• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.107-115
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• 1996

An electrolytic enrichment technique was used to measure low levels of tritium in seawater around the Korean peninsula. Tritium concentrations were determined for surface seawater samples collected from the East Sea, the South Sea, and the Yellow Sea. The tritium concentrations in surface seawater samples from the study area ranged from $0.12 BqL^{-1}\;to\;1.50BqL^{-1}$ with a mean value of $0.60{\pm}0.35 BqL^{-1}$. The means of the tritium concentration were $0.54{\pm}0.30 BqL^{-1}$ for the East Sea, $0.48{\pm}0.35 BqL^{-1}$ for the South Sea, and $0.77{\pm}0.32 BqL^{-1}$ for the Yellow Sea. The tritium concentrations in the sea areas did not show much difference no matter where the samples were taken. Due to the limited number and distribution of sampling points, no systematic change in tritium levels with latitude was observed. Measured tritium levels were similar to those observed in other data collected near Japan, but higher than mid-Pacific Ocean measurements.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.419-423
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• 2007

Environmental low level tritium analysis was studied using liquid scintillation counter(LSC) and electrolytic enrichment method. To obtain low level blank count, various counting vials were investigated. Among them, teflon coated PE vial had a lower blank count rate (1.86 cpm) and we obtained 2.01 Bq/L detection and tritium separation factor was above 20. LSC counting efficiency obtained $28.70{\pm}0.27%$ using the NIST tritium standard water sample.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.141-153
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• 1992

Excess tritium analysis was peformed to verify whether or not cold fusion occurs during electrolysis of heavy water in the current density range of 83~600 mA/$\textrm{cm}^2$ for a period of 24 ~ 48 hours with use of palladium electrodes of seven different processing treatments and geometries. The extent of recombination of D$_2$ and $O_2$gases in the electrolytic cell was measured for the calculation of accurate enthaplpy values. The behavior and interaction of hydrogen atoms with defects in Pd electrodes were examined using the Sieverts gas charging and the positron annihilation(PA) method. Slight enrichment of tritium observed was attributed to electrolytic enrichment but not to the formation of a by-product of cold fusion. The extent of recombination of D$_2$and $O_2$gases was 32%. Hence the excess heat measured during the electrolysis was considered to be due to the exothermic reaction of recombination but not to nuclear fusion. Lifetime results from the PA measurements on the Pd electrodes indicated that hydrogen atoms could be trapped at dislocations and vacancies in the electrodes and that dislocations were slightly more preferred sites than vacancies. It was also inferred from R parameters that the formation of hydrides was accompanied by generation of mostly dislocations. Doppler broadening results of the Pd electrodes indicated that lattiec defect sites where positrons were trapped first increased and then decreased, and this cycle was repeated as electrolysis continued. It can be inferred from PA measurements on the cold-rolled Pd and the isochronally annealed Pd hydride specimens that microvoid-type defects existed in the hydrogen-charged electrode specimen.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.142-146
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• 2020

Background: Tritium (³H) analysis in groundwater was difficult because of its low activity. Therefore, the electrolytic enrichment method was used. To improve the detection limit and for performing simple analysis, a high-volume counting vial with the available liquid scintillation counter (LSC) was investigated. Further, it was compared with a conventional 20-mL counting vial. Materials and Methods: The LSC with the electrolytic enrichment method was used ³H analysis in groundwater. A high-volume 145-mL counting vial was compared with a conventional 20-mL counting vial to determine the counting characteristics of different LSCs. Results and Discussion: When a Quantulus LSC was used, the counting window between channels 35 and 250 was used. The background count was approximately 1.86 cpm, and the counting efficiency increased from 8% to 40% depending on the mixing ratio of the volume of sample and cocktail solution. For LSC-LB7, the optimum counting window was between 1 and 4.9 keV, which was selected by the factory (Hitachi Aloka Medical Ltd., Japan) by considering quenching using a standard external gamma source. The background count of LSC-LB7 was approximately 3.60 ± 0.29 cpm when the 145-mL vial was used and 2.22 ± 0.17 cpm when the 20-mL vial was used. The minimum detectable activity (MDA) of the 20-mL vial was greater for LSC-LB7 than for Quantulus. The MDA with the 145-mL vial was improved to 0.3 Bq/L when compared with the value of 1.6 Bq/L for the 20-mL vial. Conclusion: The counting efficiency when using the 145-mL vial was 27%, whereas it was 18% when using the 20-mL vial. This difference can be attributed to the vial volume. The figure of merit (FOM) of the 145-mL vial was four times greater than that of the 20-mL vial because the volume of the former vial is approximately seven times greater than that of the latter. Further, the MDA for ³H decreased from 1.6 to 0.3 Bq/L. The counting efficiency and FOM of LSC-LB7 was slightly less than those of Quantulus when the 20-mL vial was used. The background counting rate of the Quantulus was lower than that of the LSC-LB7.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.14-22
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• 2018

In this study, scarp of PCB containing copper and precious metals was manufactured as an anode, and electrorefining experiments were conducted on change of $H_2SO_4$ concentration and current density. Through electrolytic refining experiments, the concentration of Cu and slime recovered from each electrode was analyzed, element behavior was confirmed, and current efficiency was also calculated. As the $H_2SO_4$ concentration was increased, the current efficiency and the purity of Cu decreased, but the precious metals in the anode slime were maximally concentrated with 2.0 M $H_2SO_4$. In addition, as the current density was increased, the current efficiency decreased and the purity of Cu showed a tendency to increase, and the precious metals in the anode slime were maximally concentrated with $300A/m^2$. As a result of the pilot scale experiments, the Au content was 8,705 mg/kg, the Ag content was 35,092 mg/kg in the anode slime. As compared with the initial content, Au was concentrated 16 times and Ag concentrated 14 times.