Ядерна фізика та енергетика Nuclear Physics and Atomic Energy   ISSN: 1818-331X (Print), 2074-0565 (Online)   Publisher: Institute for Nuclear Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine   Languages: Ukrainian, English   Periodicity: 4 times per year   Open access peer reviewed journal

Full text (en)

M. Abd El-Samad¹, A. Hamed¹, N. F. Soliman<sup>2

1</sup>Radiative Environmental Pollution Department, Hot Laboratories Center, Cairo, Egypt
²Reactor Physics Department, Atomic Reactors Division, Nuclear Research Center, Atomic Energy Authority, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract: Instrumental neutron activation analysis was used to determine concentrations of several major and trace elements in two slag samples. One slag was supplied by one of Steel factory and the other one by an Aluminum factory of Egypt. The aim of the present work is to study the accuracy and precision of Internal Comparator k₀ and external comparator k₀ methods in industrial application. The two slag samples together with an international reference material Soil-7 and two thin gold foils samples (one bare and the other covered with cadmium) were irradiated at the core of the Second Research Egyptian Reactor ET-RR-2 of about 13 · 10¹³ n/(cm² · s). The elemental concentration of ⁴⁶Sc, ⁵¹Cr, ⁶⁰Co, ⁶⁵Zn, ⁷⁴As, ⁸²Br, ⁸⁵Sr, ⁸⁶Zr, ^110mAg, ¹²²Sb, ¹³⁴Cs, ¹³¹Ba, ¹⁴⁰La, ¹⁴¹Ce, ¹⁴⁷Nd, ¹⁵³Sm, ¹⁵²Eu, ¹⁵³Gd, ¹⁶⁶Ho, ¹⁶⁹Yb, ¹⁷⁵Hf, ¹⁸²Ta, ¹⁹⁸Au and ²³³Pa (²³²Th-series) were calculated.

Keywords: iron slag, aluminum slag, neutron activation, environmental pollutions, external comparator, internal comparator.

1. Cicutti C., Valdez M., Pérez T. et al. Analysis of slag foaming during the operation of an industrial converter. Lat. Am. Appl. Res. 32 (2002) 237.

2. Wee Boon Siong, Abdul Khalik Hj. Wood, Mohd. Suhaimi Hamzah et al. Certified reference materials for analytical quality control in neutron activation analysis. The Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences 11 (2007) 17.

3. Horvat Milena, Nolde Natasha, Fajon Vesna et al. Total mercury, methylmercury and selenium in mercury polluted areas in the province Guizhou, China. The Science of The Total Environment 304 (2003) 231. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-9697(02)00572-7

4. Serfor-Armah Y., Akaho E. H .K., Nyarko B. J. B. Application of instrumental neutron activation analysis to plant medicines in Ghana: A review. J. of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 257 (2003) 125. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024761713676

5. Rossbach Matthias, Blaauw Menno. Progress in the k₀-IAEA program. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 564 (2006) 698. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2006.04.015

6. Partha Sarathi D., Acharya R., Nair A. G. C. et al. Application of Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis for Chemical Composition Analysis of Ancient Potteries from Buddhist Sites of Andhra Pradesh: Part I. J. of Nuclear and Radiochemical Sciences 9 (2008) 7. https://doi.org/10.14494/jnrs.9.7

7. Hamidatou L. A., Khaled S., Akhal T., Ramdhane M. Determination of trace elements in cigarette tobacco with the k₀-based NAA method using Es-Salam research reactor. J. of Nuclear and Radiochemical Sciences 281 (2009) 535. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-009-0011-0

8. Corte F. De, Wispelaere A. De, van Sluijs R. et al. J. of Nuclear and Radiochemical Sciences 215 (1997) 215. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02109874

9. Soliman N. F., Sroor A., Ashmawy L. S. et al. Nuclear Physics and Atomic Energy 11 (2010) 203. https://jnpae.kinr.kyiv.ua/11.2/Articles_PDF/jnpae-2010-11-0203-Soliman.pdf

10. El Abd A. J. of Nuclear Chem. 284 (2010) 321. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-010-0487-7

11. De Corte F., Sim A., Huber A. et al. Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables 85 (2003) 47. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-640X(03)00036-6

12. Nair A. G. C., Acharya R., Sudarshan K. et al. Anal. Chem. 75 (2003) 4868. https://doi.org/10.1021/ac034457d

13. El Ghany Abd, Soliman N. F., Eissa E. Anomaly in determining α and f for k₀ standardization in NAA with highly thermalized neutrons: A simple k₀ approach. Arab J. of Nuclear Sciences and Applications 42 (2009) 143.

14. International Atomic Energy Agency. Analytical Control Services. Reference Sheet, IAEA-Soil-7, Trace Elements in Soil, Date of issue: January 2000.