This research investigates the use of a PETtrace cyclotron produced by General Electric (GE) as a neutron source for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). The GE PETtrace was chosen for this investigation because this type of cyclotron is popular among nuclear pharmacies and clinics in many countries; it is compact and reliable; it produces protons with energies high enough to produce neutrons with appropriate energy and fluence rate for BNCT and it does not require significant changes in design to provide neutrons. In particular, the standard PETtrace 18O target is considered. The cyclotron efficiency may be significantly increased if unused neutrons produced during radioisotopes production could be utilized for other medical modalities such as BNCT at the same time. The resulting dose from the radiation emitted from the target is evaluated using the Monte Carlo radiation transport code MCNP at several depths in a brain phantom for different scattering geometries. Four different moderating materials of various thicknesses were considered: light water, carbon, heavy water, and FluentalTM. The fluence rate tally was used to calculate photon and neutron dose, by applying fluence rate-to-dose conversion factors. Fifteen different geometries were considered and a 30-cm thick heavy water moderator was chosen as the most suitable for BNCT with the GE PETtrace cyclotron. According to the Brookhaven Medical Research Reactor (BMRR) protocol, the maximum dose to the normal brain is set to 12.5 RBEGy, which for the conditions of using a heavy water moderator, assuming a 60 ??A beam current, would be reached with a treatment time of 258 min. Results showed that using a PETtrace cyclotron in this configuration provides a therapeutic ratio of about 2.4 for depths up to 4 cm inside a brain phantom. Further increase of beam current proposed by GE should significantly improve the beam quality or the treatment time and allow treating tumors at greater depths.

The need for characterization of the Germania unit has emerged as a first step in the review, understanding and enhancement of the production practices applicable within the unit and the trend area in general. Petrophysical characterization of the Germania Spraberry units requires a unique approach for a number of reasons ?? limited core data, lack of modern log data and absence of directed studies within the unit. In the absence of the afore mentioned resources, an approach that will rely heavily on previous petrophysical work carried out in the neighboring ET O??Daniel unit (6.2 miles away), and normalization of the old log data prior to conventional interpretation techniques will be used. A log-based rock model has been able to guide successfully the prediction of pay and non-pay intervals within the ET O??Daniel unit, and will be useful if found applicable within the Germania unit. A novel multiple regression technique utilizing non-parametric transformations to achieve better correlations in predicting a dependent variable (permeability) from multiple independent variables (rock type, shale volume and porosity) will also be investigated in this study. A log data base includes digitized formats of gamma ray, cased hole neutron, limited resistivity and neutron/density/sonic porosity logs over a considerable wide area.

There are a variety of uses for reference neutron fields including detector response and dosimeter studies. The Georgia Institute of Technology has a 252Cf spontaneous fission source and an AmBe (α, n) source available for use in its research programs. In addition, it has iron, lead, beryllium, tantalum, heavy water, and polyethylene spheres to modify the neutron energy distributions from these neutron sources. This research characterized the neutron leakage spectra from the source inside spherical shells using a Bonner sphere spectrometer. All the neutron fields measured were also computed with a Monte Carlo code to determine the neutron fluence rate and ambient dose equivalent rate. The comparison of experimental data and calculations are used to provide further insight into the neutron spectra as modified by the spheres. The characterization of these modified sources will provide data to assist in using the resulting neutron fields in other research activities. To measure each neutron field combination, one of the two sources was placed in the center of an attenuating sphere. The neutron field was first measured at a variety of source-to-detector distances with a Bonner Sphere System. The spectrometer measurements, specifically the count rates of the different Bonner spheres, as a function of distance from the source is fitted to obtain corrections for room-scatter and air-scatter of neutrons using the Eisenhauer, Schwartz, and Johnson method. Using these corrections, the count rates free of room return is obtained at 1 m from the source and unfolded using the BUMS software to obtain the reported fluence and dose equivalent rates. These results are compared to those generated by the Monte Carlo Neutral Particle (MCNP) code. Models were made in MCNP for each of the source and moderating sphere combinations. The neutron fluence and dose rates were tallied during the MCNP simulation. The unfolded experimental data and the MCNP calculations showed good agreement for most of source-attenuating sphere combinations, thereby reinforcing the experimental results.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-122).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 197-200). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2003. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 279 p.: ill. (some col.). Includes abstract and vita. Advisor: Todd L. Lowary, Dept. of Chemistry. Includes bibliographical references (p. 150-154).

Electrosorption involves the application of an electrical potential between carbon electrode pairs submerged in brackish water, effectively “trapping” the ions in an electrical double layer at the solid-liquid interface. Electrosorption has significant applications in environmental engineering, including desalination of water by capacitive deionization (CDI), and in energy storage by supercapacitors. This work combines experimental and modeling studies to investigate the transport and sorption mechanisms of ions in the pores of mesoporous carbon materials that were synthesized at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The main contribution of this research is examining the effects of operational parameters such as applied potential, solution temperature, ionic concentration, and valence of ions, on the electrosorption behavior of mesoporous carbon materials with the aim to improve the desalination efficiency in the CDI process. It was found that the rates of sorption by mesoporous carbon electrodes and their regeneration increased at a higher temperature and on application of a high-frequency, low-amplitude AC signal. Neutron imaging has been employed as a tool to visually observe and quantify the transport and distribution of ions within the carbon electrodes. The neutron images revealed interesting ion transport phenomena that can aid in the optimization of the CDI process. From the ion concentration profiles inside the electrodes, the effective diffusivities of gadolinium and lithium ions were obtained under various conditions of applied potential. Information on the diffusivity of ions can aid in theoretical modeling of the CDI process as well as guide strategies for the design of advanced electrode materials. In the final part of the study, the extraction of salinity gradient energy or ‘blue energy’ by mixing fluids of different salinities was assessed based on the principle of capacitive double layer expansion. Neutron imaging of blue energy recovery cycles was conducted to observe the ion transport behavior during the various steps of the cycle. The results obtained provide insights into the fundamental ion transport mechanisms during electrosorption by mesoporous carbon materials. This research has important implications for developing advanced system designs for desalination of saline water and energy storage devices.

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published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Physics / Master / Master of Philosophy