NMR Magnet Shielding

[SteveWag]

I have been asked to help with the installation of a 300 Mhz NMR magnet and aux. equipment. The problem is that the room is only 15 feet wide and the 5 Gauss field extends about 3 meters in the x-axis all around. Can I just cover the interior walls, in the area where the 5 Gauss contour is beyond the wall surface, with a steel plate? I am OK both above and below, but on two sides I have occupied areas, one having a SEM installed, and on the third I have a public corridor. Can anyone point me to a design reference?

Thanks !!!
Steve Wagner

 

[biff44]

Dude, you might kill someone if you put steel plates on the wall. The intense magnetic field could pull the plates loose and impale someone with the edges!

I would contact the manufacturer and ask these types of questions. I am sure there are ways to shield the room, especially non-magnetic ones that will be safer. But such a large metal surface near the machine might screw up the NMR measurements themselves.

 

[biff44]

As an interesting example, a boy was killed a few years back when an unsecured steel gas bottle, on the other side of the room, took flight when the superconducting magnet was turned on during an MRI.

 

[biff44]

http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/nmr/safety/nmrlabsafetye.ppt#5