 flakes produced = 48.66g

 Wednesday, August 23, 2017, 15:41

2 rounds of UO2/C were cast onto a graphite sheet in the fume hood and let dry.

For this round of samples, circles from cast 1 were used

Graphite powder used = 5.16g

A 14mm punch was used to punch out circles from a 16mm wide strip.

35 circles were packed into a graphite sample container.

graphite container [no endcap] = 3.37g

35 x UO2/C circles = 4.76g

graphite container+smpls = 8.13g

container+smpls+endcap = 10.08g

Graphite tube is placed inside a target boat.

Boat previously coated with TaC and sintered - 1st use of newly sintered boat.

Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3-layers of heat shield and installed in Evap1.

Chamber currently pumping down.

 Friday, August 25, 2017, 09:59

IG1 = 3.45e-6 Torr.

Stepped up manually to 80A.

Vacuum stable.

IG1 = 3.0e-5 Torr.

Initiating auto-ramp.

Target boat will be ramped up to 520A at the rate of 0.1A/min.

Vacuum limit stop at 1.0e-4 Torr, backing off at 5.0e-4 Torr.

 Monday, August 28, 2017, 08:09

IG1 = 6.3e-6 Torr

TGHT = 455A, 4.65V

Vacuum stable.

Increasing ramping rate to 0.2A/min.

 Monday, August 28, 2017, 08:53

IG1 = 7.3e-6 Torr

TGHT = 465A, 4.75V

Vacuum stable.

Increasing ramping rate to 0.5A/min.

 Monday, August 28, 2017, 13:17

IG1 = 1.32e-5 Torr

TGHT = 520A, 5.44V

Vacuum still fairly high and not dropping very fast indicating carbonization incomplete.

Increasing max setpoint to 530A and restarting auto-ramp.

 Monday, August 28, 2017, 15:13

IG1 = 1.32e-5 Torr

TGHT = 530A, 5.58V

Vacuum still high, wavering up and down/ not dropping - carbonization remains incomplete.

Increasing max setpoint to 540A and restarting auto-ramp.

 Tuesday, August 29, 2017, 09:28

IG1 = 3.72e-6 Torr

TGHT = 540A, 5.66V

Carbonization complete.

Initiating auto-cool at 2.0A/min

 Wednesday, September 27, 2017, 09:25

UO2/C green was prepared Sept 20th, 2017.

The cast peeled off the glass Sept 22nd, 2017 - not quite enough 'special' ingredient.

UO2 stuck to glass around edges of cast - a lot of flakes produced while peeling off.

Initial UO2 powder used = 50.00g (Inventory R-01032A, UO2 + bottle = 726.38g before use)

Graphite powder used = 10.03g

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 60.38g 

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 [reused from last 1stepUCx] and installed in evap1 yesterday afternoon.

Chamber pumped down overnight.

Target boat will be ramped up to 520A.

Vacuum limit stop at 5.0e-5 Torr, backing off at 6.0e-5 Torr.

IG1 = 3.5e-6 Torr

Tapped up to 30A, 0.43V

Waited ~50min, vacuum stable.

IGP1 = 8.6e-6 Torr

Initiating auto-ramp at 0.1A/min

 Wednesday, September 27, 2017, 13:28

IGP1 = 1.4e-5 Torr

TGHT = 38.5A, 0.48V

Vacuum stable.

Changing vacuum limits and ramping rate.

Vacuum limit stop at 2.0e-4 Torr, backing off at 5.0e-4 Torr.

Increasing ramping rate to 0.2A/min.

 Thursday, September 28, 2017, 08:41

IGP1 = 3.26e-5 Torr

TGHT = 174A, 1.71V

Vacuum stable.

Increasing ramping rate to 0.5A/min.

 Thursday, September 28, 2017, 09:56

IGP1 = 4.85e-5 Torr

TGHT = 195A, 1.92V

Vacuum initially climbed a small amount with last increase, has started to decrease - vacuum stable.

Increasing ramping rate to 1.0A/min.

Thursday, September 28, 2017, 10:30  

IGP1 = 5.3e-5 Torr

TGHT = 220A, 2.18V

Vacuum increased slightly again with faster ramping rate.

Vacuum now dropping - stable.

Increasing ramping rate to 2.0A/min.

 Thursday, September 28, 2017, 11:07

IGP1 = 6.35e-5 Torr

TGHT = 302A, 3.09V

Vacuum increased slightly again with faster ramping rate.

Vacuum now dropping - stable.

Increasing ramping rate to 2.5A/min.

Thursday, September 28, 2017, 11:45

IGP1 = 1.67e-4 Torr

TGHT = 380A, 4.04V

Vacuum increased normally at slow rate for first half hour.

~30min into the 2.5A/min rate increase, vacuum started to climb much faster.

Paused auto-ramp for few min to allow vacuum to stabilize.

Vacuum decreasing - stable.

IGP1 = 1.4e-4 Torr

Decreasing ramping rate to 0.5A/min for next hour while unable to watch.

 Thursday, September 28, 2017, 13:20

IGP1 = 1.93e-4 Torr

TGHT = 425A, 4.58V

Vacuum stable.

Changing vacuum limits and ramping rate.

Increasing ramping rate 1.0A/min.

Vacuum limit stop at 3.0e-4 Torr, backing off at 6.0e-4 Torr.

 Thursday, September 28, 2017, 14:06

IGP1 = 3.1e-4 Torr

TGHT = 456A, 4.93V

Vacuum stable.

Changing vacuum limits and ramping rate.

Changing ramping rate to 0.5A/ 30sec.

Vacuum limit stop at 4.0e-4 Torr, backing off at 7.0e-4 Torr.

 Thursday, September 28, 2017, 14:44

IGP1 = 4.0e-4 Torr

TGHT = 468A, 5.07V

Vacuum stable.

Changing vacuum limits.

Vacuum limit stop at 5.0e-4 Torr, backing off at 8.0e-4 Torr.

 Thursday, September 28, 2017, 15:49

TP thermocouple = 28.1C

IGP1 = 5.0e-4 Torr

TGHT = 485A, 5.25V

Vacuum stable.

Changing ramping rate for overnight heating.

Decreasing ramping rate to 0.5A/min.

 Friday, September 29, 2017, 09:11

TP thermocouple = 26.1C

IGP1 = 5.0e-6 Torr

TGHT = 520A, 5.60V

Vacuum stable.

Carbonization process complete!

Evap1 has remained at max setpoints for ~13hrs

Initiating auto-cool at 1.0A/min

 Tuesday, October 03, 2017, 10:09

Vented in Ar and transferred from evap1 to glove box yesterday.

 Tuesday, October 10, 2017, 14:11

UO2/C green was prepared Oct 4th, 2017

The cast peeled off the glass nicely Oct 6th, 2017

Initial UO2 powder used = 50.26g (Inventory R-01032A, UO2 + bottle = 676.34g before use)

Graphite powder used = 10.12g

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 61.30g 

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 [reused] and installed in evap1 this morning.

Chamber currently pumping down.

Target boat will be ramped up to 520A.

Vacuum limit stop at 3.0e-4 Torr, backing off at 6.0e-4 Torr.

 Wednesday, October 11, 2017, 09:06

IGP1 = 1.74e-6 Torr

Tapped up to 35A, 0.29V

Waited ~70min, vacuum stable.

IGP1 = 6.9e-6 Torr

Initiating auto-ramp at 0.2A/min

 Wednesday, October 11, 2017, 13:06

IGP1 = 3.1e-4 Torr

TGHT = 61A, 0.49V

Vacuum stable.

Changing vacuum limits.

Vacuum limit stop at 5.0e-4 Torr, backing off at 8.0e-4 Torr.

 Thursday, October 12, 2017, 08:31

IGP1 = 1.06e-5 Torr

TGHT = 275A, 2.55V

Vacuum stable.

Increasing ramping rate to 0.5A/min.

 Thursday, October 12, 2017, 09:03

IGP1 = 1.47e-5 Torr

TGHT = 290A, 2.70V

Vacuum stable.

Increasing ramping rate to 1.0A/ 30sec.

 Friday, October 13, 2017, 08:30

IGP1 = 5.8e-6 Torr

TGHT = 520A, 4.98V

Vacuum stable.

Carbonization process complete!

Evap1 has remained at max setpoints for ~17hrs

Initiating auto-cool at 1.0A/min

 Tuesday, October 17, 2017, 15:01

TGHT had sat at 0A for at least 24hrs.

At ~3:30-4am this morning everything tripped off. The only thing remained on was the roughing pump.

Power bump? Did someone accidentally turn it off? Will follow up on this...

Vacuum was sitting at ~3.5e-2Torr when I noticed today.

Most vacuum had been lost, but there was still a small vacuum - materials should be okay.

Purged and vented in Ar.

Transferred materials to glove box.

 Tuesday, November 14, 2017, 16:12

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 = 5.43g

Graphite tube 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.

 Wednesday, November 15, 2017, 08:53

IGP1 = 1.6e-6 Torr

Tapping up manually...

 Wednesday, November 15, 2017, 11:59

IGP1 = 5.0e-5 Torr

Tapped up entire process manually to 520A in 3hrs!!!

TGHT = 520A, 4.98V

Vacuum coming down nicely indicating carbonization process complete 

Will remain at max setpoint for 4hrs to ensure full carbonization before cooling down later this afternoon.

 Wednesday, November 15, 2017, 15:16

IG1 = 8.65e-6 Torr

TGHT = 520A, 4.92V

Carbonization complete.

Initiating auto-cool at 2.0A/min

 Monday, November 20, 2017, 13:28

Evap1 was vented in argon and sample removed/ transfered to glove box on friday.

Discs look good, slightly lighter grayer compared to production UCx discs after second cast but before final carbonization.

Material seems to adhere to graphite backing foil well, no flakes coming off from just moving discs around.

Weight of 35 carbonized discs = 4.387g

Weight loss = 5.43g - 4.387g = 1.043g

 Thursday, November 23, 2017, 13:34

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 = 5.75 g

Graphite container = 5.38 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.

 Friday, November 24, 2017, 12:48

IGP1=1.3e-6 Torr

TGHT = 520A, 4.98V 

Vacuum went down indicating carbonization.

Will remain at max setpoint for the weekend.

 Monday, November 27, 2017, 09:58

IG1 = 2.6e-6 Torr

TGHT = 520A, 5.1V

Carbonization complete in 3 hrs and 30 min.

Initiating auto-cool at 2.0A/min

 Wednesday, November 27, 2017, 13:10

 IEVAP was vented in argon and sample removed/transferred to glove box on Friday.

 Wednesday, January 10, 2018, 14:44

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 = 5.75 g

Graphite container = 5.38 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.

Marla Cervantes wrote:

Wednesday, January 10, 2018, 14:44 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 = 5.75 g Graphite container = 5.38 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.

 Friday, January 12, 2018, 07:43

IGP1 = 0.0266 Torr

TGHT = 520A, 5.92V

Voltage has been climbing consistently since it has reached it's max setpoint, gone up ~0.8V in ~18hrs

Carbonization complete.

Initiating auto-cool at 2.0A/min

Will update later with more information on this process.

 Friday, January 12, 2018, 09:47

Turned the turbo pump back on, to ensure safe cooling.

 Monday, January 15, 2018, 13:37

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

35 x UO2/C circles = 5.58 g

Graphite container = 5.22 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.

Tuesday, January 16, 2018, 13:41 

Initial IGP1 = 9x10e-7 Torr

Tapped up entire process manually to 520A in 1.5 hrs

TGHT = 525 A, 5.64 V

Vacuum coming down nicely indicating carbonization process complete 

Will remain at max setpoint overnight to ensure full carbonization before cooling down.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018, 10:30

Initiating auto-cool at 2.0A/min 

Wednesday, January 17, 2018, 4:30

Laura Lambert wrote:

Marla Cervantes wrote:  Wednesday, January 10, 2018, 14:44 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 = 5.75 g Graphite container = 5.38 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.  Friday, January 12, 2018, 07:43 IGP1 = 0.0266 Torr TGHT = 520A, 5.92V Voltage has been climbing consistently since it has reached it's max setpoint, gone up ~0.8V in ~18hrs Carbonization complete. Initiating auto-cool at 2.0A/min Will update later with more information on this process.  Friday, January 12, 2018, 09:47 Turned the turbo pump back on, to ensure safe cooling.

 Monday, January 15, 2018, 10:00

Vented with Argon and removed from evap1

NB: The initial mass of the UO2/C discs was 5.9 g

       The final mass of the UCx discs was 4.614 g

 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.

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:

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, 9:00 A power outage on Sunday tripped off EVAP1.

 Monday, January 22, 2018, 10:00

Chamber pumping down.

Water flow turned on.

Monday, January 22, 2018, 13:30

IGP1 = 8e-6 Torr

Tapped up entire process manually to 520A in 45 min

TGHT = 520 A, 6.08 V 

Vacuum coming down indicating carbonization process complete

Will remain at max setpoint overnight.

Marla Cervantes wrote:

Marla Cervantes wrote: 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, 9:00 A power outage on Sunday tripped off EVAP1.  Monday, January 22, 2018, 10:00 Chamber pumping down. Water flow turned on. Monday, January 22, 2018, 13:30 IGP1 = 8e-6 Torr Tapped up entire process manually to 520A in 45 min TGHT = 520 A, 6.08 V  Vacuum coming down indicating carbonization process complete Will remain at max setpoint overnight.

 Tuesday, January 23, 2018, 9:30

Initiating auto-cool at 2 A/min

 Tuesday, January 23, 2018, 16:00

 EVAP1 was not vented, Ar tank has low level, Ar tank will be replaced.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018, 11:37

 EVAP1 was vented very carefully using the Ar remaining in the Ar tank.

Ar tank remaining gas: ~8 psi.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018, 15:42 

UCx was transferred to glove box.

Final mass 4.501 g

 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.

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.

Marla Cervantes wrote:

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.

 Monday, January 29, 2018, 14:22

Water flow turned on.

Chamber set to pumping down. 

Marla Cervantes wrote:

Marla Cervantes wrote: 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.  Monday, January 29, 2018, 14:22 Water flow turned on. Chamber set to pumping down.

 Tuesday, January 30, 2018, 16:06

Initial IGP1 = 9.4x10e-7 Torr

Tapped up entire process manually to 520A in 32 min

TGHT = 520 A, 5.45 V

Vacuum coming down indicating carbonization process complete 

Will remain at max setpoint for 4 hrs to ensure full carbonization before cooling down.

 Tuesday, January 30, 2018, 18:40

 Initiating auto-cool at 2.0 A/min 

 Wednesday, January 31, 2018, 14:00

 Thursday, February 01, 2018, 12:59

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

28 discs corresponded to cats#1 and 7 discs to cast#2

35 x UO2/C circles = 3.42 g

Graphite container = 6.96 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 02, 2018, 13:18

Initial IGP1 = 4.82x10e-7 Torr

Tapped up entire process manually to 520A in 30 min

TGHT = 520 A, 5.63 V

Vacuum coming down nicely indicating carbonization process complete 

Will remain at max setpoint for 4 hrs to ensure full carbonization before cooling down.

 Friday, February 02, 2018, 16:57

Initiating auto-cool at 2.0 A/min 

Monday, February 05, 2018, 17:23 

Monday, February 05, 2018, 17:24

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

35 x UO2/C circles = 4.59 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.

 Tuesday, February 06, 2018, 10:59

Initial IGP1 = 4.79e-7 Torr

Tapped up entire process manually to 520A in 30 min

TGHT = 520 A, 5.32 V

Vacuum coming down indicating carbonization process complete.  

Will remain at max setpoint for 4 hrs to ensure full carbonization before cooling down.

 Tuesday, February 06, 2018, 14:44

Initiating auto-cool at 2.0 A/min 

 Thursday, February 08, 2018, 10:43

Vented with Ar and removed from 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 

Marla Cervantes wrote:

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

 Friday, February 09, 2018, 16:49

The power supply was tested and its working normally.

Apparently a glitch on EPICS caused the tripped off.

Marla Cervantes wrote:

Marla Cervantes wrote:  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     Friday, February 09, 2018, 16:49 The power supply was tested and its working normally. Apparently a glitch on EPICS caused the tripped off.

 Friday, February 09, 2018, 17:00

Target remained in EVAP1 for 2 hours at 0 A to ensure cooling.

EVAP1 was vented with Ar and the target was removed from EVAP1.

Graphite container seems unbroken.

Ta boat looks unbroken.

 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.

Marla Cervantes wrote:

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.

 Friday, March 02, 2018, 16:31

A test was performed in EVAP1 (see log ID 194):

- A Ta boat without Ta shielding was submitted to 520 A and it remained at that current point overnight.

-No trip off

Marla Cervantes wrote:

Marla Cervantes wrote:  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.  Friday, March 02, 2018, 16:31 A test was performed in EVAP1 (see log ID 194): - A Ta boat without Ta shielding was submitted to 520 A and it remained at that current point overnight. -No trip off

 Monday, March 12, 2018, 9:13

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

35 x UO2/C circles = 5.21 g

Graphite container = 6.85 g

Graphite tube is placed inside a target boat.

Boat previously coated with TaC and sintered.

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

Chamber currently pumping down.

 Monday, March 12, 2018, 13:57

Initial IGP1 = 4.79e-7 Torr

Tapped up entire process manually to 520A in 30 min

TGHT = 520 A, 5.32 V

Vacuum coming down indicating carbonization process complete.  

Will remain at max setpoint for 1 hrs to ensure full carbonization before cooling down.

 Monday, March 12, 2018, 14:57 

Cooling down rate used 3 A/10s.

 Tuesday, March 13, 2018, 18:22

Vented with Ar and removed from EVAP1

 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.

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.

Laura Lambert wrote:

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.

 Monday, April 09, 2018, 16:52

Turns out I wasn't on a list of ppl who need to know about this test when I should be

They also didn't reset the alarms locally outside the hot lab so nuc vent remained not ok until this was reset.

IGP1 reached 0.027 Torr before nuc vent was ok and pumps were able to be turned back on 

Pumps back on IGP1 = 1.86e-5 Torr and still pumping down

Laura Lambert wrote:

Laura Lambert wrote: 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.    Monday, April 09, 2018, 16:52 Turns out I wasn't on a list of ppl who need to know about this test when I should be They also didn't reset the alarms locally outside the hot lab so nuc vent remained not ok until this was reset. IGP1 reached 0.027 Torr before nuc vent was ok and pumps were able to be turned back on  Pumps back on IGP1 = 1.86e-5 Torr and still pumping down

 Tuesday, April 10, 2018, 14:46

Glove box fixed!

Vented in Argon and transferred to glove box.

Graphite insert has moved to within 1mm of the end of the left side of the boat.

This could have happened during removal from evap1, hard to tell.

Either way, clearly a looser fit of the graphite insert in the boat indicating possible shrinkage of graphite insert.

 Tuesday, April 17, 2018, 10:30

UO2/C green was prepared April 12th, 2018

The cast peeled off the glass nicely April 13th, 2018

Initial UO2 powder used = 50.56g (Inventory R-01032A, UO2 + bottle = 626.28g before use)

Graphite powder used = 10.38g

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 61.40g 

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 [1 reused, 2 new] and installed in evap1 yesterday.

Chamber pumped down overnight.

IGP1 = 8.4e-7 Torr

Tapped up to 35A, 0.46V

Waited ~135min, vacuum stable.

IGP1 = 1.6e-5 Torr

Initiating auto-ramp at 0.2A/min

Target boat will be ramped up to 520A.

Vacuum limit stop at 3.0e-4 Torr, backing off at 6.0e-4 Torr.

 Wednesday, April 18, 2018, 09:21

IGP1 = 9.6e-6 Torr

TGHT = 245A, 2.10V

Vacuum stable, increasing ramping rate to 0.5A/min.

 Thursday, April 19, 2018, 08:35

IGP1 = 3.21e-6 Torr

Materials have finished carbonizing.

TGHT = 520A, 4.97V

Evap1 has remained at max setpoints for ~6.5hrs

Initiating auto-cool at 1.0A/min

 Thursday, May 10, 2018, 10:33

Materials were vented in Ar and transferred to glove box on April 20th

 Friday, May 18, 2018, 18:32

35 circles of 14 mm diameter of cast #3 were packed into a graphite sample container.

40 x UO2/C circles = 4.58 g

Graphite container mass = 6.95 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.

Saturday, May 19, 2018, 07:30 

Initial IGP1 = 6.27e-7 Torr

 Tapped to 80A at 10A/10s with 20 s waiting period each 10 A

 Waited 4 min for vacuum to stabilize.

 Tapped to 100 A at 10A/10s with 20 s waiting period each 10 A

 Waited 12 min for vacuum

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

Pressure dropping indicates carbonization complete.

Current tripped off, vacuum was ok, water cooling was ok.

Saturday, May 19, 2018, 10:00 

Current was returned to 520 A manually

Tapped to 100 A at 10A/10s with 20 s waiting period each 10 A 

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

The discs will stay at max current for 4 hrs

 Saturday, May 19, 2018, 18:31

Vented with Argon and removed form evaporator 1

Friday, May 25, 2018, 15:34 

D-shaped discs were cut from cast 3

A 13mm punch was used to punch out discs from pre-cut strips using the old method.

The target consists of 205 discs with 10 cm in length - all single discs, no packs.

205 x UO₂/C discs = 22.04 g

Graphite insert with caps 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 is pumping down.

 Saturday, May 26, 2018, 10:39

Current tapped manually to 80 A at 1A/s in 10 A blocks with a waiting period of 20 s between each increment

18 min waiting for pressure stabilization

Current tapped to 100 A in same rate

Saturday, May 26, 2018, 10:51 

After 9 min current was reduced to 60 A to reduce pressure.

Cuerrent was tapped to 100 A

After 10 min the rate was increased to 25 A each 20 s until 450 A

The rate was changed to 10 A each 2 min until 500 A

Last 20 A were tapped after 1 min 

Saturday, May 26, 2018, 15:41 

After 4hrs the current was reduced in a rate of 10 A /min

Monday, May 28, 2018, 12:45 

EVAPI was vented with Ar and UCx was transferred to glove box.

 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 

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.

Marla Cervantes wrote:

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.

 Wednesday, June 13, 2018, 12:23

The problem was reported to controls group

After 1 hour at 0 A, the autoramp was set to 4 A/min up to 520 A

The current and voltage are increasing accordingly.

The material will stay 4 hours at max point.

Thursday, June 14, 2018, 09:14 

After 4 hours the auto ramp was set to -1A/min to 0 A

Thursday, June 14, 2018, 14:47 

The IEVAP  was vented with Ar and the UCx was trasnferred to the glove box.

 Friday, June 15, 2018, 16:39

35 circles of 14 mm diameter of cast #3 were packed into a graphite sample container.

35 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.

 Saturday, June 16, 2018, 15:00

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 14 min for vacuum to stabilize

Tapped to 100 A at 10A/10s with 20 s waiting period each 10 A

Tapped to 520 A at 20A/20s with 20 s waiting period each 20 A

 Tuesday, June 19, 2018, 15:51 

 The material will be in the evap for a week

Wednesday, June 27, 2018, 09:53 

 The IEVAP  was vented with Ar and the UCx was trasnferred to the glove box.

Wednesday, July 11, 2018, 17:41

Cast prepared by Marla (see note in Hotlab)

Target boat contained about 50g UO2 powder. 

TGHT will be ramped up to 520A.

Vacuum limit stop at 3.0 e-4 Torr, backing off at 6.0e-4 Torr. 

Chamber is currently being pumped down

 Thursday, July 12, 2018, 10:45

Pressure at 8.9e-7 Torr. 

Initiate auto ramping TGHT at 0.1A/min to reach 580A (will monitor vacuum to ensure complete carbonization)

 Wednesday, July 18, 2018, 10:23

TGTH at 369A/3.7V, carbonization in progress. 

Pressure limited was set to 5.0e-5 Torr; change limit to 6e-4 Torr (as indicated above)

Increase ramping rate to 0.2A/min.

 Thursday, July 19, 2018, 12:12

Completion of the U-carbonization has been reached. 

Cooling down TGHT at 2A/min

Chamber will be vented in Ar and materials will be transferred to Ar glovebox

Saturday, September 29, 2018, 18:52

Cast is from Jar#1.  (see process sheet for details)

Target boat contains about 50g UO2 powder. 

TGHT will be ramped up to 520A; fast tapping can be done, see elog#211, or set to autoramping with higher vacuum limit (1setup UCx process with pressure up to 60mTorr, see elog #210)

Chamber is currently being pumped down

 Saturday, September 29, 2018, 21:21

Pressure at 2.6e-5 Torr.

Tapping up TGHT in process

 Saturday, September 29, 2018, 21:32

Tapped to 80A/0.65V.  Wait for vacuum to stabilize.

 Saturday, September 29, 2018, 21:42

Pressure stabilized at 2.5mTorr.

Tapping up to 90A/0.701V

Saturday, September 29, 2018, 21:44

Pressure stabilized at 2.7m Torr; tapping up to 100A/0.77V

Saturday, September 29, 2018, 23:57

TGHT at 520A/4394V (see attachment for striptool capture).  Pressure at 163mTorr and coming down.

 Sunday, September 30, 2018, 12:56

At around midnight, pressure was coming down from 160 mTorr to 21 mTorr before TGHT tripped off (see attachment#2).

I suspect the TP was working too hard causing it to trip.

Pressure at 2.1e-6 Torr. 

Using auto-ramping.  Set good vac at 2.0e-4 Torr, bad vac at 5.0e-4 Torr.  Ramping TGHT at 2A/min to reah 520A.

 Sunday, September 30, 2018, 17:11

Pressure limiting at 0.2 mTorr as TGHT slowly ramping up, currently at 442A;  (see attachment#3).

 Monday, October 01, 2018, 21:15

TGHT was held at 520A for at least a day.  Vac at 3.7e-6 Torr.  Ramping down TGHT at 2A/min.

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

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.

Marla Cervantes wrote:

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.

 Thursday, October 25, 2018, 09:07

Carbothermal reduction completed

IGP1 =  1.22e-5 Torr

Maximum power supply's temperature 33.3 C

Ramping current down at 2 A/min.

Monday, October 29, 2018, 12:30

Transferring  UCx to glove box

Mass = 48.384 g

 Thursday, November 22, 2018, 17:25

D-shaped discs were cut from cast #26

A 13mm punch was used to punch out discs from pre-cut strips

The target consists of 236 discs of 10 cm in length - all single discs, no packs.

236 x UO₂/C discs = 22.66 g

Graphite insert with caps = 11.74 g

The loaded inser is placed on target boat.

Boat previously coated with TaC and sintered.

Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3-layers (2 new one used) of heat shield and installed in evap1.

Chamber is pumping down.

 Friday, November 23, 2018, 08:53

Vacuum limits:

Good vacuum 1e-1 Torr

Bad vacuum 5e-1 Torr

IGP1 = 4.12 e-6 Torr

Current tapped manually to 100 A at 1A/s in 10 A blocks with a waiting period of 20 s between each increment.

Initial IGP1 = 5.31 e-6 Torr

Max  IGP1 = 0.066 Torr

Waited 20 min for pressure to rise and drop.

The current tripped off, when the 0.013 torr  (Fig. Nov23-CurrentTrip1).

Increasing the current to 100 A again.

IGP1 = 7.00e-5 Torr

Rate was increased to 25 A each 20 s until 200 A

The pressure increased and IV1 opened, current was dropped to 100 A

Pressure after 5 min 4e-4 Torr

Rate was increased again to 25 A each 20 s until 200 A

The current was reduced to 110 A because the pressure was rising to fast

Rate was increased again to 25 A each 20 s until 300 A

The automatic ramp was set to 20 A/ min from 0 to 300 A

The automatic ramp was changed to 10A/2min to 450 A

IGP1 = 2.15e-5 Torr

After 1.5 hour, the automatic ramp was set to 20 A/ min from 450 to 500 A

After 4hrs, the automatic ramp was set to -2 A/ min from 500 to 0 A

Marla Cervantes wrote:

Thursday, November 22, 2018, 17:25 D-shaped discs were cut from cast #26 A 13mm punch was used to punch out discs from pre-cut strips The target consists of 236 discs of 10 cm in length - all single discs, no packs. 236 x UO2/C discs = 22.66 g Graphite insert with caps = 11.74 g The loaded inser is placed on target boat. Boat previously coated with TaC and sintered. Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3-layers (2 new one used) of heat shield and installed in evap1. Chamber is pumping down.  Friday, November 23, 2018, 08:53 Vacuum limits: Good vacuum 1e-1 Torr Bad vacuum 5e-1 Torr IGP1 = 4.12 e-6 Torr Current tapped manually to 100 A at 1A/s in 10 A blocks with a waiting period of 20 s between each increment.   Initial IGP1 = 5.31 e-6 Torr Max  IGP1 = 0.066 Torr Waited 20 min for pressure to rise and drop. The current tripped off, when the 0.013 torr. Increasing the current to 100 A again. IGP1 = 7.00e-5 Torr Rate was increased to 25 A each 20 s until 200 A The pressure increased and IV1 opened, current was dropped to 100 A Pressure after 5 min 4e-4 Torr Rate was increased again to 25 A each 20 s until 200 A The current was reduced to 110 A because the pressure was rising to fast Rate was increased again to 25 A each 20 s until 300 A Pressure was ok and current tripeed off The automatic ramp was set to 20 A/ min from 0 to 300 A The automatic ramp was changed to 10A/2min to 450 A IGP1 = 2.15e-5 Torr After 1.5 hour, the automatic ramp was set to 20 A/ min from 450 to 500 A After 4hrs, the automatic ramp was set to -2 A/ min from 500 to 0 A

 Monday, November 26, 2018, 17:00

 The UCx was transferred to the glove box and loaded in  tantalum container  42218-3.

Friday, June 14, 2019, 17:10

A 14 mm die was used to cut out discs from strips

The target consists of 236 discs of 10 cm in length - all single discs, no packs.

231 x UO₂/C discs = 25.76 g

12 UO₂ discs for measurements = 1.49 g

Graphite insert without caps= 11.59 g

The loaded insert is placed on target boat.

Boat previously coated with TaC and sintered.

Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3-layers (2 new one used) of heat shield and installed in evap1.

Chamber is pumping down.

Monday, June 17, 2019, 08:56 

Pressure limits:

Good vacuum 1e-1 Torr

Bad vacuum 5e-1 Torr

IGP1 = 6.600777e-7 Torr

Current tapped manually to 80 A at 1A/s in 10 A blocks with a waiting period of 20 s between each increment.

Initial IGP1 = 5.31 e-6 Torr

Monday, June 17, 2019, 10:03

After 42 minutes the pressure started dropping and the current rate was changed to 1A/s with for 20 second intervals followed by 20 second wait while monitoring pressure.

Monday, June 17, 2019, 14:41

Current was tapped to 100A but the pressure increased too rapidly; therefore, the current was tapped down to 75A.

After pressure stabilized, the current was tapped up to 100 A @1A/s in 20A segments and 20 second pauses.

Continued tapping up at the above rate until 160A, at which point the pressure shot up and tripped the system.

The pressure stabilized within 18 minutes.

The wait interval on the heater ramps control was changed to 1s

The current increment was set to 0.2A with a final value of 200A

At 170A the autoramp was stopped and the current manually tapped down to 160A to prevent rapid pressure buildup.

5 minutes later the pressure had stabilized and autramp was restarted.

At 160A we changed the waiting interval to 10s and the current increment to 2A.

At 200A we stopped autoramp and manually tapped at 1A/s in 20A segments with 10s pauses. 

At 360A, we changed the current increment to 1A while keeping the wait interval at 10s.

At 440A the autoramp was stopped to change the current increment to 0.5A while the waiting interval was kept at 10s.

The autoramp final current was set to 500A.

At 495A the autoramp was stopped because the pressure was dropping significantly.

The Target was left for 3 hours at 495A.

Pre-cooling conditions:

TGHT = 494A, 4.8V

IGP1 = 6.7e-6 Torr

Cooling rate = -2A/min

Friday, June 26, 2019, 17:10

A 13 mm die was used to cut out discs from strips

The target consists of 264 discs of 10 cm in length - all single discs, no packs.

231 x UO₂/C discs = 25.76 g

10 UO₂ discs for measurements = 1.49 g

Graphite insert without caps= 17.44 g

The loaded insert is placed on target boat.

Boat previously coated with TaC and sintered.

Ta-target boat is wrapped with 3-layers (3 used) of heat shield and installed in evap1.

Chamber is pumping down. 

Tuesday, July 30, 2019, 09:45

Pressure limits:

Good vacuum 1e-1 Torr

Bad vacuum 5e-1 Torr

Initial vacuum IGP1 = 5.94e-7 Torr

Current tapped manually to 85 A at 1A/s in 5 A blocks with a waiting period of 25 s between each increment. 

Tuesday, July 30, 2019, 10:53

After 30 min, the pressure started stabilizing around 0.0013 g

The current rate was changed to 1 A/2min to 88 A

The current rate was changed to 1 A/min to 90 A

The current rate was changed to 1 A/30s to 100 A

The final pressure obtained was 0.0011 Torr

The current rate was changed to 2 A each 10 s to 170 A

The final pressure obtained was 0.04 Torr

The current rate was changed to 1 A each 10 s to 180 A

The final pressure obtained was 0.008 Torr

The final pressure was 0.001 Torr

The current was tapped manually to 400 A in intervals of 10 A at 1 A/s each 10 s

The autoramp was set to 1 A each 10 s to 450 A

Then the current was increased manually at 1 a each 20 s until 475 A

The current was increased in this manner until 480 A to make sure the pressure was not rising 

Tuesday, July 30, 2019, 12:00

After the pressure stabilized and started reducing the current was reduced to 480 A

After 3 hours at 475 A the autoramp was set to -2A/min

 Wednesday, October 02, 2019, 11:09

A graphite cartridge loaded with UO2/C foils, wrapped with three Ta heat shields was placed in the EVAP1.

The EVAP1 is currently pumping down.

 Thursday, October 03, 2019, 09:40

Pressure limits:

Good vacuum 1e-1 Torr

Bad vacuum 5e-1 Torr

Initial vacuum IGP1 = 9.54e-7 Torr

Current tapped manually to 80 A at 1A/s in 5 A blocks with a waiting period of 25 s between each increment. 

Thursday, October 03, 2019, 10:36

The pressure started decreasing after 45 min and the auto ramp was set to 1 A each 30 s to 86 A 

The autoramp was set to 2 A each 10 s to 180 A

The autoramp was set to 3.2 A each 10 s to 300 A

The autoramp was re start at 3.2 A each 10 s to 400 A 

The autoramp was set to 1 A each 10 s to 430 A 

The autoramp was set to 2 A each 10 s to 450 A 

The autoramp was set to 2 A each 10 s to 480 A 

Autoramp at 2 A per min to 500 A

Manually tapped to 545 A.

After 48 hrs at maximum temperature, the target was cooled done at -2 A/min 

Monday, October 28, 2019, 10:29

A loaded graphite cartridge was set in a tantalum boated and wrapped with 3 tantalum sheets

The set up was installed in the EVAP1 and pumped dwon during the weekend.

IGP1 = 1.10 e-6 Torr

Monday, October 28, 2019, 10:31

Good vacuum = 1e-1 Torr

Bad vaccum = 5e-1 Torr

The current ramp is 1 A each 10 s from 0 A to 100 A

Monday, October 28, 2019, 11:13 

After 18 min the pressure started dropped.

Monday, October 28, 2019, 11:22 

When the pressure reduced to 5e-4 Torr the current ramp was changed to 3.3 A each 10 s to 480 A, the vacuum limits stayed the same.

Monday, October 28, 2019, 11:45

The limit was set to 500 A with same ramp

Monday, October 28, 2019, 11:48 

The ramp was changed to 1A/10s to 550 A

 Monday, October 28, 2019, 11:55

At 520 A the pressure reach 1e-1 Torr and the autoramp stopped

Monday, October 28, 2019, 13:39

the current was increased manually at aprox. 1A/30 s 

The current dropped suddenly even though the pressure was under the limits and the ramping was in the limits.

Autoramp was set to 3 A/ 10 s from to to 500 A

Then it was changed to 1 A  /30s from 500 to 506 A

Finally it was changed to 1 A/ 10 s from 506 to 520 A

Manually tapped to 530 A

Monday, October 28, 2019, 15:40

At 13:45 the current reached 530 A. 

Marla Cervantes wrote:

Monday, October 28, 2019, 10:29 A loaded graphite cartridge was set in a tantalum boated and wrapped with 3 tantalum sheets The set up was installed in the EVAP1 and pumped dwon during the weekend. IGP1 = 1.10 e-6 Torr Monday, October 28, 2019, 10:31 Good vacuum = 1e-1 Torr Bad vaccum = 5e-1 Torr The current ramp is 1 A each 10 s from 0 A to 100 A Monday, October 28, 2019, 11:13  After 18 min the pressure started dropped. Monday, October 28, 2019, 11:22  When the pressure reduced to 5e-4 Torr the current ramp was changed to 3.3 A each 10 s to 480 A, the vacuum limits stayed the same. Monday, October 28, 2019, 11:45 The limit was set to 500 A with same ramp Monday, October 28, 2019, 11:48  The ramp was changed to 1A/10s to 550 A  Monday, October 28, 2019, 11:55 At 520 A the pressure reach 1e-1 Torr and the autoramp stopped Monday, October 28, 2019, 13:39 the current was increased manually at aprox. 1A/30 s  The current dropped suddenly even though the pressure was under the limits and the ramping was in the limits. Autoramp was set to 3 A/ 10 s from to to 500 A Then it was changed to 1 A  /30s from 500 to 506 A Finally it was changed to 1 A/ 10 s from 506 to 520 A Manually tapped to 530 A Monday, October 28, 2019, 15:40 At 13:45 the current reached 530 A.

The final pressure was IGP1 = 3.3e-6 Torr 

After 18 hrs at maximum temperature the autoramp was set to -2 A/min to 0 A.

Wednesday, January 29 2020, 05:55  

A P2N container  with heat shields, and with a UO2/C loaded graphite container was installed in the EVAP1

Chamber is currently being evacuated.

Thursday, January 30, 2020, 08:56

Pressure limits:

Good vacuum 1e-1 Torr

Bad vacuum 5e-1 Torr

Initial pressure: 

IGP1=1.52e-6Torr

Current ramp set to 1A/min to 10 A, voltage is stable.

Current ramp increased to 1A/10s to 100 A. The pressure started raising around 80 A.

Current was kept 5min at at 100 A, voltage was stable

Thursday, January 30, 2020, 09:32 

Current ramp set to 1A/20s to 150 A (same pressure limits)

Pressure keep increasing during heating

Thursday, January 30, 2020, 09:53 

Current was kept at 150 min during 5 min, the voltage is stable, pressure started to stabilize:

IGP1 = 0.027 Torr

TGHT = 0.418 V

Ramp set to 1A/min to 200 A.

Thursday, January 30, 2020, 10:02

Pressure decreasing:

TGHT= 153 A 

Marla Cervantes wrote:

Wednesday, January 29 2020, 05:55   A P2N container  with heat shields, and with a UO2/C loaded graphite container was installed in the EVAP1 Chamber is currently being evacuated. Thursday, January 30, 2020, 08:56 Pressure limits: Good vacuum 1e-1 Torr Bad vacuum 5e-1 Torr Initial pressure:  IGP1=1.52e-6Torr Current ramp set to 1A/min to 10 A, voltage is stable. Current ramp increased to 1A/10s to 100 A. The pressure started raising around 80 A. Current was kept 5min at at 100 A, voltage was stable Thursday, January 30, 2020, 09:32  Current ramp set to 1A/20s to 150 A (same pressure limits) Pressure keep increasing during heating Thursday, January 30, 2020, 09:53  Current was kept at 150 min during 5 min, the voltage is stable, pressure started to stabilize: IGP1 = 0.027 Torr TGHT = 0.418 V Ramp set to 1A/min to 200 A. Thursday, January 30, 2020, 10:02 Pressure decreasing: TGHT= 153 A

 Thursday, January 30, 2020, 10:15

At 155 A while pressure decreasing, the power supply tripped off,

Controls has been notified, waiting for instructions.

Marla Cervantes wrote:

Marla Cervantes wrote: Wednesday, January 29 2020, 05:55   A P2N container  with heat shields, and with a UO2/C loaded graphite container was installed in the EVAP1 Chamber is currently being evacuated. Thursday, January 30, 2020, 08:56 Pressure limits: Good vacuum 1e-1 Torr Bad vacuum 5e-1 Torr Initial pressure:  IGP1=1.52e-6Torr Current ramp set to 1A/min to 10 A, voltage is stable. Current ramp increased to 1A/10s to 100 A. The pressure started raising around 80 A. Current was kept 5min at at 100 A, voltage was stable Thursday, January 30, 2020, 09:32  Current ramp set to 1A/20s to 150 A (same pressure limits) Pressure keep increasing during heating Thursday, January 30, 2020, 09:53  Current was kept at 150 min during 5 min, the voltage is stable, pressure started to stabilize: IGP1 = 0.027 Torr TGHT = 0.418 V Ramp set to 1A/min to 200 A. Thursday, January 30, 2020, 10:02 Pressure decreasing: TGHT= 153 A   Thursday, January 30, 2020, 10:15 At 155 A while pressure decreasing, the power supply tripped off, Controls has been notified, waiting for instructions.

 Thursday, January 30, 2020, 11:51

Controls respond "It looks like the power supplies were tripped by either the pirani gauge (IEVAP:IGP1) or the Nuclear vent or by both. But, it did not look like that the interlock tree latched the bad condition when the power supplies tripped. I modified the PLC to properly latch the cause of the trip." and gave green light to restart the carbothermal reduction.

Marla Cervantes wrote:

Marla Cervantes wrote: Marla Cervantes wrote: Wednesday, January 29 2020, 05:55   A P2N container  with heat shields, and with a UO2/C loaded graphite container was installed in the EVAP1 Chamber is currently being evacuated. Thursday, January 30, 2020, 08:56 Pressure limits: Good vacuum 1e-1 Torr Bad vacuum 5e-1 Torr Initial pressure:  IGP1=1.52e-6Torr Current ramp set to 1A/min to 10 A, voltage is stable. Current ramp increased to 1A/10s to 100 A. The pressure started raising around 80 A. Current was kept 5min at at 100 A, voltage was stable Thursday, January 30, 2020, 09:32  Current ramp set to 1A/20s to 150 A (same pressure limits) Pressure keep increasing during heating Thursday, January 30, 2020, 09:53  Current was kept at 150 min during 5 min, the voltage is stable, pressure started to stabilize: IGP1 = 0.027 Torr TGHT = 0.418 V Ramp set to 1A/min to 200 A. Thursday, January 30, 2020, 10:02 Pressure decreasing: TGHT= 153 A   Thursday, January 30, 2020, 10:15 At 155 A while pressure decreasing, the power supply tripped off, Controls has been notified, waiting for instructions.    Thursday, January 30, 2020, 11:51 Controls respond "It looks like the power supplies were tripped by either the pirani gauge (IEVAP:IGP1) or the Nuclear vent or by both. But, it did not look like that the interlock tree latched the bad condition when the power supplies tripped. I modified the PLC to properly latch the cause of the trip." and gave green light to restart the carbothermal reduction.

 Thursday, January 30, 2020, 13:09

IGP1=5.9e-6Torr

Ramp set to 1A/10s to 200 A

Pressure rising too fast at 200 A, current reduced manually to 190 A

Pressure start dropping and system tripped, notify to controls again, "The strip tool shows the vacuum level shoot down to 0 then shoot back up for a quick second but that is enough to tell the PLC that IGP is “bad”"

Thursday, January 30, 2020, 15:58 

Restarting process to try to trip the system on purpose 

Initial pressure IGP1 = 2.7e-6Torr

Ramp set to 1/A/10s to 200 A, 0.59 V

Ramp set to 2A/10s to 300 A

Max pressure during process IGP1 = 0.03 Torr

Voltage increased and stabilized (see voltage rising).

Ramp kept at 2A/10s to 400 A

Thursday, January 30, 2020, 16:48 

TGHT = 1.54 V, 399.744 A

IGP1 = 0.00016 Torr and going down

Ramp set to 2A/10s to 500 A

Thursday, January 30, 2020, 17:02 

TGHT= 1.9V, 499.2 A

IGP1 = 0.00014 Torr

Ramp set to 2A/10s to 600 A

Ramp set to 0.5 A/min to 700 A, ramp stopped at 680 A

Manually tapped to 697 A

Pressure dropping indicated that carbothermal reduction is done.

Unfortunately, the system did not trip. 

Contact Gelo for the  next run, such that he can monitor the system and we can spot the problem.

Marla Cervantes wrote:

Marla Cervantes wrote: Marla Cervantes wrote: Marla Cervantes wrote: Wednesday, January 29 2020, 05:55   A P2N container  with heat shields, and with a UO2/C loaded graphite container was installed in the EVAP1 Chamber is currently being evacuated. Thursday, January 30, 2020, 08:56 Pressure limits: Good vacuum 1e-1 Torr Bad vacuum 5e-1 Torr Initial pressure:  IGP1=1.52e-6Torr Current ramp set to 1A/min to 10 A, voltage is stable. Current ramp increased to 1A/10s to 100 A. The pressure started raising around 80 A. Current was kept 5min at at 100 A, voltage was stable Thursday, January 30, 2020, 09:32  Current ramp set to 1A/20s to 150 A (same pressure limits) Pressure keep increasing during heating Thursday, January 30, 2020, 09:53  Current was kept at 150 min during 5 min, the voltage is stable, pressure started to stabilize: IGP1 = 0.027 Torr TGHT = 0.418 V Ramp set to 1A/min to 200 A. Thursday, January 30, 2020, 10:02 Pressure decreasing: TGHT= 153 A   Thursday, January 30, 2020, 10:15 At 155 A while pressure decreasing, the power supply tripped off, Controls has been notified, waiting for instructions.    Thursday, January 30, 2020, 11:51 Controls respond "It looks like the power supplies were tripped by either the pirani gauge (IEVAP:IGP1) or the Nuclear vent or by both. But, it did not look like that the interlock tree latched the bad condition when the power supplies tripped. I modified the PLC to properly latch the cause of the trip." and gave green light to restart the carbothermal reduction.  Thursday, January 30, 2020, 13:09 IGP1=5.9e-6Torr Ramp set to 1A/10s to 200 A Pressure rising too fast at 200 A, current reduced manually to 190 A Pressure start dropping and system tripped, notify to controls again, "The strip tool shows the vacuum level shoot down to 0 then shoot back up for a quick second but that is enough to tell the PLC that IGP is “bad”" Thursday, January 30, 2020, 15:58  Restarting process to try to trip the system on purpose  Initial pressure IGP1 = 2.7e-6Torr Ramp set to 1/A/10s to 200 A, 0.59 V Ramp set to 2A/10s to 300 A Max pressure during process IGP1 = 0.03 Torr Voltage increased and stabilized (see voltage rising). Ramp kept at 2A/10s to 400 A Thursday, January 30, 2020, 16:48  TGHT = 1.54 V, 399.744 A IGP1 = 0.00016 Torr and going down Ramp set to 2A/10s to 500 A Thursday, January 30, 2020, 17:02  TGHT= 1.9V, 499.2 A IGP1 = 0.00014 Torr Ramp set to 2A/10s to 600 A Ramp set to 0.5 A/min to 700 A, ramp stopped at 680 A Manually tapped to 697 A Pressure dropping indicated that carbothermal reduction is done. Unfortunately, the system did not trip.  Contact Gelo for the  next run, such that he can monitor the system and we can spot the problem.

 Friday, January 31, 2020, 15:35

The EVP1 was vent with Ar and the P2N target was transferred to the glove box.

 Tuesday, May 26, 2019, 18:20

A loaded graphite cartridge was set in a tantalum boated and wrapped with 3 tantalum sheets (Friday May 22, 2020)

The set up was installed in the EVAP1 and pumped down during the weekend.

IGP1 = 7.10 e-7 Torr

Good vacuum = 1e-1 Torr

Bad vacuum = 5e-1 Torr

Current ramp is 1A per 10s from 0A to 120A

Wednesday, June 03, 2020, 08:11 

A loaded graphite cartridge was set in a tantalum boated and wrapped with 3 tantalum sheets (Friday May 29, 2020)

The set up was installed in the EVAP1 then IEVAP:IGP1 was replaced (elogs 260 and 261).  

Vacuum was turned on after Ion Gauge swap.

IGP1 = 3.6 e-5 Torr

Good vacuum = 5e-2 Torr

Bad vacuum = 5e-1 Torr

Current ramp is 1A per 10s from 0A to 120A

Wednesday, June 03, 2020, 09:59 

After about 20 minutes at 120 A, TGHT tripped again exactly as before.

Will restart ramp at 1A per 10s from 0A to 120A .  Will set good vacuum to 1e-2 Torr

IGP1= 4.3e-05 Torr

Wednesday, June 03, 2020, 10:57

IGP1 =  9e-4 Torr

Pressure peaked around 4e-3 Torr and now trending down

TGHT =120 A

Wednesday, June 03, 2020, 11:23

IGP1=9.5e-5 Torr

Good Vacuum 1e-02 Torr

Bad Vacuum 5e-1 Torr

Starting TGHT ramp to 550 A at 3A per 10s  

Wednesday, June 03, 2020, 14:41

ramp up was good.  TGHT at 550 A since 12:30 pm.  TGHT did not trip. *note adjusted good vacuum.  Ramping takes a little longer but doesn't trigger TGHT shutdown.

Wednesday, June 03, 2020, 22:55

IGP1 =  3.5e-5 Torr

TGHT = 249.4 A, 5.7 V

Start ramp down at -2A per minute to 0 A

Marla Cervantes wrote:

Marla Cervantes wrote: Marla Cervantes wrote: Marla Cervantes wrote: Marla Cervantes wrote: Wednesday, January 29 2020, 05:55   A P2N container  with heat shields, and with a UO2/C loaded graphite container was installed in the EVAP1 Chamber is currently being evacuated. Thursday, January 30, 2020, 08:56 Pressure limits: Good vacuum 1e-1 Torr Bad vacuum 5e-1 Torr Initial pressure:  IGP1=1.52e-6Torr Current ramp set to 1A/min to 10 A, voltage is stable. Current ramp increased to 1A/10s to 100 A. The pressure started raising around 80 A. Current was kept 5min at at 100 A, voltage was stable Thursday, January 30, 2020, 09:32  Current ramp set to 1A/20s to 150 A (same pressure limits) Pressure keep increasing during heating Thursday, January 30, 2020, 09:53  Current was kept at 150 min during 5 min, the voltage is stable, pressure started to stabilize: IGP1 = 0.027 Torr TGHT = 0.418 V Ramp set to 1A/min to 200 A. Thursday, January 30, 2020, 10:02 Pressure decreasing: TGHT= 153 A   Thursday, January 30, 2020, 10:15 At 155 A while pressure decreasing, the power supply tripped off, Controls has been notified, waiting for instructions.    Thursday, January 30, 2020, 11:51 Controls respond "It looks like the power supplies were tripped by either the pirani gauge (IEVAP:IGP1) or the Nuclear vent or by both. But, it did not look like that the interlock tree latched the bad condition when the power supplies tripped. I modified the PLC to properly latch the cause of the trip." and gave green light to restart the carbothermal reduction.  Thursday, January 30, 2020, 13:09 IGP1=5.9e-6Torr Ramp set to 1A/10s to 200 A Pressure rising too fast at 200 A, current reduced manually to 190 A Pressure start dropping and system tripped, notify to controls again, "The strip tool shows the vacuum level shoot down to 0 then shoot back up for a quick second but that is enough to tell the PLC that IGP is “bad”" Thursday, January 30, 2020, 15:58  Restarting process to try to trip the system on purpose  Initial pressure IGP1 = 2.7e-6Torr Ramp set to 1/A/10s to 200 A, 0.59 V Ramp set to 2A/10s to 300 A Max pressure during process IGP1 = 0.03 Torr Voltage increased and stabilized (see voltage rising). Ramp kept at 2A/10s to 400 A Thursday, January 30, 2020, 16:48  TGHT = 1.54 V, 399.744 A IGP1 = 0.00016 Torr and going down Ramp set to 2A/10s to 500 A Thursday, January 30, 2020, 17:02  TGHT= 1.9V, 499.2 A IGP1 = 0.00014 Torr Ramp set to 2A/10s to 600 A Ramp set to 0.5 A/min to 700 A, ramp stopped at 680 A Manually tapped to 697 A Pressure dropping indicated that carbothermal reduction is done. Unfortunately, the system did not trip.  Contact Gelo for the  next run, such that he can monitor the system and we can spot the problem.  Friday, January 31, 2020, 15:35 The EVP1 was vent with Ar and the P2N target was transferred to the glove box.