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Change of Calibration Parameters in Frequently Used Vials in Benzene Scintillation Counting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Herbert Haas
Herbert Haas*
Affiliation:
Desert Research Institute, Water Resources Center, P.O. Box 19040, Las Vegas, Nevada 89132-0040 USA
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Abstract

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Scintillation counting vials used for counting synthesized benzene accumulate an inside coating which is insoluble in benzene. This coating reduces the photon transfer from the vial and lowers its observed background. Age calculations that include calibration data collected with other vials may be inaccurate if this effect is not considered. Frequent cleaning of the counting vials with strong acid solutions keeps the coating from accumulating.

A sample counting vial cleaned only with photospectrometric grade benzene between 67 different sample benzene fillings made in a 20-month period showed, during counting, an efficiency lowered by 2.8% and a background lowered by 8.7%. Age calculations for a 10 ka old sample made with calibration data from “matched” vials would yield a result too old by 515 yr.

Type
V. Advances in Measurement Techniques
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , 1995 , pp. 737 - 742
Copyright
Copyright © the Department of Geosciences, The University of Arizona 

References

Coleman, D. D., Liu, C. L., Dickerson, D. R. and Frost, R. R. 1973 Improvement in trimerization of acetylene to benzene for radiocarbon dating with a commercially available vanadium oxide catalyst (Abstract). In Rafter, T. A. and Grant-Taylor, T., eds., Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on 14 C Dating. Wellington, New Zealand, Royal Society of New Zealand: 158.Google Scholar
Haas, H. 1979 Specific problems with liquid scintillation counting of small benzene volumes and background count rate estimation. In Berger, R. and Suess, H. E., eds., Radiocarbon Dating. Berkeley, University of California Press: 246–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar