A theoretical treatment of adsorption of radon gas on charcoal

Abstract

The use of an activated charcoal sampler for radon monitoring has become popular in recent years because of its passiveness and low price. Dynamics of adsorption on a passive sampler have been described with theoretical models. However, extrapolation of the measured results of radon on charcoal to the diurnal fluctuations of the ambient radon concentration is often difficult and even misleading because of the oversimplification of these models. A more generalized approach is undertaken by treating the diurnal variations in radon concentrations as poly-exponential functions and by solving for explicit particular solutions of Fick's equation. The application of these solutions to various practical situations is explored. This includes their use for charcoal sampler calibration. Estimated values of the adsorption coefficients, k, and diffusion constant, D, appear to be agreeable with corresponding reported values. A triple-sampler protocol is also proposed for radon survey in areas of high diurnal fluctuations.