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Measuring radon exhalation rate in two cycles avoiding the effects of back-diffusion and chamber leakage

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Abstract

This paper will present a simple method for measuring the radon exhalation rate from the medium surface in two cycles and also avoiding the effects of back-diffusion and chamber leakage. The method is based on a combination of the “accumulation chamber” technique and a radon monitor. The radon monitor performs the measurement of the radon concentration inside the accumulation chamber, and then the radon exhalation rate can be obtained by simple calculation. For reducing the systematic error and the statistical uncertainty, too short of total measurement time is not appropriate, and the first cycle time should be about 70 % of the total measurement. The radon exhalation rate from the medium surface obtained through this method is in good agreement with the reference value. This simple method can be applied to develop and improve the instruments for measuring radon exhalation rate.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Derek Lane-Smith for providing all the dimensions in RAD7. This project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 11075049), the Excellent Talents Program of Hengyang Normal University of China, the construct program of the key discipline in Hunan Province, and Science Foundation of Hengyang Normal University of China (grant no. 11B41). The authors appreciate Mr. Aaron May for providing the language editing service.

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  1. Department of Physics and Electronics, Hengyang Normal University, Hengyang, China, 421008

    Yanliang Tan

  2. School of Nuclear Science & Technology, University of South China, Hengyang, China, 421001

    Yanliang Tan & Detao Xiao

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  1. Yanliang Tan
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  2. Detao Xiao
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Correspondence to Yanliang Tan.

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Tan, Y., Xiao, D. Measuring radon exhalation rate in two cycles avoiding the effects of back-diffusion and chamber leakage. Environ Monit Assess 185, 8759–8765 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3210-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3210-7

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