Radiocarbon Dating Technology, Ideas & Approaches

We use some base ideas of benzene synthesis for sample preparation. Initial ideas were published (Skripkin & Kovaliukh, 1998; Buzinny & Skripkin, 1995) and all future developments are included in materials used in Benzene Line, and knowledge given in user's manual and during staff training.

General Approach

Our general approach is to optimize volume (diameter and length) of benzene line and use selected materials — Teflon, Titanium, Stainless Steel, and Boron-Silicate Glass. In addition we can use ionizing air (ozone) for cleaning of the line.

The equipment uses a reusable chromium-based catalyst developed for acetylene-to-benzene conversion. The supplied catalyst quantity and expected service conditions should be confirmed for the intended laboratory workload.

Laboratory Glassware

Laboratory glass reaction vessels

We take care about problems arising in glass benzene lines — it is too hard to keep a large internal-volume vacuum line hermetic. The equipment therefore uses glassware selected for the functions described below:

• •High quality tubes of three different diameters for producing glass reaction vessels with cone connections.
• •Boron-silicate glass tubes produce glass reaction vessels applicable for all stages of sample conversion.
• •Cone connections allow simple connect/disconnect of any glass reaction vessel with Teflon holders.
• •Working temperature range: −200 °C to +600 °C.

Modern Approaches

We use modern approaches in sample processing: cryogenic trapping and sublimation, vacuum pyrolysis, capsule technology and microliner thermodestruction technology. These support documented applications: radiocarbon dating, estimation of environment impact, and tests of bio-based content. Moreover, one can use benzene line for tritium analyses achieving better counting performances for low-level tritium measurement.

Equipment Includes

Video Resources