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Author(s) |
Kumara, K. S.; Sahoo, B. K.; Gaware, J. J.; Sapra, B. K.; Mayya, Y. S.; Karunakara, N. (RP&AD)
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Source |
Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 2017. Vol. 172: pp. 249-260 |
ABSTRACT
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Exposure due to thoron (220Rn) gas and its decay products in a thoriumfuel cycle facility handling thoriumor 232U/233Umixture compounds is an important issue of radiological concern requiring control and mitigation. Adsorption in a flow-through charcoal bed offers an excellentmethod of alleviating the release of 220Rn into occupational and public domain. In this paper,we present the design, development, and characterization of a Thoron Mitigation System (TMS) for industrial application. Systematic experiments were conducted in the TMS for examining the 220Rn mitigation characteristics with respect to a host of parameters such as flow rate, pressure drop, charcoal grain size, charcoalmass and bed depth,water content, and heat of the carrier gas. An analysis of the experimental data shows that 220Rn attenuation in a flow through charcoal bed is not exponential with respect to the residence time, L/Ua (L: beddepth;Ua: superficial velocity), but follows a power law behaviour, which can be attributed to the occurrence of large voids due towall channeling in a flowthrough bed. The study demonstrates the regeneration of charcoal adsorption capacity degraded due to moisture adsorption, by hot air blowing technique. It is found that the mitigation factor (MF), which is the ratio of the inlet 220Rn concentration (Cin) to the outlet 220Rn concentration (Cout), of more than 104 for the TMS is easily achievable during continuous operation (>1000 h) at a flowrate of 40 Lmin1 with negligible (<1 cm of water column) pressure drop. The Thoron Mitigation Systembased on adsorption on charcoal bed offers a compact and effective device to remove 220Rn from affluent air streams in a space constrained domain. The prototype system has been installed in a thorium fuel cycle facility where it is being evaluated for its long-term performance and overall effectiveness in mitigating 220Rn levels in the workplace. |
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