Industrial and Academic Applications

Industrial and Academic Applications of Neutron Generators

Gamma spectrum on computer

Adelphi’s neutron generators are handy tools for performing nuclear physics experiments for academic research and industrial applications because they are a small, convenient source of intense neutrons that does not require the infrastructure associated with handling radioactive sources or the large investment of a nuclear reactor. These generators are intrinsically safe because the source of neutrons is switched off when the power is removed from the generator. Short pulses of neutrons may easily be produced allowing measurements to be made that cannot be performed using neutron-producing radioactive sources such as Californium-252 (which emits neutrons and has a half-life of 2.645 years).

For industrial applications such as quality control and production-line inspection, it can be useful to switch off a neutron source to allow the maintenance of equipment by personnel. With a radioactive source based system, the source must be shielded and possibly removed prior access by personnel. A further benefit of neutron generators over radioactive sources is that care must be taken that the source remains contained at all times and that no contamination of the sources surroundings occurs. Should a lack of containment occur such as a leak or a spill, the clean-up costs can be large and the equipment can have a large down-time during the clean-up process. As a result of these issues, radioactive sources require an increased “paperwork-overhead” in that government regulation and company safety procedures must be adhered to. Adelphi Technology’s compact high output neutron generators require less paperwork. Safety is always an issue with any radiation producing device (such as an x-ray tube), however we feel these generators provide a source of neutrons that can be much safer and controllable than the alternative approaches.

In addition, Adelphi’s generators produce from 10 to 100 times more neutrons than Penning diodes, the only other widely available neutron generator. While ideal for bore-hole logging, Penning diodes have limited lifetimes and low neutron output. For instance, deuterium reaction based Penning diodes have maximum outputs of 108 n/s, while adelphi’s generators have outputs approaching 10¹⁰ n/s. Similar gains are expected for the deuterium-tritium reaction with the introduction of Adelphi’s DT series generators.

Adelphi’s generators have been used to activate materials, causing them to emit gamma rays. Typical experimental set-ups include: PGAA (Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis), DGAA (Delayed Gamma Activation Analysis, DDT (Differential Die-Away Technique). These nuclear activation experiments cause a sample to emit gamma rays that are detected using High Purity Germanium (HPGe), sodium iodide or other detectors. These physical phenomena can be used to identify the constituents of unknown samples, and so these techniques have applications in physics and chemistry teaching research laboratories, archaeology, geology and forensic science.

Adelphi Technology Inc’s neutron generators may be used in a system for the determination of the constituent elements inside radioactive waste drums, in mining and rock core sample, to allow the identification of rarer elements such as copper, nickel etc, onsite analysis of the chemicals in a production process, the determination of the grade of coal, also for use in online analysis or mobile/portable onsite chemical analyzers.

Here at Adelphi Technology Inc. we have additionally been developing a number of neutron applications such as neutron microscopy and neutron radiography which has uses in failure analysis, non-destructive testing and can be used to image pipes, for example. The technique is sensitive enough to view the liquid level within a pipe.

The generators can also be used as part of a larger system as a calibration source for neutrons or gamma rays. Combined with the proper target material, high-intensity neutron generators can provide a detector calibration source above 4000 keV and even above 6000 keV, much higher than the energies from radioactive isotopes, such as Europium-152 and Cobalt-60.