Heat-air-moisture coupled model for radon migration in a porous media

Cui, Yu; Feng, Shengyang; Chen, Puxin; Ye, Yongjun; Wu, Yurong; Li, Ce; Yang, Rong; Wang, Hong

doi:10.1007/s11356-020-09374-z

Research Article
Published: 08 June 2020

Heat-air-moisture coupled model for radon migration in a porous media

Yu Cui¹,
Shengyang Feng ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3969-2924^1,2,
Puxin Chen^1,3,
Yongjun Ye¹,
Yurong Wu¹,
Ce Li¹,
Rong Yang¹ &
Hong Wang¹

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 27, pages 32659–32669 (2020)Cite this article

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3 Citations
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Abstract

Radon is one of the main causes of environmental pollution and lung cancer. The precipitation of radon from porous media is affected by the coupling of heat and moisture, which has not been considered in the existing knowledge. We present a model for predicting radon migration in porous media. This model combines the heat-air-moisture (HAM) coupling model of porous media with a radon migration model to establish three-dimensional partial differential equations for steady-state radon migration under HAM coupling conditions. The finite element method (FEM) was used to obtain a numerical solution. Experimental verification showed that the model had high calculation accuracy; the calculated maximum relative error did not exceed 15%. The results of the model were compared with the results of a conventional model that does consider the coupling of heat and humidity; the results showed significant differences in the radon concentrations and radon flux distribution curves for the two models. The newly developed model revealed that there is a significant coupling effect between migration and the distribution of the temperature field, the humidity field, and radon flux in unsaturated porous media. The radon exhalation rate on the surface of porous media increases linearly with the increase of permeability. The exhalation rate decreased exponentially with the increase in relative humidity. When the trend of the temperature gradient was consistent with the concentration gradient, the radon exhalation rate decreased linearly with the increase in temperature gradient. We establish a new model to study the radon migration in porous media under the coupling of heat and moisture. The model provides a theoretical basis for an effective and accurate analysis of the impact of radon exhalation on the environment.

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Funding

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11705083, 11575080), the National Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (No. 2019JJ50488), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2018M632975), and the 2019 Annual Joint Fund Project of Hunan Province Engineering Research Center of Radioactive Control Technology in Uranium Mining and Metallurgy & Hunan Province Engineering Technology Research Center of Uranium Tailings Treatment Technology, University of South China (No. 2019YKZX1009).

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School of Resource Environment and Safety Engineering, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, Hunan, China
Yu Cui, Shengyang Feng, Puxin Chen, Yongjun Ye, Yurong Wu, Ce Li, Rong Yang & Hong Wang
Hunan Province Engineering Technology Research Center of Uranium Tailings Treatment, Hengyang, 421001, China
Shengyang Feng
Hunan Province Engineering Research Center of Radioactive Control Technology in Uranium Mining and Metallurgy, Hengyang, 421001, China
Puxin Chen

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Yu Cui
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Shengyang Feng
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Puxin Chen
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Yongjun Ye
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Yurong Wu
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Ce Li
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Rong Yang
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Hong Wang
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Correspondence to Shengyang Feng.

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Cui, Y., Feng, S., Chen, P. et al. Heat-air-moisture coupled model for radon migration in a porous media. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 32659–32669 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09374-z

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Received: 06 February 2020
Accepted: 19 May 2020
Published: 08 June 2020
Issue Date: September 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09374-z

Keywords

Heat-air-moisture
Radon migration model
Radon exhalation rate
Radon flux
Porous media
Multifield coupling