Determining the concentrations of Radon222 Rn emitted from sludge samples resulting from operations related to refining crude oil and isolating some of its derivatives.

In this study, 30 samples of sludge obtained from operations related to therefining crude oil and isolating some of its derivatives in oil fields in Basra Governorate - southern Iraq were used to determine the concentrations of radon222Rn emitted from the sludge samples. Two methods are adopted the first, rapid, effective measurement, by means of a Rational Application Developer (RAD7), and the second, by the passive method, by means of Solid State Nuclear Track Detectors (SSNTDs), (CR-39, LR-15typII). The results of this study showed that the largest concentration of radon gas in oil sludge with RAD7 Technique was 63532±4447Bq.m−3 and with SSNTDs technique is 367251±4708 Bq.m−3appeared in a sludge sample taken from the Rattaka gas isolation plant in the southern bordering Rumaila oil field with Kuwait, the lowest concentration of which was 2115±148Bq.m-3 with RAD7 technology and 3652±256 Bq.m−3with SSNTDs technique in a sludge sample from Majnoon gas isolation plant, production bank B in Majnoon oil field near the border with Iran. The concentration ratio for all samples is 18979.43Bq.m−3with RAD7 technique and 21,750.77Bq.m−3 with SSNTSs technology. The effective annual dose to which workers could be exposed to work sites in contact was calculated, and it was found to be between (4±0.28-127±8.89)Sv.h−1 and the highest dose of radon 63532±4447 Bq.m−3 was much higher than The permissible dose level is 50µ Sv.h−1, proposed by the EPA in the United States, and this dose may pose imminent dangers to the health of workers in the oil fields and therefore necessary measures must be taken to maintain the health and safety of workers. The likelihood of cancer due to exposure to radon gas was also estimated per million. It was found to be high in relation to the permissible limits (170-230) per million people by ICRP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]