Skip Navigation


Radiation Protection Dosimetry Advance Access originally published online on July 20, 2004
Radiation Protection Dosimetry 2004 111(3):305-318; doi:10.1093/rpd/nch346
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
111/3/305    most recent
nch346v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mayya, Y. S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Mayya, Y. S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Radiation Protection Dosimetry Vol. 111, No. 3 © Oxford University Press 2004; all rights reserved

Theory of radon exhalation into accumulators placed at the soil–atmosphere interface

Y. S. Mayya

Environmental Assessment Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085, India

Corresponding author: mayyays{at}magnum.barc.ernet.in

A theoretical analysis is provided for the phenomenon of radon diffusion into cylindrical accumulators (inverted cups), which are commonly used for the measurement of radon exhalation rates from the earth's surface. Analytical solutions to the diffusion equations in the soil and the cup spaces are obtained by a two-dimensional (2-D) analysis that takes into account the perturbation in the horizontal and vertical radon concentration profiles brought about by the presence of the cup. The mixed nature of the boundary conditions at the soil surface and the cup–soil interface is handled by dual integral equation techniques. The treatment includes steady-state and time-dependent situations with and without ventilation. Formulae are derived for the effective time constant of radon build-up in the cup and for the back diffusion correction factors in different experimental situations. It is found that the effective time constant of radon build-up is much larger than the radon decay constant and it increases for smaller cups. The back diffusion correction factors to be employed in one-time measurement methods also increase as the cup dimensions decrease. The present work provides an analytical basis of an earlier numerical treatment for the growth curve analysis of the same problem. Although the results are based on the assumptions of somewhat ideal nature for mathematical tractability, they provide upper bound estimates of the phenomenon of back diffusion. Some practical applications of the results for extracting diffusion length of radon in materials are also suggested.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.