Problems and techniques for removal of radon and radon-daughter products from mine atmospheres
Ventilation with fresh air has been, and will continue to be, the primary solution for controlling radon and radon-daughter activity in mines. However, procedures to make the ventilation process more effective and to reduce contamination have been proposed, such as sealing off of old workings, the use of coatings to reduce radon inflow, and mine pressurization. Air-cleaning techniques have proved successful in certain applications. For example, radon daughters can be removed by mechanical filtering and by electrostatic precipitation methods, both of which remove condensation nuclei to which radon daughters become attached. The radon gas that passes through continues to decay, but, in the absence of condensation nuclei, the daughters have large diffusion lengths and are trapped on the walls of air courses, thus inhibiting their growth. Radon gas has been successfully removed from air, although there are no known reports of this having been done in operating mines. It has been captured on activated charcoal and silica gel and chemically removed by reacting with a halogen fluoride and a metal fluoride. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Bureau of Mines, Washington, DC
- NSA Number:
- NSA-29-012686
- OSTI ID:
- 4388509
- Journal Information:
- Nucl. Safety, v. 14, no. 6, pp. 643-650, Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 30-JUN-74
- Country of Publication:
- Country unknown/Code not available
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Cost survey for radon daughter control by ventilation and other control techniques: radon emissions from underground uranium mines. Volume 2. Open file report, 30 September 1981-31 July 1984
Radon-daughter growth with continuous radon influx and various ventilation rates