Examination of the parameters affecting of ²²²Rn emanation for some industrial and environmental samples using...

The present work aims to radiologically characterize five samples (monazite, zircon, scale waste originating from petroleum production, black sands and phosphate rocks) from different industrial applications and environments in the Egyptian territory. The first section of the present work discusses the measurement and analysis of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K concentrations. Moreover, the assessment of the hazard indices is given in terms of radium equivalent (Ra_eq), external hazard index (H_ex), internal hazard index (H_in), gamma-activity index (I_γ) and alpha-activity index (I_α). The second section deliberates the ²²²Rn gas emanated from the samples and studies the physical parameters affecting the emanation process. The results found that the monazite sample has the highest concentration of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K; however, it reached 54435, 442105 and 583 Bq.kg^-1, respectively, between the studied samples. Furthermore, black sands and phosphate rock samples exhibit the lowest concentration of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K. Results also show that the radon emanation coefficients decrease while the density of materials increases.