Pressure Determination of Nitrogen Gas in Stainless-Steel Containers by the Method of Neutron Radiography

Neutron radiography was utilized to develop a nondestructive testing technique for the determination of compressed nitrogen gas pressure in sealed stainless-steel containers. This technique provides a means for measuring pressures of small volumes of gas, where weighing or using a gauge is unfeasible. Containers were radiographed for 22 min in the neutron radiography facility of the Soreq Nuclear Research Center reactor. A gadolinium metal converter was used to image the containers on Kodak SR film. Optical densities were measured and gas pressures were evaluated by a calibration curve. A precision of ± 5% was obtained for a single measurement in the region of 3000 psi.