Sonic decontamination

The supersonic method of cleaning glassware is an outgrowth of the fact that it has been heretofore impossible to manually clean ground glass and quartz joints because the activity became lodged in the small pores of the ground surfaces. It has been theorized that the nature of the forces binding polonium to the glass is similar to that of the chemical bond but are less intense. The problem then becomes one of finding a force greater than this binding energy, capable of freeing the activity from the glass. This has been accomplished by using frequencies of 100 cycles to 20 kc at a power output from 2 to 20 watts, passing through a citric acid solution (pH-2) into which the contaminated article is placed. The optimum results, using a tank with the dimensions 7 in. {times} 7 in. {times} 7 in. and 3 liters of solution, has been found at 200 cycles or harmonics of 200 cycles. Citric acid was used because of the fact that it forms a soluble complex with polonium. The frequencies used have been kept within the sonic range until enough data has been obtained and correlated to warrant the design and construction of more costly types of projectors (i.e., quartz crystals) and their allied components. This document detail initial test methodology and results