UC Davis Particle Physics Seminars 2013
UC Davis Particle Physics Seminars 2013
John Terning
Keeping Gd-Loaded Water Crystal Clear...Indefinitely!
1 hour 8 minutes Posted Dec 4, 2012 at 12:00 am.
0:00
1:08:07
Download MP3
Show notes
Loading a water Cherenkov detector with a water soluble gadolinium compound makes possible the detection of thermal neutrons, dramatically improving such an enhanced detector's sensitivity to anti-neutrinos fluxes from both nuclear reactors and supernova explosions. But how can the Gd-loaded water be continuously repurified, maintaining its excellent optical properties, without also removing the dissolved gadolinium? A new technology - the molecular band-pass filter - has recently been developed and is currently being industrialized. The zen and the art of Gd-loaded water - including some of the more entertaining bumps encountered along the way to a viable system - will be discussed by the inventor of this technology.