On the potential importance of transient air flow in advective radon entry into buildings
- Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, CA (USA)
The authors have investigated, using a mathematical model, the temporal variations of air flux within the soil mass surrounding a basement in the presence of time dependent periodic variations of barometric pressure and a persistent under-pressure at the basement. The results of transient air flow show that for a homogeneous soil medium, the effects of barometric fluctuations are most significant in the cases where soil permeability to air is low and the fluctuation frequency is high. In these cases, the barometric fluctuation can greatly enhance the magnitude of fluxes as well as introduce flow direction reversals from surrounding soil into the basement. These large fluxes with direction reversals have strong implications in regard to advective transport of radon. The results suggest that the transient oscillations have to be accounted for in quantifying radon entry into buildings. In the actual field set up, the transient behavior will be further influenced by soil permeability heterogeneity, by soil moisture variations, and by the effects of multiple periodic components in the barometric pressure fluctuations.
- OSTI ID:
- 6109553
- Journal Information:
- Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (USA), Vol. 17:6; ISSN 0094-8276
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Radon entry into buildings: Effects of atmospheric pressure fluctuations and building structural factors
Monitoring and modeling for radon entry into basements: A status report for the small structures project
Related Subjects
RADON
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
SOILS
PRESSURE GRADIENTS
ADVECTION
AIR FLOW
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
BASEMENTS
FLUCTUATIONS
HOUSES
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MOISTURE
OSCILLATIONS
PERMEABILITY
TIME DEPENDENCE
TRANSIENTS
AIR POLLUTION
BUILDINGS
ELEMENTS
FLUID FLOW
FLUIDS
GAS FLOW
GASES
MASS TRANSFER
NONMETALS
POLLUTION
RARE GASES
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
VARIATIONS
540130* - Environment
Atmospheric- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
540230 - Environment
Terrestrial- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)