We are pleased to announce that Durridge will soon be manufacturing, selling, and supporting RaDeCC, the Radium Delayed Coincidence Counter. RaDeCC was developed by W. S. Moore and R. Arnold and introduced to the market in 1996. Durridge has acquired the RaDeCC technology from the late Ralph Arnold’s Scientific Computer Instruments (SCI). We are looking forward to serving SCI’s valued customers, and introducing Ralph’s esteemed instrument to a wider audience.
What is RaDeCC?
RaDeCC, the Radium Delayed Coincidence Counter, is a system used to measure short-lived radium isotopes (radium-223 and radium-224) along with their thorium parent isotopes (thorium-227 and thorium-228).
RaDeCC applications
Because radium-223 and radium-224 have short half-lives (about 11 days and 3.7 days respectively), they’re excellent natural tracers for processes that happen on timescales of days to weeks. Oceanographers and hydrologists commonly use RaDeCC measurements to trace submarine groundwater discharge into coastal waters, and to estimate water mass residence times and mixing rates in estuaries, lagoons, and coastal zones. The RaDeCC system can also be used to track ocean circulation and exchange processes on short timescales.
How it works
The RaDeCC system pumps water samples through a fiber-filled cartridge that adsorbs dissolved radium. The cartridge is then placed in the RaDeCC unit, in which helium gas flows in a closed loop, carrying the radon and other alpha-emitting daughter products produced by radium decay into a scintillation detector and photomultiplier tube.
Why “delayed coincidence”
The technique distinguishes between the two radium isotopes based on the different decay chains and half-lives of their daughter products. Radium-224 decays to radon-220 (thoron, with a half-life of 55 seconds), while radium-223 decays to radon-219 (half-life ~4 seconds) which then quickly decays further to polonium-215. By timing the “coincidence” of alpha decay events with specific delay windows, the instrument can discriminate between the two decay series and quantify each radium isotope separately.
Sales and Support
The manufacture and delivery of the RaDeCC product line will resume shortly. For specific inquiries, please contact sales@durridge.com.
The RaDeCC system hardware