NEUTRON MODERATION EFFECTIVENESS BY CO-FIRED CERAMIC BASED MATERIALS, POLYMERIC MATERIALS AND WATER UNDER VARIOUS TEMPERATURES IN THE TRIGA NEUTRON BEAM ENVIRONMENT
Abstract
This study highlights work on investigating the neutron moderation effectiveness of co-fired ceramic based and polymeric based and hydrogenous based materials under various liquid nitrogen temperatures and different reactor TRIGA neutron environments. In this research work, a simple continuous flow (SCF) cryostat has been designed, fabricated and installed for investigating the neutron moderation the moderating materials, in this case, alumina, Teflon and water/ice. The use of a simple continuous flow SCF cryostat usually associates with the cooling system to cool the moderator samples with cryogenic liquid like nitrogen. The SCF cryostat is placed at the small angle neutron scattering (SANS) beam line (port No. 4) and newly built neutron diffraction (ND) beam line (port No. 1) at the TRIGA reactor. In this report we present the SCF cryostat engineering design detail, main parts of SCF, experimental set-up. The results of investigation from cooling down the moderation materials such alumina (LTCC), Teflon (polymeric) and water (hydrogenous) under various liquid nitrogen temperatures and neutron beam conditions are also presented.