Active radon detection unit

IF 1.6 3区物理与天体物理 Q2 NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Radiation Measurements Pub Date : 2025-02-01 DOI:10.1016/j.radmeas.2025.107373

Mehmet Erhan Emirhan

{"title":"Active radon detection unit","authors":"Mehmet Erhan Emirhan","doi":"10.1016/j.radmeas.2025.107373","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Radon (<sup>222</sup>Rn) is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that poses health risks when accumulated indoors. In this study, we present the design and implementation of an Active Radon Detection Unit (ARDU) for indoor radon measurements. The ARDU utilizes Si-PIN photodiodes for the electrostatic collection of radon progeny, enabling the real-time monitoring of radon levels. It also integrates some sensors for measuring ambient temperature, humidity, pressure, carbon monoxide, and methane, providing a comprehensive indoor air quality assessment.</div><div>The ARDU consists of six main components: the amplifier board, the collection chamber, the high voltage module, the microprocessor integrated control board, the global system for mobile communication module, and the liquid crystal display touch screen. The amplifier board amplifies and digitizes the signals generated from the alpha particles depositing their energy in Si-PIN photodiodes. The control board processes the data from the environmental sensors and amplifier board and transfers these to an integrated microprocessor. A mobile communication module facilitates remote data transmission via a short message service.</div><div>Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the ARDU in measuring radon levels in indoor environments. Comparative analysis with commercially available radon detectors shows a good agreement within the daily average. Two different methods were performed for converting the raw counts per hour to Bq/m<sup>3</sup>. A radon emanation standard source and a calibrated gold standard device were used as a reference. Secondly, statistical analysis confirms the significance of the regression model used for converting raw detector signals to Bq/m<sup>3</sup> units.</div><div>Overall, the ARDU provides a cost-effective solution for continuous indoor radon monitoenvironmental factors. The device's portability and affordability make it suitable for widespread deployment, contributing to comprehensive radon monitoring efforts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21055,"journal":{"name":"Radiation Measurements","volume":"181 ","pages":"Article 107373"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Radiation Measurements","FirstCategoryId":"101","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1350448725000022","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Radon (²²²Rn) is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that poses health risks when accumulated indoors. In this study, we present the design and implementation of an Active Radon Detection Unit (ARDU) for indoor radon measurements. The ARDU utilizes Si-PIN photodiodes for the electrostatic collection of radon progeny, enabling the real-time monitoring of radon levels. It also integrates some sensors for measuring ambient temperature, humidity, pressure, carbon monoxide, and methane, providing a comprehensive indoor air quality assessment.

The ARDU consists of six main components: the amplifier board, the collection chamber, the high voltage module, the microprocessor integrated control board, the global system for mobile communication module, and the liquid crystal display touch screen. The amplifier board amplifies and digitizes the signals generated from the alpha particles depositing their energy in Si-PIN photodiodes. The control board processes the data from the environmental sensors and amplifier board and transfers these to an integrated microprocessor. A mobile communication module facilitates remote data transmission via a short message service.

Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the ARDU in measuring radon levels in indoor environments. Comparative analysis with commercially available radon detectors shows a good agreement within the daily average. Two different methods were performed for converting the raw counts per hour to Bq/m³. A radon emanation standard source and a calibrated gold standard device were used as a reference. Secondly, statistical analysis confirms the significance of the regression model used for converting raw detector signals to Bq/m³ units.

Overall, the ARDU provides a cost-effective solution for continuous indoor radon monitoenvironmental factors. The device's portability and affordability make it suitable for widespread deployment, contributing to comprehensive radon monitoring efforts.

查看原文

微信好友朋友圈 QQ好友复制链接

本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文去求助

来源期刊

Radiation Measurements 工程技术-核科学技术

CiteScore

4.10

自引率

20.00%

发文量

116

审稿时长

48 days

期刊介绍： The journal seeks to publish papers that present advances in the following areas: spontaneous and stimulated luminescence (including scintillating materials, thermoluminescence, and optically stimulated luminescence); electron spin resonance of natural and synthetic materials; the physics, design and performance of radiation measurements (including computational modelling such as electronic transport simulations); the novel basic aspects of radiation measurement in medical physics. Studies of energy-transfer phenomena, track physics and microdosimetry are also of interest to the journal. Applications relevant to the journal, particularly where they present novel detection techniques, novel analytical approaches or novel materials, include: personal dosimetry (including dosimetric quantities, active/electronic and passive monitoring techniques for photon, neutron and charged-particle exposures); environmental dosimetry (including methodological advances and predictive models related to radon, but generally excluding local survey results of radon where the main aim is to establish the radiation risk to populations); cosmic and high-energy radiation measurements (including dosimetry, space radiation effects, and single event upsets); dosimetry-based archaeological and Quaternary dating; dosimetry-based approaches to thermochronometry; accident and retrospective dosimetry (including activation detectors), and dosimetry and measurements related to medical applications.