Minimize Energy Consumption

 

Elekta linear accelerators

Graph showing electrical units user per annum

Elekta linear accelerators minimize energy consumption and are designed to be careful with resources

  • Energy consumption is fast becoming an issue with many clinics. Administrators are seeking to cut costs and minimize power consumption, or alternatively are increasingly coming under pressure from regulatory bodies to reduce carbon emissions.

  • All Elekta dual energy linear accelerators use approximately 30% less energy than typical klystron-based dual energy machines.


The graph above shows total energy usage for a duty cycle of five days per week, running eight hours per day in the ready state and 400 beam hours per year (figures calculated from published power consumption data – does not include the use of any imaging devices or networking systems).

It is the design of the Elekta digital accelerator which helps to optimize power consumption and minimize cost of ownership over the lifetime of the linear accelerator.

Elekta linear accelerators use a magnetron to create the RF pulse at all energies. Magnetrons, due to their simpler modulator requirements, have lower energy consumption than the klystrons used to generate high energy RF in typical high energy machines. In addition, the Elekta linear accelerator is designed to run at lower temperatures. Other commercially available linear accelerators need to run at high standby power 24/7 levels to maintain their stability, thereby continuing to consume high levels of power. The consequence of running at higher temperatures is that you pay twice; firstly for the high power consumption of the linear accelerator and secondly for the air conditioning required to cool the excess heat generated by power-hungry machines.

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