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Performance Comparison of Flexible Detector Designs

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The purpose of this paper is to present test results of recent measurements on a scintillating fill fluid (i.e., liquid scintillator filled) detector and a scintillating fiber bundle detector designs, and explain the observed differences in efficiency. In our measurements we observe an improvement of factor of 2.4 in light output for a fill fluid detector compared to scintillating fiber bundle detector of the same diameter and length.

The process measurement marketplace has, for numerous years, used nuclear-based level detectors to measure process levels. Due to their improved sensitivity, scintillation detectors have replaced traditional ion chamber technology in continuous level applications. Scintillation detector designs incorporate either non-organic scintillating crystals such as sodium iodide (NaI) or faster organic plastic scintillation materials as the sensing material. The increased sensitivity came with disadvantages to the user; they are rigid, limited in length to 15 ft (4.6 meters) and heavy. In recent years a new type of scintillation detector has been introduced to the market which can be manufactured in single lengths up to 23 ft (7 meters), is lightweight, and has the ability to contour to the shape of a vessel; hence the term “Flexible Detector”.

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