Coal face and stockpile ash analyser for the coal mining industry

A portable nucleonic instrument was developed for the determination of coal ash on the coal face or the surface of coal stockpiles. The instrument employs the backscattered gamma–gamma technique. There are two γ-ray sources used in this instrument: a 1.1 MBq 133Ba source as the primary source of radiation and a 37 kBq 137Cs for gain stabilization. The instrument is commercially available.