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Oak Ridge, TN
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Changer Labs
"Changing the way you handle samples" |
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Front View of the Assistant |
The “ Assistant”
- Compatible with all popular MCAs
- Accommodates all streamlined cryostats
- Handles samples from <¼ to 3 in diameter
- High Capacity, up to 200 samples, with 20 mL LSC vials
- Suitable for well or coaxial Germanium or NaI detectors
- Table top configuration available for NaI
- Highly flexible design easy to scale up or down
- Small foot print for efficient space utilization
- Power lid option for 4 pi shielding
- Automated pull back for dead time control in NAA
- Stainless Steel drip pan for easy clean up
- Removable sample trays
- Safe shutdown in the event of power loss
- Complete systems available including detector, electronics,
and PC-based MCA
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The Assistant from Changer
Labs has been designed to fill the need for an easily customized
gamma sample changer that can handle the smaller samples of
applications such as NAA or the environmental samples now possible
with the new larger Germanium detectors. The
Assistant's design is highly flexible so that the sample staging area
and shielding can be scaled up or down to tailor the system to the
sample size and number needed. The Assistant is equally
adept at placing a sample in a well detector or placing the sample on
the end cap of a coaxial detector. NaI detectors can be accommodated
in either the floor mount configuration or a table top version. The
system software adapts to multiple sample trays where the size and
spacing of samples is independently defined for each tray.
People doing gamma spectroscopy in
bioassay, radiochemistry, waste characterization, sediment analysis or
environmental radiation monitoring with either germanium or sodium
iodide detectors can often benefit from a gamma sample changer that
automates routine counting procedures. |
SYSTEM SIZE
The Assistant's structural components are standard industrial extrusions
and linear motion bearings. They are available in a wide variety of
lengths so that the width, depth, and height of the cabinet and the
length of the vertical travel can be customized to optimize sample
capacity and shield requirements for any application.
SAMPLE CONTAINER SIZE
Sample containers from 10 mm test tubes to 3 inch diameter wide mouth
jars can be accommodated. The samples are loaded into a removable
sample tray that is positioned over a stainless steel drip pan for
easy decontamination. Sample container size determines minimum spacing
between samples in the tray which determines the maximum number of
samples for the system. High sample density in the tray helps to
minimize floor space requirements. The sample positions in the tray
are defined in software for maximum flexibility
SHIELD
The system shield can range from a simple
insertion shield with no lid, to a full 4 pi shield with an
automatic top as shown below. There are several standard shields
available that are designed to fit the sample size that will be
utilized. Most shields use lead bricks stacked into a steel shell and
lined with either copper/cadmium (Cu/Cd) or copper/tin (Cu/Sn).
Standard wall thickness is 4 inches but 6 inches is available. Extra
shielding can be added between the sample storage area and the
counting cavity via an optional separate 4 inch wall on the sample
storage area side.
Keeping the counting cavity small minimizes the
total shield weight. The system design leaves ONLY the detector and
the sample inside the cavity during counting. This helps maintain the
lowest background possible. |
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THE HAND
A self-centering, four point hand is used to provide a wide tolerance
for variations in the sample container’s dimensions, weight, and
positioning. The hand features a positive close and grasp design, so
that an unexpected power loss will not cause the sample to drop. The
hand senses the absence of a sample when the hand fully closes and a
sample is supposed to be present. This condition is treated as a fault
condition by the software and results in a safe system shut down.
OPERATING MODES
The system has three operating modes: Master, Slave, and Local. Slave
mode is the most typical the whole sample changer is controlled as a
peripheral device with high level commands such as load#1, loadnext,
reset, unload. Control of the spectral acquisition is through the
MCA’s native script/batch/job language. Responsibility for defining
the sample queue and taking control of the MCA system rest with a
Changer Lab Windows program that runs on the MCA computer system.
In the Master mode the
Assistant's software is in control of the sample queue and runs the
MCA system through MCA batch commands. Local control allows the user
to control all axis movements with easily accessible switches for set
up without a computer.
SAMPLE WALL
With a significant number of samples loaded into a changer tray there
is always the possibility of a hot sample interfering with the
background of a low level sample. This may require more shielding
between the samples in the tray and the sample in the counting
position than is required in the counting shield in general. In this
situation the system can be supplied with an additional shield wall
between the sample tray and the counting shield.
DETECTOR ACCOMMODATIONS
The system can be configured for either NaI (Tl) or Germanium detector
systems. Any standard detector cryostat can be accommodated. Vertical
dipstick Germanium detectors have the dewar located underneath the
shield inside the system cabinet, while horizontal dipsticks can have
the end cap penetrate the shield side wall. An "in-line" type cryostat
simplifies the installation and removal of the detector. Well
detectors do not represent any special problems as long as the
container is longer than the well depth so that there is a place for
the hand to grab the sample.
Using two detectors at the same time is possible,
as is a split spectrum with low energy and high energy spectra
accumulated simultaneously from a single detector |
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APPLICATIONS
Potential applications for the Changer Lab's Assistant, Gamma
Sample Changer: Basically any gamma spectroscopy application with
significant numbers of samples can benefit if the samples are
relatively small and the detector is either HPGe germanium or NaI with
solid or well type detectors
- Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA)
- Waste characterization
- Bio-Assay analysis
- Food Stuff monitoring
- Ra-228 in drinking water by HPGe gamma spectroscopy
- Environmental gamma monitoring
- Automated well detector spectroscopy (HPGe or NaI)
- Health Physics applications with large numbers of small samples
- Air filters and swipes for isotope specific analysis
- Sediment and Oceanography samples with limited volumes and
moderate count times
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