Sum-fit method of analysis of nuclear decay spectra affected by extending dead-time
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Horvat, V.↗
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Dead-time optimization for SiC based voltage source converters using online condition monitoring
This paper introduces a dead-time optimization technique for a 2-level voltage source converter (VSC) using turn-off transition monitoring. Dead-time in a VSC impacts power quality, reliability, and efficiency. Silicon carbide (SiC) based VSCs are more sensitive to dead-time from increased reverse conduction losses and turn-off time variability with operating conditions and load characteristics. An online condition monitoring system for SiC devices has been developed using gate drive assist circuits and a micro-controller. It can be leveraged to monitor turn-off time and indicate the optimal dead-time in each switching cycle of any converter operation. It can also be used to specify load current polarity, which is needed for dead-time optimization in an inverter. This is an important distinction from other inverter dead-time elimination/optimization schemes as current around the zero current crossing is hard to accurately detect. A 1kW half-bridge inverter was assembled to test the turn-off time monitoring and dead-time optimization scheme. Results show 91% reduction in reverse conduction power losses in the SiC devices compared to a set dead-time of 500ns switching at 50 kHz.
Dyer, Jacob↗
Estimating the Effective System Dead Time Parameter for Correlated Neutron Counting
We present that neutron time correlation analysis is one of the main technical nuclear safeguards techniques used to verify declarations of, or to independently assay, special nuclear materials. Quantitative information is generally extracted from the neutron-event pulse train, collected from moderated assemblies of 3 He proportional counters, in the form of correlated count rates that are derived from event-triggered coincidence gates. These count rates, most commonly referred to as singles, doubles and triples rates etc., when extracted using shift-register autocorrelation logic, are related to the reduced factorial moments of the time correlated clusters of neutrons emerging from the measurement items. Correcting these various rates for dead time losses has received considerable attention recently. The dead time losses for the higher moments in particular, and especially for large mass (high rate and highly multiplying) items, can be significant. Consequently, even in thoughtfully designed systems, accurate dead time treatments are needed if biased mass determinations are to be avoided. In support of this effort, in this paper we discuss a new approach to experimentally estimate the effective system dead time of neutron coincidence counting systems. It involves counting a random neutron source (e.g. AmLi is a good approximation to a source without correlated emission) and relating the second and higher moments of the neutron number distribution recorded in random triggered interrogation coincidence gates to the effective value of dead time parameter. We develop the theoretical basis of the method and apply it to the Oak Ridge Large Volume Active Well Coincidence Counter using sealed AmLi radionuclide neutron sources and standard multiplicity shift register electronics. The method is simple to apply compared to the predominant present approach which involves using a set of 252 Cf sources of wide emission rate, it gives excellent precision in a conveniently short time, and it yields consistent results as a function of the order of the moment used to extract the dead time parameter. In addition, this latter observation is reassuring in that it suggests the assumptions underpinning the theoretical analysis are fit for practical application purposes. However, we found that the effective dead time parameter obtained is not constant, as might be expected for a parameter that in the dead time model is characteristic of the detector system, but rather, varies systematically with gate width.
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
Experimental evaluation of the extended Dytlewski-style dead time correction formalism for neutron multiplicity counting
Over the past few decades, neutron multiplicity counting has played an integral role in Special Nuclear Material (SNM) characterization pertaining to nuclear safeguards. Current neutron multiplicity analysis techniques use singles, doubles, and triples count rates because a methodology to extract and dead time correct higher order count rates (i.e. quads and pents) was not fully developed. This limitation is overcome by the recent extension of a popular dead time correction method developed by Dytlewski. This extended dead time correction algorithm, named Dytlewski-Croft-Favalli (DCF), is detailed in reference Croft and Favalli (2017), which gives an extensive explanation of the theory and implications of this new development. Dead time corrected results can then be used to assay SNM by inverting a set of extended point model equations which as well have only recently been formulated. Here, we discuss and present the experimental evaluation of practical feasibility of the DCF dead time correction algorithm to demonstrate its performance and applicability in nuclear safeguards applications. In order to test the validity and effectiveness of the dead time correction for quads and pents, 252 Cf and SNM sources were measured in high efficiency neutron multiplicity counters at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the count rates were extracted up to the fifth order and corrected for dead time. To assess the DCF dead time correction, the corrected data is compared to traditional dead time correction treatment within INCC. In conclusion, the DCF dead time correction is found to provide adequate dead time treatment for broad range of count rates available in practical applications.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
Model-Based Dead Time Optimization for Voltage-Source Converters Utilizing Silicon Carbide Semiconductors
Dead time significantly affects the reliability, power quality, and efficiency of voltage-source converters. For silicon carbide (SiC) devices, considering the high sensitivity of turn-off time to the operating conditions (> 5× difference between light load and full load) and characteristics of inductive loads (> 2× difference between motor load and inductor), as well as large additional energy loss induced by the freewheeling diode conduction during the superfluous dead time (~15% of the switching loss), then the traditional fixed dead time setting becomes inappropriate. This paper introduces an approach to adaptively regulate the dead time considering the current operating condition and load characteristics via synthesizing online monitored turn-off switching parameters in the microcontroller with an embedded preset optimization model. Here, based on a buck converter built with 1200-V SiC MOSFETs, the experimental results show that the proposed method is able to ensure reliability and reduce power loss by 12% at full load and 18.2% at light load (8% of the full load in this case study).
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
A Control Scheme to Mitigate the Dead-Time Effects in a Wireless Power Transfer System
In practice, a dead-time is always provided between the complementary switching instances of the inverter phase-leg devices. At higher operating frequencies, the dead-time issues in wireless power transfer (WPT) systems become critical, especially as the power level increases. In certain operating conditions, the dead-time effect in wireless power transfer system affects the switching characteristics. Consequently, the switching losses in the power semiconductor devices increase and also impact the efficiency of the overall system. In this paper, a simple control scheme is proposed to eliminate the dead-time effect (or voltage polarity reversal) in the WPT inverter. The proposed control scheme monitors the inverter output voltage, and the switching frequency is auto-tuned to eliminate the undesired switching instances in the inverter voltage. The proposed control scheme is validated using the closed-loop simulations in PLECS, and the experimental results on a 5.6 kW WPT prototype are also presented. After eliminating the voltage-polarity-reversal at the inverter output, the inverter losses were reduced by ~40%, and the overall system losses were reduced by ~17%.
Kavimandan, Utkarsh↗
Analysis of Dead-Time in a Single Phase Wireless Power Transfer System
In this paper, the effect of dead-time in a single phase wireless power transfer system (WPT) between the complementary switching pulses of the inverter leg is discussed in detail. The dead-time is always provided between the complementary switching pulses in the inverter leg to avoid the short-circuit of the input dc source. In WPT systems, high-frequency (HF) operation is desired to reduce the size of the passive components. As the frequency of operation increases, the dead-time effect becomes significant and must be addressed appropriately. This paper presents the analysis of the dead-time effect in the wireless power transfer system for an electric vehicle (EV) battery charging application. The operating waveforms for the given operating condition of the phase-shift angle and the power-factor are presented and the phenomenon of voltage polarity reversal (VPR) or notch is discussed. The effect of the notch on the fundamental component of the voltage is presented and the effect of the notch on the BMW i3 battery charging profile is evaluated. The theoretical analysis of the dead-time is verified using simulation results in PLECS.
Kavimandan, Utkarsh↗
The Impact of Inverter Dead-Time in Single-Phase Wireless Power Transfer Systems
In this paper, the effect of the dead-time on a single-phase wireless power transfer system is studied in detail. In practice, the dead-time is always placed between the complementary switching pulses of the inverter phase-leg. At higher operating frequencies, the dead-time issues in the resonant inverter become critical, especially as the power level increases. The detailed analysis of the dead-time on a wireless power transfer system is discussed for different operating conditions of the inverter duty-cycle and power factor. The switching characteristics of the wireless power transfer system inverter are analyzed, and the notch phenomenon that appears at the output of the inverter is also discussed. A notch equation based on the observations is derived to predict the notch occurrence during the system operation. Furthermore, the mathematical expressions are presented for different notch conditions. Subsequently, the effect of the notches on the sensitivity and the power transfer of the series-series compensated wireless power transfer system is analyzed. Finally, the approach is verified experimentally on an 8 kW wireless power transfer system prototype, and the results are compared with the theoretical analysis.
42 ENGINEERING↗
Comparison of Dead-Time Effects in a WPT System Inverter for Different Fixed-Frequency Modulation Techniques
In this paper, a comparative study of the dead-time effects in a wireless power transfer (WPT) system inverter is performed for different fixed-frequency control techniques. The dead-time is provided between the complementary switching instances of the inverter phase-legs to ensure safe operation of the input power source. Under certain operating conditions, the dead-time results in waveform distortions or voltage-polarity reversal (VPR) at the inverter output. The VPR affects the switching characteristics, harmonic spectrum, switching losses, and output voltage/power of the system. A detailed analysis of the dead-time effect on the WPT system parameters such as output voltage and output power is conducted for the different fixed-frequency control strategies (i.e., traditional phase-shift control, asymmetrical clamped-mode, and asymmetrical duty-cycle control). Furthermore, the impact of dead-time on the inverter switching losses is compared for the different control strategies.
Kavimandan, Utkarsh↗
Innovative dead-time correction and background subtraction for neutron multiplicity measurements using neural networks
Abstract The number of neutrons emitted from a nuclear reaction plays a crucial role in various fields, including nuclear theory, nuclear nonproliferation, nuclear energy and nuclear criticality safety. Accurate determination of neutron multiplicities requires the application of several corrections, with dead-time correction and background subtraction being particularly significant. These corrections become more challenging for neutron detectors with time-dependent neutron capture. In this work, we perform a comprehensive study of three existing methods used for dead-time correction and background subtraction in neutron detectors with time-dependent neutron capture. The methods were tested for dead-times in the range from 0 to 1 μs using a Monte Carlo model simulating the dead-time and background effects in the standard neutron multiplicity probability distribution of $$^{252}$$ 252 Cf. The previous methods showed larger than desired uncertainty or systematic trade off. Those uncertainties prompted the development of a novel approach using neural networks trained with data from Monte Carlo simulations. The Neural Network method enabled the correction of neutron multiplicity probabilities more accurately than the other methods with fractional errors smaller than 3% for multiplicities around the peak of $$^{252}$$ 252 Cf. A similar approach using neural networks could be applied to problems where the system being studied can be accurately simulated without having an accurate analytical description available. The neural network method presented in this paper can be easily expanded if multiplicities greater than 10 are expected.
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
Dead-Time Correction of Pulsed Neutron Source Experiments with the Backward Extrapolation Method
This paper introduces a novel procedure to correct pulsed neutron source experimental data for dead-time effects. The procedure is based on the application of the backward extrapolation method to the reaction rate value in each time interval (bin) of the neutron counts distribution as a function of time. The theoretical framework has been successfully applied to the experimental data (timestamps) from the YALINA Thermal facility driven by a pulsed D-D neutron source. Dead-time effects may have more than 500 pcm (1 pcm=1 E-5) impact on the effective multiplication factor calculated by the area method. (authors)
07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
Extension of the Dytlewski-style dead time correction formalism for neutron multiplicity counting to any order
Here, neutron multiplicity counting using shift-register calculus is an established technique in the science of international nuclear safeguards for the identification, verification, and assay of special nuclear materials. Typically passive counting is used for Pu and mixed Pu-U items and active methods are used for U materials. Three measured counting rates, singles, doubles and triples are measured and, in combination with a simple analytical point-model, are used to calculate characteristics of the measurement item in terms of known detector and nuclear parameters. However, the measurement problem usually involves more than three quantities of interest, but even in cases where the next higher order count rate, quads, is statistically viable, it is not quantitatively applied because corrections for dead time losses are currently not available in the predominant analysis paradigm. In this work we overcome this limitation by extending the commonly used dead time correction method, developed by Dytlewski, to quads. We also give results for pents, which may be of interest for certain special investigations. Extension to still higher orders, may be accomplished by inspection based on the sequence presented. We discuss the foundations of the Dytlewski method, give limiting cases, and highlight the opportunities and implications that these new results expose. In particular there exist a number of ways in which the new results may be combined with other approaches to extract the correlated rates, and this leads to various practical implementations.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
A Sensorless Coil Detection Scheme based on Dead-Time Effect in Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer Systems
The detection of electric vehicles in dynamic wireless power transfer (DWPT) systems is important to reduce the standby losses and comply with the electromagnetic-field emission guidelines recommended by the International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. This paper discusses a novel sensorless coil detection scheme, which exploits the phenomenon of voltage-polarity reversal/notches caused by the dead-time effect in the full-bridge inverter. The variations in the system impedance and dead-time effects are collectively exploited to detect the receiver coil in the DWPT system. The proposed coil detection scheme is accomplished at low excitation voltage, which reduces the inverter standby losses. The theoretical analysis of the notch occurrence and open-loop simulation results are presented using a DWPT model developed in the piecewise linear electrical circuit simulation software.
Kavimandan, Utkarsh↗
Online condition monitoring based dead-time compensation for high frequency SiC voltage source inverter
Dead-time, device output capacitance, and other non-ideal characteristics cause voltage error for the midpoint PWM voltage of the semiconductor phase-leg employed in a voltage-source inverter (VSI). Voltage-second balancing is a well-known concept to mitigate this distortion and improve converter power quality. This paper proposes a unique voltage-second balancing scheme for a SiC based voltage source inverter using online condition monitoring of turn-off delay time and drain-source voltage rise/fall time. This data is sent to the micro-controller to be used in an algorithm to actively adjust the duty cycle of the input PWM gate signals to match the voltage-second of the non-ideal output voltage with an ideal output voltage-second. The monitoring system also allows for this implementation to eliminate the need for precise current sensing and allows for the implementation to be load independent. Dynamic current sensing is still a developing technology, and each load has a unique effect on the output voltage distortion. Test results for a 1 kW half-bridge inverter implementing this monitoring system and voltage-second balancing scheme show a 70% enhancement on the error against the ideal fundamental current value of the output current and a 2% THD improvement on the output current low frequency harmonics.
Dyer, Jacob↗
Report on Task USA A 0931 (A.252) Implementation of Fast, Front-End Electronics for Improved Low-Dead Time Neutron Counting
The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Department of Safeguards is working on the elaboration and implementation of advanced Non-Destructive Assay (NDA) methods, generally known as neutron noise analysis, for the verification of critical and sub-critical cores containing substantial quantities of direct use nuclear material. These verification methods rely on interpreting time properties of the neutron multiplication process, which are to be extracted from measured neutron pulse trains. The interpretations are highly dependent on the quality of the measured data, which is directly related to the capability of an employed neutron detector to resolve very close detection events originating from neutron bursts produced in a highly multiplying medium. Therefore, the application of detectors with minimum dead-time, pile-up, and other distortion effects is required. This report describes the work under Task USA A 0931 (A.252 Implementation of fast, front-end electronics for improved low-dead time neutron counting).
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
A 65 nm CMOS analog processor with zero dead time for future pixel detectors
Next generation pixel chips at the High-Luminosity (HL) LHC will be exposed to extremely high levels of radiation and particle rates. In the so-called Phase II upgrade, ATLAS and CMS will need a completely new tracker detector, complying with the very demanding operating conditions and the delivered luminosity (up to 5×10 34 cm –2 s –1 in the next decade). This work is concerned with the design of a synchronous analog processor with zero dead time developed in a 65 nm CMOS technology, conceived for pixel detectors at the HL-LHC experiment upgrades. It includes a low noise, fast charge sensitive amplifier featuring a detector leakage compensation circuit, and a compact, single ended comparator that guarantees very good performance in terms of channel-to-channel dispersion of threshold without needing any pixel-level trimming. A flash ADC is exploited for digital conversion immediately after the charge amplifier. In conclusion, a thorough discussion on the design of the charge amplifier and the comparator is provided along with an exhaustive set of simulation results.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
Design and Test of a 65nm CMOS Front-End with Zero Dead Time for Next Generation Pixel Detectors
This work is concerned with the experimental characterization of a synchronous analog processor with zero dead time developed in a 65 nm CMOS technology, conceived for pixel detectors at the HL-LHC experiment upgrades. It includes a low noise, fast charge sensitive amplifier with detector leakage compensation circuit, and a compact, single ended comparator able to correctly process hits belonging to two consecutive bunch crossing periods. A 2-bit Flash ADC is exploited for digital conversion immediately after the preamplifier. A description of the circuits integrated in the front-end processor and the initial characterization results are provided
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
Erratum to “Estimating the effective system dead time parameter for correlated neutron counting” [Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A 871 (2017) 154–160]
The expressions given for φ, the ratio of effective system dead time to gate width, are wrong for the case of the third and fourth order forms because the simple square root is used when the 3rd and 4th roots, respectively, are required. We failed to notice during proof reading that this change from the submitted manuscript had crept in. The correct form should, however, be clear from the steps of the derivations outlined in the text; and so we hope our mistake has not misled anyone.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗