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Computer based radioactivity measurement with acquisition and monitoring

radiation data using LabVIEW

Conference Paper · May 2014

DOI: 10.1109/ICIEV.2014.6850795

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 Computer Based Radioactivity Measurement with
Acquisition and Monitoring Radiation Data Using
LabVIEW
Masudul Hassan Quraishi1, Md. Aminul Hoque1, Anisa Begum2, Mohammad Jahangir Alam1
1
Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology,
Dhaka, Bangladesh
2
Electronics Division, Atomic Energy Center, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract— This paper presents preparing high voltage for Geiger to the natural environment. In general, however, ionizing
counter along with data acquisition and monitoring technique by radiation is far more harmful to living organisms per unit of
LabVIEW. A high voltage generation circuit is designed for the energy deposited than non-ionizing radiation. Since the ions
GM counter and the recorded data is stored, analyzed and that are produced by ionizing radiation, even at low radiation
monitored in a personal computer with the help of National power, have the potential to cause DNA damage. By contrast,
Instruments Data Acquisition card (DAQ card). The interface most non-ionizing radiation is harmful to organisms only in
between hardware and computer is done by the software proportion to the thermal energy deposited. It is conventionally
LabVIEW. considered harmless at low powers which do not produce
significant temperature rise.
Keywords-radiation detection, LabVIEW, data acquisition, GM
counter, DAQ There are mainly three types of ionized radiation: alpha (α),
beta (β) and gamma (γ) rays [3]. This paper is more concerned
I. INTRODUCTION about the gamma ray detection. Gamma (γ) radiation consists
Radiation is the energy that comes from a source and of photons with a frequency of greater than 1019 Hz [4].
travels through some material or through space. This paper is Gamma radiation occurs to rid the decaying nucleus of excess
mostly concerned about ionized radiation. Ionized radiation is energy after it has emitted either alpha or beta radiation. Both
produced by unstable atoms which contain excess of energy or alpha and beta particles have an electric charge and mass, and
mass. The importance of detecting natural radiation is that thus are quite likely to interact with other atoms in their path.
certain radiations are harmful for environment. As ionized Gamma radiation is composed of photons, which have neither
radiation is used in diagnosis of diseases, medical and scientific mass nor electric charge. Gamma radiation penetrates much
researches and nuclear power plants, detection of radiation is further through matter than either alpha or beta radiation.
an important task [1]. The objective of this work is to
implement a cost effective Radiation Measurement System. It Gamma rays, which are highly energetic photons, penetrate
has been implemented using DAQ and LabVIEW to record the deeply and are difficult to stop. They can be stopped by a
data and store in a computer. For making this system cost sufficiently thick layer of material, where stopping power of
effective, Geiger Muller radiation detector has been used [2]. the material per given area depends mostly (but not entirely) on
The high voltage generation circuit mainly consists of a simple its total mass, whether the material is of high or low density
transformer and passive elements such as capacitors, diodes [5].
and resistors. The key idea is to develop a cheap hardware Radiation detector is a device used to detect, track, and/or
which can detect radiation up to a satisfactory accuracy and identify high-energy particles, such as those produced by
also to record the data into a secure database with easy access. nuclear decay, cosmic radiation, or reactions in a particle
accelerator. The different types of detectors are divided into
II. FAMILIARIZATION WITH RADIOACTIVITY AND three groups:
DETECTION SCHEME
a. Inorganic detectors
Radiation is a process in which energetic particles or
energetic waves travel through vacuum, or through matter- b. Organic detectors
containing media that are not required for their propagation.
Waves of a massive medium itself, such as water waves or c. Gaseous detectors
sound waves, are usually not considered to be forms of In this paper, radiation detection is implemented by gaseous
"radiation" in this sense. detectors. Gas-filled detectors consist of a volume of gas
Two energies of radiation are commonly differentiated by between two electrodes [6]. There are basically two types of
the way they interact with normal chemical matter: ionizing modes of operation. They are:
and non-ionizing radiation. Both ionizing and non-ionizing a. Pulse mode
radiation can be harmful to organisms and can result in changes
b. Current mode
 In pulse mode, the signal from each interaaction is processed
individually. In current mode, the electriical signals from
individual interactions are averaged togethher, forming a net
current signal. To be more specific, a Geigerr Muller detector is
used here, which contain gases with specificc properties. When
appropriate bias (in this case, nearly 500V)) is applied, upon
receiving radiation (gamma rays) the detectoor produces current
pulses. The schematic diagram of the detectoor circuit is shown
in Figure 1[7].

Figure 2: Schematic Circuit Diagram

D for the High Voltage
Generattion Unit

Figure 1: Schematic Diagram for a Geiger Mulller Gas detector The operation of the circuit is straight forward. The timer is
operated in Astable mode to generate pulse. The following
output pulse was extracted from the timer: Frequency=146Hz
Therefore, the whole work can be divided intto two major parts: and Duty= 0.48.
a. High Voltage Generation unit The output from 555 timer IC
I is used to switch the input 9V
b. Data Acquisition Unit supply. Switching is performmed by IRF540 MOSFET. The
switched output is stepped up via a transformer. A 220V/6V
These are described in the following sections. step down transformer is operaated in step up mode to achieve
amplified pulse.
III. HIGH VOLTAGE GENERATION
N UNIT
Output from the transform mer is passed through voltage
Geiger-Muller counter operates at high DC voltage. The multiplier circuit for further am
mplification [10].
DC voltage is applied at two electrodes off the counter. The
counter used here has an operating voltage range
r of 450-650V
[8]. The hardware built here is basically a DC
C-DC converter. A
9V DC source is switched and then stepped up to make 500 V
DC. A list of equipment used is given Table 1.
1
Table 1: Equipment Used
d

Name Model/Speciification Figure 3: Basic Voltagge Multiplier (Doubler)

Timer IC LM555
In the voltage doubler circcuit shown in Figure 3 the first
Transformer 220V-6V Steep Down diode rectifies the signal and its output is equal to the peak
MOSFET IRF540 voltage from the transformer rectified as a half wave rectifier.
An AC signal via the capacitorr also reaches the second diode,
Diode 1N4007 and in view of the DC block provided by the capacitor this
BJT BC549C causes the output from the secoond diode to sit on top of the first
one. In this way the output froom the circuit is twice the peak
Capacitors 100nF, 10uF,, 1000uF voltage of the transformer, less the diode drops.
Resistors 5k, 68k, 1M, 100k, 1k
Battery 9V
Potentiometer 100k

The schematic circuit diagram for the t high voltage

Figure 4: Hardware setup forr high voltage generation
generation unit is shown in Figure 2[9].
 Figure 4 shows the hardware setup for high voltage
generation. The high voltage board must have a protection
circuit for safety. If voltage higher then rated voltage is
generated, excess current flow might damage the Geiger
counter. The high voltage output is fed to input of a BJT.
Whenever the current flow exceeds limit, the transistor
switches the reset pin of 555 timer to ground. The timer is reset
and pulse generation is stopped immediately which sets the
high voltage output to zero volts.
Voltage output can be varied a small amount by adding a
potentiometer at the output. Output voltage also varies
proportionally to input voltage. The high voltage board is
particularly built for the specific GM counter model. Therefore
varying the voltage in wide range is not necessary. Just a little Figure 5: Front Panel
tuning might be needed to get the counter in its best
performance voltage range.
Thus the hardware setup for the counter is ready. The
counter will produce output pulse in response of radiation field
around it. In the next chapters focus will be on the counter
interfacing with computer using LabVIEW and acquisition the
count data from GM counter to the computer.
IV. DATA ACQUISITION UNIT
For the interfacing with computer for data recording and
handling, LabVIEW and NI DAQ card are used. LabVIEW
(Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Engineering Workbench)
is a dataflow programming language developed by National
Instruments (NI). Applications developed for this work are
programmed in LabVIEW 2009 version.
Data acquisition is the process of sampling signals that
measure real world physical conditions and converting the
resulting samples into digital numeric values that can be
manipulated by a computer. The data acquisition device used
hereis NI USB-6009. It is 14-bit, 48 kS/s low cost
multifunction DAQ card [11].
NI USB-6009 DAQ card has its digital trigger or event
counter input at PFI0 pin. Output from the GM counter is
connected to PFI0 pin of DAQ card. When radiation is
detected, output pulse from GM counter goes to DAQ card and
the count is stored and monitored in computer using LabVIEW
program.
A virtual instrument is created using LabVIEW for proper
collection, storage and monitoring of radiation data. The task Figure 6: Block Diagram of Interfacing Algorithm
is completed by building small blocks performing certain
actions. The major blocks are:
Radiation data saved in excel file is used to make daily
a. Elapsed Time Block database of radiation. The database can be searched by year,
b. Counter Block month and date. Therefore the system stores entire radiation
c. File Read and Plot history in the computer. The whole procedure is summarized
d. Security Alarm and depicted by a flow diagram in Figure 6. The radiation data
All the blocks mentioned above are combined to form the can be used to plot daily, monthly or yearly radiation history
plot. Front panel of database is shown in Figure 7.
virtual instrument for acquisition and monitoring data. Front
panel of this instrument is shown in Figure 5.
 VI. CONCLUSION
The implemented system is an inexpensive and easy to use
method for Radiation Detection and Measurement. The main
advantage of the implementation is that a less expensive and
simple circuit is designed for the detector, consisting of locally
available equipment. The software used for computer
interfacing is also open source (NI LabVIEW 8.1 Student
Edition) software. Although a data acquisition card (NI USB-
6009) is used, alternatively a micro-controller based data
acquisition system could be used for reducing the cost further.
Additionally, in LabVIEW virtual window, one can setup
experiments which may be impossible to construct in real life.
Furthermore, it creates a safe environment for the student, since
Figure 7: Radiation Database there is no real radiation risk and also no possible damage risk
to the expensive instruments, while learning radiation detection
and measurement.
V. LIMITATIONS AND SOLUTIONS
REFERENCES
The implemented system is a state of art radiation
measurement and monitoring system. However, it has few
limitations and scope of improvements. [1] “Radiation detection and measurement” Glenn F. Knoll
[2] “Data acquisition” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_acquisition
The current LabVIEW program is suitable for low [3] Kwan-Hoong Ng (20–22 October 2003) Questions and Answers about
frequency measurement due to the limitation of NI USB-6009 Biological Effects and Potential Hazards of Radiofrequency
DAQ Card. High frequency measurement is possible by Electromagnetic Fields. Office of Engineering and Technology. Bulletin
replacing DAQ Card with an advanced one. 56, Fourth Edition, August 1999..
[4] "Non-Ionizing Radiations – Sources, Biological Effects, Emissions and
GM counters are not suitable for high radiation field; they Exposures". Proceedings of the International Conference on Non-
are paralyzed when the count rate is too high. In order to get Ionizing Radiation at UNITEN ICNIR2003 Electromagnetic Fields and
better results, scintillation detectors may be used. Our Health.
[5] "The History of the Discovery of Radiation and Radioactivity"
Noise removal hardware is absent in the system. Due to http://mightylib.mit.edu/Course%20Materials/22.01/Fall%202001/disco
external noise, results can be varied a little bit. It can be very%20of%20radiation.pdf
resolved by using noise removal circuitry between GM counter [6] R.K.BOCK, A.VASILESCU,"The Particle Detector Briefbook" Rudolf
and DAQ card. K.Bock, March 1999
[7] Helmuth Spieler, “Introduction to Radiation Detectors and
The system can be further enhanced by introducing Electronics”Lecture Notes - Physics 198, Spring Semester 1998 - UC
complete wireless control.It can be achieved by internet or Berkeley
Bluetooth or any other wireless means of communication. GM [8] Mullard, Quick Reference Guide 1977/78, “ZP-1320 Datasheet”
counter and computer setup room will be near the radiated zone [9] Ajarn Changpuak, “Homebrew Geiger Müller Counter,”December,
and can be controlled from thousands miles away by internet. 2011
The database will be available in a website so that radiation [10] Ian Poole, “Diode voltage multiplier circuit,” March 2001:
information can be accessed from anywhere. http://www.radio-
electronics.com/info/circuits/diode_voltage_multiplier/diode_volt_mult.
For test purpose, only GM counter is used in the php
system. Output range of the high voltage board can be [11] National Instruments Corporation,“NI USB-6008/6009 User Guide and
Specifications,” February, 2012.
increased to supply different types of radiation counter. Thus
the current system can be upgraded to universal radiation
measurement system.

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