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Semi-Automated Equipment for CO2 Purification and Graphitization at the A.E. Lalonde AMS Laboratory (Ottawa, Canada)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2016

Gilles St-Jean ,
William E Kieser ,
Carley A Crann Open the ORCID record for Carley A Crann [Opens in a new window]  and
Sarah Murseli
Gilles St-Jean
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and A.E. Lalonde Lab, University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton St., Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5, Canada
William E Kieser
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and A.E. Lalonde Lab, University of Ottawa, 150 Louis Pasteur, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5, Canada
Carley A Crann*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and A.E. Lalonde Lab, University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton St., Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5, Canada
Sarah Murseli
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and A.E. Lalonde Lab, University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton St., Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5, Canada
*
*Corresponding author. Email: radiocarbon@uottawa.ca.
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Abstract

New computer-controlled, semi-automatic systems were designed and built for CO2 purification and graphitization at the A.E. Lalonde Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) Laboratory with consideration for user friendliness and high throughput. The stainless steel vacuum lines are orbitally welded to ensure clean seams with low memory. The insulated graphitization ovens with plug-in electrodes provide a hazard-free environment for operators. The closed-loop cooling system circulating low-viscosity Dynalene at –40°C provides highly efficient water trapping. The LabVIEWTM software features (1) pressure and temperature recording for QA/QC; (2) safety interlocks to preclude operator errors resulting in sample loss, cross-contamination, or damaging a vacuum pump; and (3) automation for leak checking, iron conditioning, and running samples. Results from the first year of routinely measured standards, reference, and background materials are reproducible and within acceptance values. In the first year of operation (commissioned in spring 2014), over 1000 targets (~60% unknowns) were produced. With new tube sealing and CO2 purification lines, and two more graphitization lines now operational, the Lalonde AMS Laboratory is able to provide routine radiocarbon analysis (>200 µg carbon) at a capacity of more than 7000 targets per year. Most importantly, the equipment is safe and intuitive, making it ideal for education and training students to run their own samples.

Keywords

graphitizationCO2 purificationclosed-loop coolingautomationLabVIEWorbital welding
Type
Advances in Physical Measurement Techniques
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 59 , Special Issue 3: Proceedings of the 22nd International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 2 of 2) , June 2017 , pp. 941 - 956
Copyright
© 2016 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 2015 Radiocarbon Conference, Dakar, Senegal, 16–20 November 2015

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