How It Works

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Scrap runs through the analyzer on a new or existing conveyor, at a shredder, a processing yard or a mill.

PGNAA analyzes the full depth of the stream as it passes, with a fresh result every minute. No sampling, no stopping the belt.

Belt-scale tonnage and chemistry combine into a report for every batch, so every ton carries a number.

Optimize charge mixes, hold suppliers to measured chemistry, and buy and sell scrap on value instead of looks.

Scans and reports the chemistry of your scrap as it moves, including Cu, Ni, Cr and Mn in ferrous shred. Fully shielded with source lockout, and analyzed scrap carries no residual radioactivity.

It does not separate or remove copper or any other element. It tells you exactly what's in the stream, so you can make better buying, blending and charging decisions.

A Californium-252 source produces neutrons that penetrate into and through the conveyed material. When atoms in the scrap absorb a neutron, they enter an excited state and immediately return to a stable state by emitting gamma rays.

The energy of those gamma rays is unique to each element. Scintillation detectors turn the gamma rays into pulses of light, and high-speed electronics build those pulses into a composite spectrum.

A computer continuously analyzes the spectrum to find the concentration of each element. Combined with mass flow from a belt scale, the result is a real-time, weighted-average chemistry of the material, with a new analysis every minute.

Neutrons and gamma rays penetrate several inches of solid steel and even greater depths of lower-density scrap, so all of the material on the belt is analyzed, not just the surface.

The reaction is so fast that it happens entirely inside the analyzer tunnel. Analyzed scrap carries no residual radioactivity and can be handled, shipped and melted as usual.

Shielding and source lockout protect the people who work around the CBRM. Dose levels are so low that weeks of working near the analyzer deliver less than a 1,000-mile flight, and far less than a dental x-ray. Californium-252 has a 2.6-year half-life, so Gamma-Tech replaces the source every 18 to 24 months as part of the full service program.