title: Self-attenuation as a function of gamma ray energy in naturally occurring radioactive material in the oil and gas industry.
abstract: Self-attenuation correction factors were experimentally determined using radioactive point sources in combination with a subject material of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) obtained from oil exploration waste products. The self-attenuation correction factors were taken across a range of gamma ray energies from 41.73 to 1408.0keV. It is noted that the greatest amount of self-attenuation occurs in the energy regime below 200keV and rises to near zero attenuation at higher energies for these types of samples. For the 46.5keV gamma ray of (210)Pb there can be an underestimation of 62%.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at Austin, Nuclear Engineering Teaching Lab, Pickle Research Campus, 10,100 Burnet Road, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Millsap
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at Austin, Nuclear Engineering Teaching Lab, Pickle Research Campus, 10,100 Burnet Road, Austin, TX 78712, USA; Enviroklean Product Development Inc., 9227 Thomasville Dr., Houston, TX 77064, USA. Electronic address: s.landsberger@mail.utexas.edu.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Landsberger
keywords: Gamma ray absorption; Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM); Oil and gas industry; Self-attenuation correction factor