ScanTech's Neutron Backscatter Technique provides reliable level measurements of the fluids inside your vessels. Our Neutron Backscatter equipment can remain on the exterior of your vessel while reading the levels inside. It is quick, accurate, portable and cost effective.

Many fixed gauges which you may already have installed in your plant employ the same operating theory as ScanTech's Neutron Backscatter. The difference is that our equipment is portable so it can be used on vessels that do not have gauges installed or do not have gauges in the area under investigation. We can measure levels in several vessels in one day and provide detailed reports on our findings.

Some applications of our Neutron Backscatter Technique include:

• Determine fluid levels inside vessels
• Verify or calibrate existing level gauges
• Determine contact interfaces (vapour / hydrocarbon / water / solids)
• Investigate foaming, frothing and emulsion layers
• Determine catalyst levels in reactors
• Determine liquid height in downcomers
• Determine liquid height in distributors and draw trays
• Locate hydrate, polymer or solids buildup in process lines
• Quantify sludge buildup in tanks and flare headers
• Examine levels or deposits on the shell side of exchangers
• Conduct separator studies
• Locate water ingress under insulation
• Locate voids in the earthen support under storage tank floors

When a fast neutron collides with a hydrogen atom it releases energy and becomes a slow or thermal neutron. The thermal neutrons are scattered in all directions but have a short travel path. Some of these thermal neutrons are scattered back towards the scanning head and these are the neutrons counted by the detector.

The more hydrogen atoms present in a material the more thermal neutrons that are created and can be detected. The detection of these thermal neutrons creates a Hydrogen Bulk Density of the material we are measuring. Vapour, with a low hydrogen density, will have few thermal neutrons reflected back to the detector. Hydrocarbons have a greater hydrogen concentration (as does water) so will reflect more neutrons back to the detector resulting in higher count rates. Any hydrogenous material may be measured including, but not limited to, water, hydrocarbons, acids, bases, organic liquids, concrete and earth.

Unlike some of our competitor's equipment our engineers obtain count rates in both analog and digital format. The analog format can be used to quickly identify zones of varying hydrogen content but can not be used to produce accurate tables and graphical plots. The digital format provides a count rate over any determined time interval. Digital counts can be used to produce accurate tables and graphical plots to identify subtle differences in the vessel's contents which may include foaming and emulsions layers.

Our scanning crew can use various lengths of extension poles and depending on the type of vessel and the location of existing platforms or ladders additional scaffold may not be required. This can often be determined through discussions with your personnel or digital photos of the vessel to be scanned.

Limitations on the depth of investigation are imposed due to the short distance travelled by thermal neutrons. Accurate readings can only be obtained within 4 to 5 inches of the scanning head. This limitation of measuring distance means that the cladding, insulation and the shell thickness combined should not exceed 3 inches. In most cases this is sufficient to obtain good measurements on your vessel with no intervention. Occasionally we may require the operator to remove a small strip of insulation to obtain the desired results.

The application of this technique are not limited to the examples provided above. If you have an application that you feel may be appropriate to our services please give our engineers a call to discuss. We can often perform experiments in house to verify if the service will work for non-standard applications before travelling to your site.