A. Endo et al., ASSESSMENT OF THE CHEMICAL FORM OF GASEOUS S-35 SPECIES PRODUCED DURING THE PRODUCTION OF (H3PO4)-P-32, Health physics, 65(1), 1993, pp. 92-95
The chemical form of gaseous S-35 species produced during the producti
on of (H3PO4)-P-32 was characterized in order to reduce S-35 discharge
by understanding its production mechanism and chemical reactivity. An
air sample was evacuated from the cell in which the (H3PO4)-P-32 prod
uction was being carried out and collected in a sample gas reservoir.
Gaseous sulfur species contained in the sample were condensed in a col
d trap maintained at -180-degrees-C and analyzed by means of gas chrom
atography using a flame photometric detector. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) was
the only sulfur species detected. Equilibrium constant calculations s
howed that SO2 would be expected to be the predominant species produce
d by reactions of sulfur molecules (S(n):n = 2-8) with oxygen in air a
nd that the quantity Of SO2 produced would be reduced by heating the i
rradiated sulfur target under vacuum or in atmospheres of inert gases.