Skip to content

Radiocarbon Detection / C14-SCAR for Environment

C14-SCAR for Environment

Emissions from fossil fuels can be tracked and quantified by measuring the ¹⁴C content of CO2 in air. The lower the content, the higher the contribution from combustion of fossil sources. ¹⁴CO2 monitoring around nuclear power plants and waste repositories can ensure safety from radioactive hazards to both workers of nuclear sites and the population living in their vicinity. C14-SCAR fast measurement routines will provide a quasi-continous air monitoring capability, in combination with innovative automated atmospheric CO2 extraction process that are being developed by our partners.

Measurement process explained

C14-SCAR for environment is capable of continuously measuring the concentration of 14CO2 in air, the complete measurement process is divided into two steps:

1. CO2 accumulation and storage

An atmospheric sampler enables the direct extraction of CO2 gas from the air; the accumulated gas is sent to the sampler outlet as a stream of a mixture of CO2 and He (carrier gas).

2. Purification and measurement

The gas collected by the atmospheric sampler is trapped and purified inside C14-SCAR and transferred to the measuring cell.
When the measuring cell has been filled to the correct pressure, the Saturated CAvity Ring-down process begins and measurements are taken.
The analysis result is provided automatically after the measurement.

Performances

14C-SCAR is a very versatile instrument, it achieves excellent sensitivity at low measurement times, has a very wide dynamic range, about 4 decades, and requires a modest amount of sample to operate.

With measurement times in the order of 120min 14C-SCAR achieves sub-pmc accuracies.

MIN

TYP

MAX

UNIT

CARBON SAMPLE MASS

6

8

 –

mg

PRECISION

 –

 –

   12min

1

1.5

 –

pMC

  60min

0.4

0.6

 –

pMC

240min

0.2

0.3

 –

pMC

ACCURACY

0.2

0.5

 –

%

MEASUREMENT RANGE

1

104

pMC

LIMIT OF DETECTION

1

 –

pMC

CARBON SAMPLE MASS [mg]

MIN

6

TYP

8

MAX

PRECISION@12min [pMC]

MIN

1

TYP

1.5

MAX

PRECISION@60min [pMC]

MIN

0.4

TYP

0.6

MAX

PRECISION@120min [pMC]

MIN

0.2

TYP

0.3

MAX

ACCURACY [%]

MIN

0.2

TYP

0.5

MAX

MEASUREMENT RANGE [pMC]

MIN

1

TYP

MAX

104

LIMIT OF DETECTION [pMC]

MIN

1

TYP

MAX

C14-SCAR for Environment

Emissions from fossil fuels can be tracked and quantified by measuring the ¹⁴C content of CO2 in air. The lower the content, the higher the contribution from combustion of fossil sources. ¹⁴CO2 monitoring around nuclear power plants and waste repositories can ensure safety from radioactive hazards to both workers of nuclear sites and the population living in their vicinity. C14-SCAR fast measurement routines will provide a quasi-continous air monitoring capability, in combination with innovative automated atmospheric CO2 extraction process that are being developed by our partners.

Measurement process explained

C14-SCAR for environment is capable of continuously measuring the concentration of 14CO2 in air, the complete measurement process is divided into two steps:

1. CO2 accumulation and storage

An atmospheric sampler enables the direct extraction of CO2 gas from the air; the accumulated gas is sent to the sampler outlet as a stream of a mixture of CO2 and He (carrier gas).

2. Purification and measurement

The gas collected by the atmospheric sampler is trapped and purified inside C14-SCAR and transferred to the measuring cell.
When the measuring cell has been filled to the correct pressure, the Saturated CAvity Ring-down process begins and measurements are taken.
The analysis result is provided automatically after the measurement.

Performances

14C-SCAR is a very versatile instrument, it achieves excellent sensitivity at low measurement times, has a very wide dynamic range, about 4 decades, and requires a modest amount of sample to operate.

With measurement times in the order of 120min 14C-SCAR achieves sub-pmc accuracies.

MIN

TYP

MAX

UNIT

CARBON SAMPLE MASS

6

8

 –

mg

PRECISION

 –

 –

   12min

1

1.5

 –

pMC

  60min

0.4

0.6

 –

pMC

240min

0.2

0.3

 –

pMC

ACCURACY

0.2

0.5

 –

%

MEASUREMENT RANGE

1

104

pMC

LIMIT OF DETECTION

1

 –

pMC

CARBON SAMPLE MASS [mg]

MIN

6

TYP

8

MAX

PRECISION@12min [pMC]

MIN

1

TYP

1.5

MAX

PRECISION@60min [pMC]

MIN

0.4

TYP

0.6

MAX

PRECISION@120min [pMC]

MIN

0.2

TYP

0.3

MAX

ACCURACY [%]

MIN

0.2

TYP

0.5

MAX

MEASUREMENT RANGE [pMC]

MIN

1

TYP

MAX

104

LIMIT OF DETECTION [pMC]

MIN

1

TYP

MAX