Resonance control for the coupled cavity linac and drift tube linac structures of the Spallation Neutron Source linac using a closed-loop water cooling system

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) is a facility being designed for scientific and industrial research and development. SNS will generate and use neutrons as a diagnostic tool for medical purposes, material science, etc. The neutrons will be produced by bombarding a heavy metal target with a high-energy beam of protons, generated and accelerated with a linear particle accelerator, or linac. The low energy end of the linac consists of two room temperature copper structures, the drift tube linac (DTL), and the coupled cavity linac (CCL). Both of these accelerating structures use large amounts of electrical energy to accelerate the protons to an energy of 185 MeV. Approximately 60-80% of the electrical energy is dissipated in the copper structure and must be removed. This is done using specifically designed water cooling passages within the linac's copper structure. Cooling water is supplied to these cooling passages by specially designed resonance control and water cooling systems.