RT Journal Article
T1 Influence of the accumulation chamber insertion depth to measure surface radon exhalation rates
A1 Gutiérrez Álvarez, Isidoro
A1 Guerrero Márquez, José Luis
A1 Martín Domínguez, José Enrique
A1 Adame Carnero, José Antonio
A1 Bolívar Raya, Juan Pedro
AB A common method to measure radon exhalation rates relies on the accumulation chamber technique. Usually,this approach only considers one-dimensional gas transport within the soil that neglects lateral diffusion.However, this lateral transport could reduce the reliability of the method. In this work, several cylindricalshapedaccumulation chambers were built with different heights to test if the insertion depth of the chamber intothe soil improves the reliability of the method and, in that case, if it could limit the radon lateral diffusion effects.To check this hypothesis in laboratory, two reference exhalation boxes were manufactured using phosphogypsumfrom a repository located nearby the city of Huelva, in the southwest of Spain. Laboratory experimentsshowed that insertion depth had a deep impact in reducing the effective decay constant of the system, extendingthe interval where the linear fitting can be applied, and consistently obtaining reliable exhalation measurementsonce a minimum insertion depth is employed. Field experiments carried out in the phosphogypsum repositoryshowed that increasing the insertion depth could reduce the influence of external effects, increasing the repeatabilityof the method. These experiments provided a method to obtain consistent radon exhalation measurementsover the phosphogypsum repository.
PB Elsevier
SN 0304-3894
YR 2020
FD 2020
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10272/20828
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10272/20828
LA eng
NO Gutiérrez-Álvarez, I., Guerrero, J. L., Martín, J. E., Adame, J. A., & Bolívar, J. P. (2020). Influence of the accumulation chamber insertion depth to measure surface radon exhalation rates. In Journal of Hazardous Materials (Vol. 393, p. 122344). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122344
NO This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science,Innovation and Universities, by the project ‘Fluxes of radionuclidesemitted by the PG piles located at Huelva; assessment of the dispersion,radiological risks and remediation proposals’ (Ref.: CTM2015-68628-R)and the Junta de Andalucía Regional Government by the project “Basicprocesses regulating the fractionation and enrichment of naturalradionuclides under Acid Mine Drainage” (Ref.: UHU-1255876). Specialthanks are given to Antonio Padilla for his invaluable technical supportand know-how.
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 30 may 2026