PCT Engineered Electron Beam Energy Transfer User Manual

Electron beam energy transfer, Absorbed dose

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Electron Beam Energy Transfer

Absorbed Dose

Absorbed Dose is defined as the amount of energy deposited into a specified mass of material.
The unit of absorbed dose is the kilogray, defined as the number of joules (J) of energy
deposited into 1 kilogram of matter. An older, but frequently used unit, is the megarad (Mrad).

1kGy

= 1kJ/kg

1Mrad

= 10kGy = 10kJ/kg

At a fixed electron accelerating voltage, the dose is directly proportional to the electron beam
current. Typical values of the dose needed for practical applications are:

Drying/curing of inks and coatings

15-30 kGy

Crosslinking of plastic film

25-150 kGy

Sterilization of medical products

7.5-35 kGy

The transfer of energy from the electron beam into material is specified completely by
four parameters:

Absorbed dose
Depth of penetration
Uniformity
Throughput