Difference between revisions of "ProposalDeepBlueMarine 2013"
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| + | =A Description of PAA= | ||
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| + | =Preliminary results= | ||
[[File:DBM_2013_Sr87mFig.png| 200 px]] | [[File:DBM_2013_Sr87mFig.png| 200 px]] | ||
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| + | =Proposed Work= | ||
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| + | We are proposing to perform the following tasks: | ||
| + | |||
| + | 1) Estimation of photon flux and prediction of activities | ||
| + | |||
| + | After the number of samples, their shape and mass is known, Monte-Carlo simulations will be performed to estimate photon flux through the samples and choose an optimum irradiation conditions, such as: | ||
| + | |||
| + | - positioning of the samples | ||
| + | - time of irradiation | ||
| + | - electron beam parameters, such as electron energy and average current | ||
| + | |||
| + | The simulations will be performed using special radiation transport software, MCNP, at the Idaho Accelerator Center computer cluster (12 nodes, 52 cores, 64GB of aggregate memory, and 108GHz of aggregate CPU power). | ||
| + | |||
| + | 2) Sample irradiation and gamma-spectrometry | ||
| + | |||
| + | Once the irradiation conditions are established, samples (artifacts and ores) will be irradiated for a short time (10-30 minutes) for two purposes: do qualitative analysis of elemental composition and verify the predictions of photon flux and activities. After making sure the activities correspond to the predicted values the samples, together with the reference material, will be irradiated for 8-10 hours to maximize the sensitivity of the technique and minimize the detection limit. After irradiation, the samples’ elemental composition will be measured using high purity germanium detector. All the spectra will be stored. | ||
| + | |||
| + | 3) Data analysis | ||
| + | |||
| + | Gamma spectra will be analyzed using Gamma-W software. Peaks in the spectra will be identified and concentration of each element will be calculated from the produced radioactivity. | ||
| + | 4) Final report | ||
| + | |||
| + | All the activities will be described in details. We will provide the description of the experiment, raw spectroscopic data and a table of calculated concentrations of different elements. Error analysis will be performed and uncertainties will be included. The work undertaken as part of this proposal will be completed by May 1, 2013. | ||
| + | |||
[[PAA_DeepBlueMarine]] | [[PAA_DeepBlueMarine]] | ||
Revision as of 16:08, 17 May 2013
Project Summary
We propose to measure the concentrations of several nuclei using photon activation analysis (PAA) and determine if there is a correlation between several coin samples and candidate mines that may have been the source for the silver in the coin. Based on previous work (insert NAA reference) and our preliminary results, we intend to focus on Gold, Irridum, and Strontium nuclei. PAA has been able to measure the content of nuclei in a sample to the level of parts-per-million (PPM). Elemental and matching analyses were successfully performed for a wide variety of samples including museum artifacts [1], fossils [2], forensic samples [3], agricultural samples [4], and various environmental samples [5-6]. PAA is an ideal tool for performing the above measurements due to its ability to measure PPM level concentration accuracies without destroying the sample as compared to other methods of detecting base elements [7 - 9].
A Description of PAA
Preliminary results
Proposed Work
We are proposing to perform the following tasks:
1) Estimation of photon flux and prediction of activities
After the number of samples, their shape and mass is known, Monte-Carlo simulations will be performed to estimate photon flux through the samples and choose an optimum irradiation conditions, such as:
- positioning of the samples - time of irradiation - electron beam parameters, such as electron energy and average current
The simulations will be performed using special radiation transport software, MCNP, at the Idaho Accelerator Center computer cluster (12 nodes, 52 cores, 64GB of aggregate memory, and 108GHz of aggregate CPU power).
2) Sample irradiation and gamma-spectrometry
Once the irradiation conditions are established, samples (artifacts and ores) will be irradiated for a short time (10-30 minutes) for two purposes: do qualitative analysis of elemental composition and verify the predictions of photon flux and activities. After making sure the activities correspond to the predicted values the samples, together with the reference material, will be irradiated for 8-10 hours to maximize the sensitivity of the technique and minimize the detection limit. After irradiation, the samples’ elemental composition will be measured using high purity germanium detector. All the spectra will be stored.
3) Data analysis
Gamma spectra will be analyzed using Gamma-W software. Peaks in the spectra will be identified and concentration of each element will be calculated from the produced radioactivity. 4) Final report
All the activities will be described in details. We will provide the description of the experiment, raw spectroscopic data and a table of calculated concentrations of different elements. Error analysis will be performed and uncertainties will be included. The work undertaken as part of this proposal will be completed by May 1, 2013.