Ambient Air Monitoring

[croyce]

Who's involved in ambient air monitoring? What do you use? Does anyone know of a commercial off the shelf system using real time gamma spec? I'm looking to upgrade a NaI direct reading an air filter. Any input? I've seen eCAMS and iCAMS, but they are focused on alpha spec and use PIPs detectors. I'm an ex Navy Nuke and recall a shipboard system, but it provided dose rate. I can't remember if it was NaI or ZnS. I want to purchase a system that has a air filter collection media and a detector LaBr or NaI that I can pull a gamma spec off of. We could and have build systems like these but we are trying to assess if a system is available without customization.

[Rennhack]

http://www.thermoscientific.com/ecomm/servlet/productscatalog_11152__81899_-1_4
http://www.canberra.com/products/env_rad_monitoring/air-monitors.asp

[croyce]

Yep. Thanks. I've checked both Canberra and Thermo. Neither show Gamma Spec capability on their website. I'm gonna call them Tuesday and see if they can modify their systems for gamma spec. The Thermo 1700 has a NaI and should be capable of gamma spec, though I'm not sure of thermo's MCA capability. Does anyone do air monitoring with on sample gamma spec? All I've been able to find is Alpha spec with a PIPs.

[cedugger]

Man, I've love to point you to a COTS piece of equipment...but I just don't think one exists out there. The solid-state silicons are out there, as you've mentioned, but that's obviously not what you're looking for.

Can't say for sure, but I'd bet that the Remote Sensing Laboratory is prototyping or, at least, developing something like this. I've not heard any of the big vendors even mentioning such a thing. You can imagine the challenges in getting a real-time sample enough "quality time" in front of the scintillator to get a confidence worth a crap. With the incredibly low concentrations in real-time analysis, the NaI and LaBr3 simply needs more time to work out the statistical variances in the signal to get a good enough spectrum. Not at all saying that it can't be done...I'm sure it can be done and likely has. The question is in reproducing consistent results outside of initial testing, to the point where it can be marketed on open market..

Oh, and as for that Navy air monitor...I've been out for nearly a decade, but the IM-239 was in use then. It may have been solid-state, but without spectrum capability. The newer ones were supposed to have some ability to spectrally back-out radon-thoron progeny interference, but only off of an educated guess. No gamma spectral capability there either. No clue as to what they ended up with or how available it is, but I doubt it would equate to what you're looking to find.

Happy hunting!

[croyce]

I agree. I don't think one is out there. Maybe I need to apply for my VA small business loan and start working on it.

Mirion SAM 201k looks like its the closest. I'd just have to tie a sampler on the front of it.

https://www.mirion.com/en/products/product_detail.php?id=316&ln=RMS

Thanks for your help.

[Brett LaVigne]

https://www.mirion.com/en/products/product_detail.php?id=414&ln=

This is the model we use at Humboldt Bay. We are mostly concerned with Alpha emitters, but have plenty of EVERYTHING here. I would consider it the most important instrument that we use in the field. It can see 1 DAC of Alpha in about 45 - 50 minutes and I have seen it respond to 15 DAC in just a few minutes. It deals with Radon pretty well (we have lots of that too). You can either hook up a lap top and read the spec in real time, or you can read it remotely from a computer with a pretty user friendly software system.

After over 4 years using this CAM (and its predecessor), I have a lot of confidence in its abilities.