Year
1992
Abstract
Calorimeters produced by Mound have been meeting the nondestructive assay (NDA) needs of the Department of Energy for many years. In the past, most calorimetry users were concerned primarily with measurement quality rather than a specific computer control system. However, in response to recent requests, Mound has developed a calorimeter control system for the dry heat exchanger calorimeter system using a personal computer platform. This new control program has been completely redesigned and has an integrated operator interface which is menu driven and user friendly. The system has increased data analysis capabilities including: graphing the calorimeter output on the screen as the assay run is in progress, outputting the data to a laser printer at the end of the run, and transferring the data to a commercially available spreadsheet program such as Lotus 123. The data from the field test of the system at LANL along with the data obtained from the new calorimeter operating system will be presented. This system will allow calorimeter users greater flexibility than ever before possible since the data collection, analysis and manipulation can all be performed on the same computer.