Method for automatically sampling tritium in the water vapor in air
AssigneesEtat Francais represente par le Delegue General pour l'Armement, Institut De Radioprotection Et De Surete Nucleaire
InventorsYves Baron, Denis Maro
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Abstract
The invention relates to the measurement of the tritium concentration of the water vapour in air and more particularly the subject of the invention is a method of automatically sampling tritium in the water vapour of air using a cold trap, of the type comprising a first step of condensing the water vapour of the air by cooling over a cold trap and a second step of recovering the ice formed in the previous step in the form of condensation liquid, characterized in that the air is contained in a sampling chamber (1) and is brought into contact with a cold trap (2, 4) which has been brought to a temperature below 0° C. and in that the liquid of the second step is obtained by warming the cold trap.
Claims9
A method for sampling tritium in the water vapor in the air by cold trap, of the type comprising a first step of condensing the water vapor of the air by cooling over a part (4) of the cold trap (2, 4) and a second step of recovering the ice formed in the preceding step in the form of condensation liquid, characterized in that the air is contained in a sampling device (1) making it possible to eliminate the water from the sampled air and in which said part (4) of the cold trap (2, 4) is located and in that the first step consists of actuating, for a determined duration, the cold trap (2, 4) which is brought to a temperature below 0° C. so as to form ice on said part (4) of the cold trap, the second step consisting of warming said part (4) of the cold trap by stopping the cooling by the cold trap (2, 4) and recovering the condensation liquid formed by the thawing of the ice.
The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that the coolant (2) is liquid nitrogen.
A device for implementing the method according to the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises an air sampling enclosure (1) of the movable type housing a coil (4) connected by a pump (5) to an outside liquid nitrogen tank (2) and a receptacle (7) arranged under the coil (4).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.