Abstract
Radioactive isotope techniques are now being applied routinely to the study of a wide range of problems on industrial process plant. The expansion of these activities has been stimulated both by the comparative ease with which measurement can be carried out on full-scale plant and by the ability of radioisotope techniques to diagnose plant faults while the plant is still on-line. This latter attribute can result in substantial economic benefits in terms of saved down-time.
This paper reviews the ways in which radioisotopes are used by ICI to solve problems on large-scale process plants. Recognizing that the field of application is extremely wide attention has been concentrated upon those techniques which have been found to be of greatest use. This selection is made on the basis of the work spectrum of ICI's Physics and Radioisotope Services, an organization which each year carries out more than 1500 applications for customers both within and external to ICI. The techniques described fall into two major categories: sealed source techniques and methods involving radioactive tracers. Applications from each category are described and, where appropriate, indications of the resulting economic benefits are given.
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