Evaluation of boron waste and barite against radiation

Abstract

Turkey has the world's largest boron reserves. Colemanite is one of these minerals. A large amount of waste is produced during the production of boric acid from colemanite. In this study, usability of boron wastes (BW, borogypsum) and barite as a radiation shielding materials was investigated. Six compositions were shaped with various ratios of borogypsum and barite. After drying, shaped samples were sintered at 1050 degrees C. Sintered samples were evaluated for density, water absorption, porosity and gamma ray radiation shielding. The best attenuation coefficients were 0.225678, 0.148848 and 0.142652 cm(-1) at 662, 1173 and 1332 keV photon energies, respectively.