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Comparison of impurities in charcoal sorbents found by neutron activation analysis

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Abstract

Neutron activation of gas samples in a reactor often requires a medium to retain sufficient amounts of the gas for analysis. Charcoal is commonly used to adsorb gas and hold it for activation; however, the amount of activated sodium in the charcoal after irradiation swamps most signals of interest. Neutron activation analysis was performed on several commonly available charcoal samples in an effort to determine the activation background. The results for several elements, including the dominant sodium element, are reported. It was found that ECN charcoal had the lowest elemental background, containing sodium at 2.65 ± 0.05 ppm, as well as trace levels of copper and tungsten.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge MAST Carbon International Limited for supplying carbon products and technical correspondence. We would also like to acknowledge the staff and facilities at the Washington State University Nuclear Radiation Center for providing irradiation services.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA, 99352, USA

    Charles Doll, Erin Finn, Michael Cantaloub, Larry Greenwood, Jeremy Kephart & Rosara F. Kephart

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  1. Charles Doll
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  2. Erin Finn
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  3. Michael Cantaloub
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  4. Larry Greenwood
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  5. Jeremy Kephart
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  6. Rosara F. Kephart
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Correspondence to Charles Doll.

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Doll, C., Finn, E., Cantaloub, M. et al. Comparison of impurities in charcoal sorbents found by neutron activation analysis. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 295, 331–334 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-012-2239-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-012-2239-3

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