Development of the wastewater boron concentration measurement device using neutron.

We developed a device for measuring boron concentration in wastewater, on the basis of the high thermal neutron capture ability of boron. The device is completely different from those used the conventional measurement techniques. The main results obtained using the nuclear physics theory and experiments are as follows. (1) The device can measure boron concentration correctly in the presence of dissolved matter and suspended matter coexisting at high concentrations. (2) About the measurement precision, relative error decreases, thereby increasing boron concentration. In the boron concentration range of more than 50 mg·L-1, the device has same precision as ICP analysis, which is the official analysis used in Japan, in terms of measurement time in minutes. (3) The device operated well at a high wastewater temperature, and a precision, the same as that of ICP analysis, was obtained by a one-month proof experiment.