Designing a system of boron concentration measurement in solution samples by the PGNAA facility of the Isfahan MNSR reactor

Boron is used in various industrial branches, such as in semiconductor, insecticides, agricultural, glass and ceramics products, and nuclear medicine. In this work, the ability of the PGNAA facility of the Isfahan MNSR reactor to measure the boron concentration in solution samples has been investigated. Therefore, a measurement system has been modeled by Monte Carlo calculation. In addition, a cadmium sheet was used to reduce the effect of boron in the shield on the boron measurement. The NH4Cl solution has been used as an internal standard material for correcting the self-shielding effect. The results of evaluating the effectiveness of this correction show an improvement in linearity of about 15.6 %. The developed model for predicting boron concentration has been verified by experimental tests and a calibration curve has been obtained. The results show that there is a good agreement (relative difference less than 5.5 %) between the performance of the calibration curves obtained in the simulations and experimental tests in predicting boron concentration in the test samples.

Automated summary

This study investigates the ability of the PGNAA facility of the Isfahan MNSR reactor to measure boron concentration in solution samples. A measurement system model is developed using Monte Carlo calculation, and a cadmium sheet is used to reduce the effect of boron in the shield. The accuracy of the model is verified through experimental tests, resulting in a calibration curve.