There are extreme environments inside deep mines. Any equipment to be used in these mines must be rugged and reliable. Nucleonic measurement instruments are widely used which must not be influenced by temperatures, pressures or volatility of materials.
The basic operational principles of using radioactive materials for measurements have not changed in fifty years. A source of nuclear radiation is placed on one side of a pipe or container. A sensitive radiation detector is placed on the other side of the pipe or container. Gamma rays from the radioactive materials are weakened when they pass through any type of matter. The sensors carry out exact measurements of levels and the density of the materials that impede the radiation passing through from the radiation source. These measurement systems can be installed on the outside of pipes and containers without interfering with production.
Vega is a company that specialized in process instrumentation solutions. John Leadbetter is the managing director of Vega. He says “With nuclear energy, there are certain misunderstandings about how it works, and so it becomes a last resort. Operators look at all other options and if none of them will perform as well as nuclear, then that is the solution to go with. Essentially, you only use nuclear when nothing else works.”
While the basic principles of operation of such measurement systems have not changed in decades, the technology utilized has made significant advancements. The superior designs and components of the current generation of nucleonic measurement systems are more accurate and efficient than previous generations of measuring systems. Nucleonic measurement systems are used in the aluminum, gold and nickel mining industries.
Leadbetter says, “Depending on what you’re trying to achieve, nuclear can provide improved accuracy and efficiency than other approaches. But like all things there are limits to what you can do. The biggest limit we have is the size of the nuclear source. By government law, we can only bring in up to a certain size, so it comes down to the application. We ask customers to give us as much information about the application, then we do an evaluation and from there we tell them whether we can do the job.”
Safety is one of the major concerns that potential customers have with respect to the use of nucleonic measurement systems. Even having a small amount of radioactive material on a job site makes potential users nervous. On the other hand, a lot of documentation and licensing are required of nucleonic measurement system manufacturers. In addition, they have excellent accuracy which makes them an attractive investment. Leadbetter explained that, “It is one of the safest products, and it is very heavily regulated by the government. There’s a lot of licensing and documentation involved, even for us to import the nuclear sources into the country. There’s a lot of traceability and it is a very controlled part of the industry. But benefits to the customer are, for those applications where nothing else will work, that they have the option to go with nuclear to achieve the results they need.”
Vega produces a variety of nuclear-based measurement equipment. Their SOLITRAC 31 offers continuous precision measurement of liquid and bulk solids levels in vessels, autoclaves and reactors. Their MINITRAC 31 is used for measuring product density without contact. It can be attached to vessels walls or pipes. It is an excellent choice for use in locations where space and/or access is limited. The WAYTRAC 31 is a continuous scale that can measure the amount of material that is passing across the scale on a conveyor belt.
Leadbetter says, “Safety of our customers is always of paramount concern, but we also have to be careful of the fact that we hold a license to work with this equipment. And if we made a mistake, we could jeopardize that license.”
“One of the things we always tell our customers is that we have specifically trained nuclear personnel to deal with their issues and queries. They’re not calling a department store and dealing with general customer service staff; they’re dealing with professionals who understand nuclear energy and the applications.
“At Vega, we have four people on the team here in Australia that are trained in nuclear, and they are the only people that will deal with nuclear queries and requirements.
“Over the last 50 or so years we’ve been focused on improving our design and introducing the latest components to make sure that what we are giving the customer is accurate and reliable.”