M. Raashid

Low energy prompt gamma-ray tests of a large volume BGO detector

Tests of a large volume Bismuth Germinate (BGO) detector were carried out to detect low energy prompt gamma-rays from boron and cadmium-contaminated water samples using a portable neutron generator-based Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA) setup. Inspite of strong interference between the sample- and the detector-associated prompt gamma-rays, an excellent agreement has been observed between the experimental and calculated yields of the prompt gamma-rays, indicating successful application of the large volume BGO detector in the PGNAA analysis of bulk samples using low energy prompt gamma-rays.

Prompt gamma analysis of fly ash, silica fume and Superpozz blended cement concrete specimen.

Preventive measures against corrosion of reinforcing steel require making the concrete dense by adding pozzolanic materials, such as fly ash, silica fume, Superpozz, blast furnace slag, etc. to Portland cement. In order to obtain the desired strength and durability of concrete, it is desirable to monitor the concentration of the pozzolan in the blended cement concrete. Addition of pozzolan to blended cement changes the overall concentration of calcium and silicon in the blended cement concrete. The resulting variation in calcium and silicon gamma-ray yield ratio from blended cement concrete has found to have an inverse correlation with concentration of fly ash, silica fume, Superpozz, blast furnace slag in the blended cement concrete. For experimental verification of the correlation, intensities of calcium and silicon prompt gamma-ray due to capture of thermal neutrons in blended cement concrete samples containing 5-80% (by weight of cement) silica fume, fly ash and Superpozz were measured. The gamma-ray intensity ratio was measured from 6.42 MeV gamma-rays from calcium and 4.94 MeV gamma-ray from silicon. The experimentally measured values of calcium to silicon gamma-ray yield ratio in the fly ash, silica fume and Superpozz cement concrete specimens agree very well with the results of the Monte Carlo simulations.

Effect of silica fume addition on the PGNAA measurement of chlorine in concrete

Pozzolanic materials, such as fly ash (FA), silica fume (SF), and blast furnace slag (BFS) are added to Portland cement in concrete to prevent reinforcement steel corrosion in concrete. Further preventive measure against reinforcement steel corrosion require monitoring of chloride salts concentration in concrete using non-destructive techniques, such as the prompt gamma-ray neutron activation analysis (PGNAA) technique. Due to interferences between gamma-rays from chlorine and calcium in PGNAA technique, detection limit of chlorine in concrete strongly depends upon calcium concentration in concrete. SF mainly contains silica and its addition to cement concrete reduces overall concentration of calcium in concrete. This may result in an improvement in detection limit of chlorine in SF-based concrete in PGNAA studies. Particularly for chlorine detection using 6.11 and 6.62 MeV prompt gamma-rays that strongly interfere with 6.42 MeV prompt gamma-rays from calcium. In this study, SF was added to Portland cement to prevent concrete reinforcement steel from corrosion. The chlorine concentration in SF cement concrete specimens containing 0.2-3.0 wt% chlorine was measured through yield of 1.16, 1.95, 6.11, 6.62, 7.41, 7.79, and 8.58 MeV chlorine gamma-rays using PGNAA technique. An excellent agreement was noted between the experimental yield of the prompt gamma-rays and the gamma-ray yield calculated through the Monte Carlo simulations. Further the minimum detectable concentration (MDC) of chlorine in SF cement concrete was calculated and compared with the MDC values of chlorine in plain concrete and concrete mixed with fly ash cement. The MDC of chlorine in SF-based concrete through 6.11 MeV, and 6.62 MeV chlorine gamma-rays was found to be improved as compared to those in plain concrete and concrete mixed with fly ash cement.

Pulse height tests of a large diameter fast LaBr3:Ce scintillation detector

The pulse height response of a large diameter fast 100 mm × 100 mm LaBr3:Ce detector was measured for 0.1-10 MeV gamma-rays. The detector has a claimed time resolution of 608 ps for 511 keV gamma rays, but has relatively poor energy resolution due to the characteristics of its fast photomultiplier. The detector pulse height response was measured for gamma rays from cobalt, cesium, and bismuth radioisotope sources as well as prompt gamma rays from thermal neutron capture in water samples contaminated with mercury (3.1 wt%), boron (2.5 wt%), cadmium (0.25 wt%), chromium (52 wt%), and nickel (22 wt%) compounds. The energy resolution of the detector was determined from full width at half maximum (FWHM) of element-characteristic gamma ray peaks in the pulse height spectrum associated with the element present in the contaminated water sample. The measured energy resolution of the 100 mm × 100 mm detector varies from 12.7±0.2% to 1.9±0.1% for 0.1 to 10 MeV gamma rays, respectively. The graph showing the energy resolution ΔE/E(%) versus 1/√Eγ was fitted with a linear function to study the detector light collection from the slope of the curve. The slope of the present 100 mm × 100 mm detector is almost twice as large as the slope of a similar curve of previously published data for a 89 mm × 203 mm LaBr3:Ce detector. This indicates almost two times poorer light collection in the 100 mm × 100 mm detector as compared to the other detector.

Response of a PGNAA setup for pozzolan-based cement concrete specimens.

Pozzolanic materials are added to Portland cement concrete to increase its durability, particularly corrosion-resistance. In this study the elemental composition of a pozzolanic cement concrete was measured non-destructively utilizing an accelerator-based Prompt Gamma Ray Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA) setup. The optimum size of the pozzolanic cement concrete specimen was obtained through Monte Carlo simulations. The simulation results were experimentally verified through the gamma-ray yield measurement from the pozzolanic cement concrete specimens as a function of their radii. The concentration of the pozzolanic material in the cement concrete specimens was evaluated by measuring gamma-ray yield for calcium and iron from pozzolanic cement concrete specimens containing 5-80 wt% pozzolan. A good agreement was noted between the experimental values and the Monte Carlo simulation results, indicating an excellent response of the KFUPM accelerator-based PGNAA setup for pozzolan based concrete.

KFUPM fast neutron activation analysis facility

Abstract A newly established Fast Neutron Activation Analysis facility at the Energy Research Laboratory is described. The facility mainly consists of a fast ne

Hydrogen, carbon and oxygen determination in proxy material samples using a LaBr3:Ce detector.

Hydrogen, carbon and oxygen concentrations were measured in caffeine, urea, ammonium acetate and melamine bulk samples via 14 MeV neutron inelastic scattering using a LaBr3:Ce detector. The samples tested herein represent drugs, explosives and benign materials, respectively. Despite its intrinsic activity, the LaBr3:Ce detector performed well in detecting the hydrogen, carbon and oxygen elements. Because 5.1 MeV nitrogen gamma rays interfere with silicon and calcium prompt gamma rays from the room background, the nitrogen peak was not detected in the samples. An excellent agreement was observed between the experimental and theoretical yields of 2.22, 4.43 and 6.13 MeV gamma rays from the analyzed samples as a function of H, C and O concentrations, respectively. Within statistical errors, the minimum detectable concentration (MDC) of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen elements in the tested materials were consistent with previously reported MDC values for these elements measured in hydrocarbon samples.

Neutron moderation in a bulk sample and its effects on PGNAA setup geometry

Abstract In a prompt gamma ray neutron activation analysis (PGNAA) setup, the neutron moderation in the bulk sample also plays a key role. This can even dominate the thermalization effects of the external moderator in some cases. In order to study the neutron moderation effect in the bulk sample, moderators with two different sizes of the sample were tested at the King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) PGNAA facility. In these tests, the thermal neutron relative intensity and prompt gamma ray yield from the two moderators were measured using nuclear track detectors (NTDs) and NaI detector, respectively. As predicted by Monte Carlo simulations, the measured intensity of thermal neutron inside the large sample cavity due to the external moderator was smaller than that from the smaller sample cavity. Due to its larger size, additional thermalization of neutrons will take place in the larger sample. In spite of smaller thermal neutron yield from the external moderator at the large sample location, higher yield of the prompt gamma ray was observed as compared to that from the smaller sample. This confirms the significance of neutron moderation effects in the bulk sample and can thereby affect the PGNAA geometry size. This allows larger samples in conjunction with smaller moderators in the PGNAA setup.

Intensity measurements of polarized beams from an atomic beam polarized ion source

Abstract Beam intensity measurements have been carried out for neutral and ionic beams from the atomic beam polarized ion source at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia. The intensity of the polarized hydrogen beam was measured at several points in the source. The intensity of the neutral atomic beam was measured at the end of the atomic beam chamber. The measurement was carries out by measuring the sextupole on-off pressure difference with a vacuum gauge, which was mounted in a compression tube attached to the atomic beam chamber. It was observed that mixing of the source gas hydrogen with nitrogen increased the polarized beam intensity by a factor of 2 at 33 K. The maximum beam intensity was measured to be 1.6 × 10 16 atoms/s at 33K temperature of the nozzle. For the ionic beam, a current of 41 μA has been measured after the ionizer, while a current of 23 μA has been measured for mass selected H ∗ ions after the spin processor. The unpolarized background was low for mass selected H ∗ ions and a beam polarization of 86% was measured for the H ∗ beam using the sextupole on-off current ratio.

Moisture effect in prompt gamma measurements from soil samples.

The variation in intensity of 1.78MeV silicon, 6.13MeV oxygen, and 2.22MeV hydrogen prompt gamma rays from soil samples due to the addition of 5.1, 7.4, 9.7, 11.9 and 14.0wt% water was studied for 14MeV incident neutron beams utilizing a LaBr3:Ce gamma ray detector. The intensities of 1.78MeV and 6.13MeV gamma rays from silicon and oxygen, respectively, decreased with increasing sample moisture. The intensity of 2.22MeV hydrogen gamma rays increases with moisture. The decrease in intensity of silicon and oxygen gamma rays with moisture concentration indicates a loss of 14MeV neutron flux, while the increase in intensity of 2.22MeV gamma rays with moisture indicates an increase in thermal neutron flux due to increasing concentration of moisture. The experimental intensities of silicon, oxygen and hydrogen prompt gamma rays, measured as a function of moisture concentration in the soil samples, are in good agreement with the theoretical results obtained through Monte Carlo calculations.