Automatic Sample Combustion and CO2 Collection System for AMS-14C

Abstract

A compact accelerator mass spectrometry(AMS) system was installed at Yamagata University in 2010 with the aim of developing technologies for the radiocarbon dating of environmental samples and microdosing clinical tests using radiocarbon. With the installation of this AMS system, we also installed a new automatic sample preparation system comprising an elemental analyzer(EA), an isotope ratio mass spectrometer(IRMS), and a glass vacuum line(GVL). This automatic system can automatically collect CO2 from samples, measure the stable isotope ratio, quantify the amount of CO2 and H2 introduced for reduction, and treat 20 samples in approximately 12.5hrs, thus enabling the preparation of 60 samples per week.