Influence of the accumulation chamber insertion depth to measure surface radon exhalation rates

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials 2020-07, Vol.393, p.122344-122344, Article 122344
• Main Authors: Gutiérrez-Álvarez, I., Guerrero, J.L., Martín, J.E., Adame, J.A., Bolívar, J.P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accumulation chamber; Insertion depth; Phosphogypsum; Radon exhalation
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122344

[Display omitted] •Six cylindrical accumulation chambers with different insertion depths were built.•Two reference exhalation boxes were built using homogenized phosphogypsum.•Laboratory and field measurements were performed.•Insertion depth reduces the effective decay constant of the accumulation chamber.•Insertion chambers tested on the field are less influenced by external factors. 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 cylindrical-shaped accumulation chambers were built with different heights to test if the insertion depth of the chamber into the 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 phosphogypsum from a repository located nearby the city of Huelva, in the southwest of Spain. Laboratory experiments showed that insertion depth had a deep impact in reducing the effective decay constant of the system, extending the interval where the linear fitting can be applied, and consistently obtaining reliable exhalation measurements once a minimum insertion depth is employed. Field experiments carried out in the phosphogypsum repository showed that increasing the insertion depth could reduce the influence of external effects, increasing the repeatability of the method. These experiments provided a method to obtain consistent radon exhalation measurements over the phosphogypsum repository.