Study of the effect of temperature and water content on radon exhalation from phosphate using LR-115 detectors

Abstract

Abstract A study of the influence of moisture content on the radon exhalation rate from phosphate samples (with and without consideration of the back diffusion effect) was performed using the sealed cup technique. The mass exhalation rate was found to increase with an increase in moisture content, reaching a maximum value of 2.414 ± 0.034 Bq kg−1 h−1 with a moisture content of 10%. However, the mass exhalation rate decreased with a continued increase in moisture content above 25%. The mass exhalation rate was also measured at different temperatures between −10 and 50°C. The obtained results show that the mass exhalation rate increases linearly with temperature. We point out that all the obtained values of radon exhalation rate are lower than the world average radon exhalation rate (57.6 Bq m−2 h−1).