Automation of the gas analysis of14C-labelled compounds utilizing a piston-type counter tube

In this paper an automatic apparatus designed for the radioactivity measurement of¹⁴C-labelled organic compounds in the gaseous phase is described. The labelled organic compounds are combusted in a mixture of argon and oxygen. After combustion the oxygen content of the gas is eliminated by passing it through a copper packing. The water and heteroelements present are also removed and the radioactive carbon dioxide gas is swept by argon carrier gas into a piston-type counter tube. In the counter tube the piston forming a dividing wall moves forward in accordance with the rate of combustion and sweeping, and thus sucks the gases leaving the combustion tube into the effective tube volume. The anode wire is carried by a reel located in the piston and a spring device ensures its stretched state. At the end of the sweeping period methane is fed into the counter tube and the activity of the argon—methane—carbon dioxide mixture is measured in the limited proportional region. Manual and automatic operation is possible. The piston-type counter tube provides possibility for strandardization by means of extrapolation and for measurement of absolute activities.