Nondestructive elemental analysis of coins using acceleratorbased thermal neutrons
Authors:
Khiari Fatah Zouhir AlHaddad Meyassar N Aksoy Abdulkadir
Issue Date:
2007
Citation:
Nondestructive elemental analysis of coins using acceleratorbased thermal neutrons F Z Khiari A Aksoy and M N AlHaddad 7374The Arabian journal for science and engineering المجلة العربية للعلوم والهندسة Univeristy of Petroleum and MineralsVol 32 no 1A (January 2007) p p 4348Khiari Fatah ZouhirAksoy AbdulkadirAlHaddad Meyassar N
Abstract:
تم استعمال النيوترونات الحرارية المولدة من المعجل المتواجد بجامعة الملك فهد للبترول والمعادن لأداء تحاليل عنصرية على عينات نقدية من المملكة العربية السعودية يتراوح تاريخ إصدارها ما بين 1958 و1987 م والعناصر التي تم تحديد نسبها في العينات النقدية هي النحاس بنسب تصل إلى 75 % والنيكل بنسب تصل إلى 25 % والمنغنيز بنسب لا تتجاوز 05 % هذه النسب موافقة للنسب المتعارف عليها دوليا، ولقد تم إجراء هذا البحث للتأكد من جودة طريقة التحليل وصلاحية المعمل لإجراء مثل هذه التحاليل The acceleratorbased thermalneutron activation analysis setup at KFUPM has an adequate thermalneutron flux that can be advantageously used for the elemental analysis of a variety of samples including archaeological ones The thermal neutrons are derived from the moderation of fast neutrons from the D (dn)3 He reaction which produces fast 25 MeV neutrons A maximum thermal flux of about 25 × 106 n cm2s was achieved For the purpose of determining the suitability of the setup for the analysis of contemporary and ancient coins we carried out a feasibility study by irradiating a selected number of Saudi Arabian coins dating from 1958 to 1987 in the thermalneutron flux The induced gammaray activities were then counted using a HPGMX detector coupled to a PCbased data acquisition and analysis system The elements that were determined in the coins were copper (around 75 %) nickel (around 25 %) and manganese (< 05 %) Calibration curves were also established for these elements The determined concentrations are in agreement with the data published by the Standard Catalogue of World Coins
