Abstract
Analytical methods by 14 MeV neutron of oxygen and sulfur in petroleum products and permeability of polyethylene sample container to various hydrocarbons are discussed.
It is proposed that for the analysis of oxygen in petroleum products only a change in density may have an effect on self shielding against neutron and against the radiation from 16N. On the basis of above proposal, it is estimated that the difference between the gradients of the calibration curves applied to gasoline and heavy fuel oil or lubricating oil is about 8%. The relative standard deviation on a result is about 10% at 100% ppm of oxygen.
The rapid determination of sulfur is based on scintillation counting of the radiation from the 12.4 second 34P produced by the 34S (n, p) 34P reaction, requiring corrections for oxygen as a main interfering element. The relative error is about 4% at the range of 0.5-3% sulfur but the values obtained are 5-10% higher than those by bomb method because of impurities other than oxygen. Experimental time for an analysis is about 5 minutes.
