Uncontrolled disposal of water extracted during oil and gas production leads to contamination of the surrounding soil with naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM), resulting in contamination of huge volumes of soil with radium isotopes (226 Ra and 228 Ra). In order to assess the radiological health hazards and excess lifetime cancer risks associated with the contaminated soil, the concentration of the naturally occurring radionuclides 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K were determined using gamma ray spectrometry. The mean activity concentrations of 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K were found to be 1939.56, 737.86 and198.21Bq kg _1 , respectively. The results of the radiological indices and annual effective dose & cancer risk estimated by RESRAD obtained in this study were all higher than their worldwide mean values. This indicates the danger of discharging the produced water resulting from oil and gas production into evaporation ponds without taking preventive measures that limit soil contamination and thus limiting workers' exposure to natural radioactive materials. There is a need to establish clear national rules and regulations for dealing with natural radioactive materials resulting from various oil and gas fields in order to contribute to the control and management policy of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TE-NORM) released from this industry.
Oil and gas production processing operations have been known to produce a large amount of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs) at elevated concentrations as by-product waste streams. This means that TE-NORM (technologically-enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials) wastes from the oil & gas industry may generate radiation exposure levels, which require attention and continuous monitoring during NORM decontamination of oil and gas equipment. This exposure is mostly caused by external and internal radiation coming from the 226 Ra & 228 Ra (U-238 and Th-232 series) radionuclides and their progenies. This study focuses on follow up of the annual effective dose for workers during decontaminating naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) of oil and gas equipment. The external effective dose was evaluated using thermoluminescence detector (TLD). The obtained data showed that the range of the annual dose was from 1.07 to 1.78 mSv and the average dose of the ten workers under investigation was 1.4 ±0.24 mSv. The average dose is about 7 % of the occupational annual dose limit. It is concluded that protective measures against external and internal contamination helped in the protection of the workers against NORM hazards).
The present study aimed to assess the radiological parameters from gamma rays due to the uncontrolled disposal of porcelain waste to the environment. Qualitative and quantitative identification of radionuclides in the investigated samples was carried out by means of a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector. The average activity concentrations of the local porcelain samples were measured as 208.28 Bq/kg for Ra, 125.73 Bq/kg forU, 84.94 Bq/kg for Th and 1033.61 Bq/kg forK, respectively. The imported samples had an average activity of 240.57 Bq/kg for Ra, 135.56 Bq/kg forU, 115.74 Bq/kg for Th and 1312.49 Bq/kg forK, respectively. Radiological parameters and the radium equivalent Ra for the investigated samples were calculated. The external and internal hazard indices, representative level index (I), alpha index (I), and the exemption level (I), were estimated to be higher than the recommended value (unity), while the average activity concentrations for the studied samples were higher than recommended levels. In conclusion, we are concerned that disposal of porcelain in the environment might be a significant hazard.
The present work was carried out to determine the elemental composition of granitoid rock samples from three gold mines (Sukari, Hamash, and Um Hagalig) in the South-eastern part of Egypt and quantification of the extent of the elemental enrichment. A total of 37 samples from the mines were subjected to neutron activation analysis, and the mass fractions of the elements were measured in mg/kg. The results show a dominance of K (76.9%), Fe (11.0%), Ca (8.7%), and Na (3.1%) for Sukari mine; Na (31.2%), Ca (28.5%), K (23.1%), and Fe (9.9%) for the Hamash mine; and for the Um Hagalig mine Na (31.1%), K (22%), Ca (21.7%), and Fe (20.8%). In addition, significant mass fractions of uranium, thorium and rare earth elements were found in Hamash and Um Hagalig. The average mass fractions of U in the investigated areas are measured to be 59.7, 48.2, and 30.8 mg/kg for Hamash, Sukary, and Um Hagalig, respectively. Furthermore, the average mass fractions of Th were significant and measured to be 3905, 1673, and 7 mg/kg for Hamash, Um Hagalig, and Sukary, respectively. Multiple ratio indicators and discrimination diagrams were used to better understand the origin of the elements in the samples studied. The indicators suggest that the provenance of the elements is mainly from metavolcanic and volcanic rocks. The findings should make an important contribution to the study of ores and minerals and thus represent an important area for environmental studies.
A nanoparticles chelating solution was synthesized by copolymerization of acrylonitrile (AN) and methacrylic acid (MAA) by radiation induced polymerization technique using 17 kGy irradiation doses. A high copolymer yield was obtained by using 80/20% of AN/MAA and comonomer concentration of 50% (w/w) at a dose rate of 2.58 KGy/h. The resultant cyano group (–CN) of nano-poly(AN/MAA) was converted by chemical modification using hydroxylamine (NH2–OH) to an amidoxime group [–C(=NOH)NH2], which was then confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The physico-chemical properties of poly(AN/MAA) and amidoximated poly(AN/MAA) nanoparticles were studied by FTIR, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The morphological analysis by TEM and DLS showed a spherical and uniform size of the amidoximated poly(AN/MAA) nanoparticles. TGA results indicated that the thermal stability of poly(AN/MAA) increased by the amidoximation process. The surface decontamination due to uranium was also investigated by the prepared chelating nanoparticles solution. A high purity germanium detector (HPGe) was used as a surface contamination detection tool. The results showed the presence of peaks at different energies, namely, 186.2 keV for Ra-226 (U-238) and 143.76 keV, 163.35 keV and 205.31 for U-235 before the decontamination process. The disappearance of these peaks after decontamination confirmed the applicability and efficiency of the nanoparticles solution in uranium surface decontamination.
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