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Remembering ANS member Gil Brown
Brown
The nuclear community is mourning the loss of Gilbert Brown, who passed away on July 11 at the age of 77 following a battle with cancer.
Brown, an American Nuclear Society Fellow and an ANS member for nearly 50 years, joined the faculty at Lowell Technological Institute—now the University of Massachusetts–Lowell—in 1973 and remained there for the rest of his career. He eventually became director of the UMass Lowell nuclear engineering program. After his retirement, he remained an emeritus professor at the university.
Sukesh Aghara, chair of the Nuclear Engineering Department Heads Organization, noted in an email to NEDHO members and others that “Gil was a relentless advocate for nuclear energy and a deeply respected member of our professional community. He was also a kind and generous friend—and one of the reasons I ended up at UMass Lowell. He served the university with great dedication. . . . Within NEDHO, Gil was a steady presence and served for many years as our treasurer. His contributions to nuclear engineering education and to this community will be dearly missed.”
H. Huang, B. A. Vermillion, L. C. Brown, G. E. Besenbruch, D. T. Goodin, R. W. Stemke, R. B. Stephens
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 47 | Number 1 | January 2005 | Pages 46-55
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A597
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Of the building blocks of an inertial fusion energy (IFE) plant, target fabrication remains a significant credibility issue. For this reason, an extensive parametric study has been conducted on mass production of glow discharge polymer (GDP) shells in a vertical fluidized bed. Trans-2-butene was used as a reactant gas with hydrogen as a diluting and etching agent. Coating rates in the range of 1 to 2 m/h were demonstrated on batches of 30 shells where National Ignition Facility-quality surfaces were obtained for 3- to 5-m-thick coatings. Thick coatings up to 325 m were also demonstrated that are visually transparent, without void and stress fracture. A phenomenological understanding of the GDP growth mechanisms to guide future experiments was further established. Specifically, gas-phase precipitation and high-impact collisions were identified as the main surface-roughening mechanisms. The former produces dense cauliflower-like surface patterns that can be eliminated by adjusting the gas flow rates and the flow ratio. The latter produces isolated domelike surface defects that can be reduced by introducing concerted motion between the shells. By converting from a vertical to a horizontal configuration, fully transparent coatings were obtained on 350 shells. Collisions in a fluidized bed have been identified as the limiting factor in meeting IFE specifications, and a related-rotary kiln technique is recommended for scale-up.