A Study on Evaluation Methods for 210Pb Accumulation on Adsorbents of Natural Gas Treatment Processes

Evaluation methods for 210Pb accumulation on the adsorbent of natural gas treatment processes have been developed. These evaluation methods enabled not only the prediction of the 210Pb concentration in the spent adsorbent but also the determination of the change intervals for the adsorbent in order to keep the 210Pb concentration in the adsorbent below the exemption level. For the prediction of the accumulation of radon decay products, two methods have been developed for evaluating 210Pb accumulation in the adsorbent used in the natural gas treatment process. The 'principle method' evaluates the 210Pb accumulation based on the radon absorption equilibrium coefficient of the adsorbent. The coefficient is determined by a breakthrough curve obtained by an adsorbent column test using surrogate gas including radon. The 'practical method' evaluates the 210Pb accumulation based on radon adsorption determined by column tests using real process gas. The laboratory tests indicated that the practical method is an easy and practical evaluation method. (author)