Introduction to applications of accelorators

With the technology we have now, particle accelerators don’t really benefit today's society. But, it has the potential to benefit us in the future improving on more efficient gas transport, finding oil field, cleaning sewage dumped in lakes, and even curing cancer. particle accelerators still have a long way to go before it can be able to achieve any of these feats but it would be worth it in the long run. We would be able to have cleaner lakes since the accelerators can remove the nitrogen and phosphorus from the lake which cause algal blooms, and also hormones and antibiotics, which harm the fish in the lake. Also exposing sewage waste to electron beams breaks pharmaceuticals into harmless compounds improving the aquatic life that happened to live in the river or stream. Having a more efficient way to transport natural gas will increase the amount of natural gas that we are able to consume and lessen the emissions caused from natural gas venting from the pipes. Chemical processes can convert gas to liquid hydrocarbons, or oil, but they require high pressures and temperatures that can only be attained in large plants which can be costly to build and maintain. Where as accelerators might be able to achieve the same results by using electron beams to break carbon-hydrogen bonds, causing natural gas to recombine into a polymer chain, making it easier and more efficient for transport. Accelerators can not only help make transporting gas more efficient but also making oil rich fields easier to locate. Portable neutron generators help detect oil or water deposits using a technique called neutron logging. It does this by sending neutrons through the ground to interact with the atomic nuclei of various materials. That produces gamma rays which are picked up by gamma ray detectors and measured for the strength of the signal. Different strengths mean different materials making pinpointing the exact location of an oil field much more easier. And last but not least, particle accelerators have to potential to cure cancer. This can be achieved by launching protons on the precise location of the tumor. The protons pass through the tissue causing little damage while killing cells where they stop. This technology is a thing of the future but with enough funding and research, there might be a chance of witnessing technology like this in our lifetime.