Evaluation of the efficiency and throughput of a gamma irradiator treating municipal sewage sludge.

Sludge Hygienisation Research Irradiator (SHRI) Facility at Vadodara (India) has been disinfecting liquid sewage sludge with (60)Co gamma rays since 1992. At some point, the radiation process was modified from its originally designed closed-loop system to an open-loop system. Dosimetry experiments were performed to estimate absorbed doses to the sludge for different periods of irradiation of a 15m(3) batch in an open-loop irradiation process. The paper reports the dosimetry results and evaluated operational parameters of the irradiator, namely, effective dose rate in the open-loop system, irradiation efficiency, and throughput. Also, the open-loop system and the closed-loop system are compared in terms of the effective dose rate.

High-level gamma dosimetry using phototransferred thermoluminescence in quartz.

Phototransferred thermoluminescence (PTTL) in natural quartz, separated from sand, has been studied for its application in high-level gamma dosimetry. The paper reports dose-vs.-PTTL response of 110 degrees C and 180 degrees C peaks in the dose range of 10 Gy to 6 kGy. Using this method, the dose rate delivered to the sewage sludge during irradiation at SHRI facility, Vadodara, India, was estimated to be 0.35 +/- 0.02 kGy/h.

Investigation of TL properties of sand collected from sewage sludge as an "in situ" dosimeter in radiation disinfection.

Thermoluminescence (TL) properties of sand, collected from sewage sludge, were studied after extensive cleaning procedures. In the sand samples treated with either hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) or hydrofluoric acid (HF), there was a prominent TL peak at about 220 degrees C after gamma-irradiation and 120 degrees C, 20 min post-irradiation annealing treatment. The dose vs TL response curves in hydrogen-peroxide-treated and HF-treated sand samples were found to be linear up to 30 and 100 Gy, respectively, beyond which they were supra-linear. The extent of post-irradiation fading in the sand sample, which was treated with H2O2 and post-irradiation annealed at 120 degrees C for 20 min, was observed to be 8% after 21 days, while no detectable fading was observed for the sample which was HF treated and annealed at 120 degrees C for 20 min after gamma-irradiation. Therefore, H2O2- as well as HF-treated sludge sand samples could be considered for use as in situ TL dosimeters for radiation disinfection of sewage sludge.