Modelling the behaviour of 210Po in high temperature processes

In several Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) industries, relatively high temperatures are used as part of their industrial processes. In coal combustion, as occur in other high temperature processes, an increase of the activity concentration of every natural radioisotope is produced both, in residues and by-products. An additional increase can be observed in the activity concentration of radionuclides of elements with low boiling point. This work is centred in the increase of polonium, more precisely in its radioisotope Po-210, present in the natural chains, and with a half-life long enough to be considered for radiation protection purposes. This additional increase appears mainly in the residual particles that are suspended in the flue gases: the fly-ashes. Besides, scales, with a high concentration of this radioisotope, were observed. These scales are produced on surfaces with a temperature lower than the boiling point of the chemical element. Both, the accumulation in particles and the production of scales are attributed to condensation effects. When effective doses for the public and the workers are evaluated, taking into account these increases in activity concentrations, the use of theoretical models is necessary. In this work a theoretical description of those effects is presented. Moreover, a verification of the predictions of the model was performed by comparing them with measurements carried on in coal-fired power plants. The same description here presented is applicable in general to the behaviour of Po-210 in other NORM industries where high temperature processes involving raw materials are used, as can be ceramic, cement production, tiles production or steel processing. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.