Improvement of the determination of hydrogen content in a multicomponent sample by D—T generator

If a D T generator is used as a neutron source to simultaneously measure the content of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in a multicomponent sample by NIPGA （Neutron Induced Prompt Gamma-ray Analysis）, the 14 MeV neutron flux can be regarded as a constant value. The relationship between the production of the hydrogen characteristic gamma-rays and its content is nonlinear. In this paper, we use MCNP （Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport code） to simulate the relationship and analyze it. In practical measurement of the characteristic gamma-ray, it＇s impossible to get the net count. Therefore, we use the experiment to obtain the relationship between the hydrogen content and the total count of its characteristic gamma-rays. If we use the relationship combined with the simulation result to calculate the hydrogen content, the metrical precision can be much increased. The deviation of hydrogen content between NIPGA and chemical analysis is less than 0.25%, which meets the requirement of coal industry.     

Designing of the 14 MeV neutron moderator for BNCT

In boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), the ratio of the fast neutron flux to the neutron flux in the tumor (RFNT) must be less than 3%. If a D-T neutron generator is used in BNCT, the 14 MeV neutron moderator must be optimized to reduce the RFNT. Based on the neutron moderation theory and the simulation results, tungsten, lead and diamond were used to moderate the 14 MeV neutrons. Satisfying RFNT of less than 3%, the maximum neutron flux in the tumor was achieved with a three-layer moderator comprised of a 3 cm thick tungsten layer, a 14 cm thick lead layer and a 21 cm thick diamond layer.