Segmented
Gate System
(SGS)
Eberline Services' Segmented Gate System (SGS) provides accuracy
and precision in radiologically contaminated soil segregation and
remediation. Our SGS is a cost-effective approach to soil remediation,
which can function as a stand-alone technology or can be coupled
with other types of soil treatment technologies. The SGS is a characterization
and sorting technology that measures the radioactivity of soil as
it passes underneath a detector array on a conveyor belt, and automatically
separates the portion exceeding the cleanup standards. The key advantage
to the SGS is automation, which affords a much higher degree of
precision and accuracy compared with manual systems. Also, all of
the soil to be treated or disposed is analyzed, not just sampled,
and the level of radioactivity is documented in both the contaminated
and clean streams.
The SGS removes
radionuclides from feed materials in accordance with site release
criteria. Radionuclides measured by the SGS include:
- Cesium-137
- Cobalt-60
- Radium-226
- Thorium-232
- Uranium-238
- Americium-241
SGS
Process
This series of photos shows the SGS process of efficiently sorting
radiologically contaminated soil. The process effectively reduces
the volume of contaminated soils that must be treated or disposed.
Screen
Plant
- Controls
size of material placed on belt
- Removes large
objects that may not pass under detector arrays
Sorting
Conveyor
- Approximately
28-feet long, provides for the transport of uniform layer of soil
under detector arrays
- Surge bin
on front of conveyor provides temporary storage for non-uniform
flow provided by screen plant
- A screen
controls thickness of soil as it is deposited on conveyor
- Detector
array housed in shielded box, whose height above conveyor adjusts
for soil layers of varying thickness
- End of the
conveyor provides holding area for soil that has passed underneath
the detector array until a sorting decision is made
- Engineered
controls reduce dust potential: slow belt speed of 30 fpm; covered
conveyor; 10-25 percent soil moisture
Sorting
Gates
- Eight custom-shaped
funnels mounted on pneumatic cylinders
- Sorting computer
determines when contaminated material has reached end of conveyor
belt
Diversion
Conveyors
- Contaminated
soil is diverted to a stacking conveyor
- Clean soil
exits through diversion gates to another stacking conveyor
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