• Proceedings of the Petrological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.80-84
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• 2004

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.19-30
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• 2010

Bentonite-based grout has been widely used to seal a borehole constructed for a closed-loop vertical ground heat exchanger in a geothermal heat pump system (GHP) because of its high swelling potential and low hydraulic conductivity. Three types of bentonites were compared one another in terms of viscosity and thermal conductivity in this paper. The viscosity and thermal conductivity of the grouts with bentonite contents of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% by weight were examined to take into account a variable water content of bentonite grout depending on field conditions. To evaluate the effect of salinity (i.e., concentration of NaCl : 0.1M, 0.25M, and 0.5M) on swelling potential of the bentonite-based grouts, a series of volume reduction tests were performed. In addition, if the viscosity of bentonite-water mixture is relatively low, particle segregation can occur. To examine the segregation phenomenon, the degree of segregation has been evaluated for the bentonite grouts especially in case of relatively low viscosity. From the experimental results, it is found that (1) the viscosity of the bentonite mixture increased with time and/or with increasing the mixing ratio. However, the thermal conductivity of the bentonite mixture did not increase with time but increased with increasing the mixing ratio; (2) If bentonite grout has a relatively high swelling index, the volume reduction ratio in the saline condition will be low; (3) The additive, such as a silica sand, can settle down on the bottom of the borehole if the bentonite has a very low viscosity. Consequently, the thermal conductivity of the upper portion of the ground heat exchanger will be much smaller than that of the lower portion.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.63-73
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• 2019

In this study, it was studied recycled soils with bentonite-polymer mixture in order to design economic landfill instead of clay liner. Recycled soil was used as SP, a sandy soil with 90.58% sand and 1.88% silt and clay. The recycled soils were mixed with 4%, 6%, and 8% bentonite by weight, and then compared with samples mixed with 2%, 3%, and 4% bentonite by weight in marine clay. Recycled soil satisfied the permeability criteria at 8%, and clay soil satisfied at 3%. In order to make a sample that satisfies the standard of the waste landfill, a permeability test was conducted by mixing 0.16%, 0.24%, and 0.28% of the polymer in a sample having 4% bentonite mixing ratio. The unconfined compression strength test was carried out at the same mixing ratio to confirm that the specification was satisfied. As the bentonite mixture ratio increased, the permeability coefficient and unconfined compression strength decreased. The strength in polymer mixing increased initially and then maintained a constant value. At 4% bentonite mixing ratio and 0.28% polymer mixing ratio, the coefficient of permeability was 1.0×10^-7 cm/sec or less, and the unconfined compression strength was over 500 kPa. It was confirmed that it can be used as a mixed liner material of waste landfills.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.235-243
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• 2006

In this study, an experimental study on the sorption properties of uranium(VI) onto a bentonite colloid generated from Gyeongju bentonite which is a potential buffer material in a high-level radioactive waste repository was performed as a function of the pH and the ionic strength. The bentonite colloid prepared by separating a colloidal fraction was mainly composed of montmorillonite. The concentration and the size fraction of the prepared bentonite colloid measured using a gravitational filtration method was about 5100 ppm and 200-450 nm in diameter, respectively. The amount of uranium removed by the sorption reaction bottle walls, by precipitation, and by ultrafiltration was analyzed by carrying out some blank tests. The removed amount of uranium was found not to be significant except the case of ultrafiltration at 0.001 M $NaClO_4$. The ultrafiltration was significant in the lower ionic strength of 0.001 M $NaClO_4$ due to the cationic sorption onto the ultrafilter by a surface charge reversion. The distribution coefficient $K_d$ (or pseudo-colloid formation constant) of uranium(VI) for the bentonite colloid was about $10^4{\sim}10^7mL/g$ depending upon pH and ionic strength of $NaClO_4$ and the $K_d$ was highest in the neutral pH around 6.5. It is noted that the sorption of uranium(VI) onto the bentonite colloid is closely related with aqueous species of uranium depending upon geochemical parameters such as pH, ionic strength, and carbonate concentration. As a consequence, the bentonite colloids generated from a bentonite buffer can mobilize the uranium(VI) as a colloidal form through geological media due to their high sorption capacity.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.329-338
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• 2019

Suction of unsaturated bentonite buffers is a very important input parameter for hydro-mechanical performance assessment and design of an engineered barrier system. This study analyzed suction measurement techniques and constitutive models of unsaturated porous media reported in the literature, and suggested suction measurement techniques and constitutive models suitable for bentonite buffer in an HLW repository. The literature review showed the suction of bentonite buffer to be much higher than that of soil, as measured by total suction including matric suction and osmotic suction. The measurement methods (RH-Cell, RH-Cell/Sensor) using a relative humidity sensor were suitable for suction measurement of the bentonite buffer; the RH-Cell /Sensor method was more preferred in consideration of the temperature change due to radioactive decay heat and measurement time. Various water retention models of bentonite buffers have been proposed through experiments, but the van Genuchten model is mainly used as a constitutive model of hydro-mechanical performance assessment of unsaturated buffers. The water characteristic curve of bentonite buffers showed different tendencies according to bentonite type, dry density, temperature, salinity, sample state and hysteresis. Selection of water retention models and determination of model input parameters should consider the effects of these controlling factors so as to improve overall reliability.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.229-238
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• 2023

Bentonite is a type of rock that has been used as a traditional mineral medicine. It has a variety of pharmacological activities, and is used in traditional Korean medicine to treat jaundice, diarrhea, and hemostasis. In modern medicine, it is used as a raw material and additive for medicines such as antacids, gastrointestinal protective agents, and laxatives. Bentonite produced in Korea was produced through diagenesis or hydrothermal alteration of tertiary volcanic debris distributed in the Pohang and Gyeongju areas. It is mainly used for industrial purposes such as papermaking, paint, civil engineering, casting, and animal feed. Recently, technology is being developed to use it in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. In this study, the geochemical characteristics of bentonite were identified by analyzing the main components and trace elements of 40 and 21 types of bentonite produced in the Gampo Gyeongju and Yeonil Pohang area. Also it were classifed by formation envrionment of bentonite deposits in the Gampo and Yeonil. As a result of the study, bentonite from the reserch area may be cased by argillic alteraton that alkali elements are removed form basaltic rocks by hydrothermal fluids and AI-CCPI alteration indices wrere also indentified argillic alteraton. It was found that there is a correlation between the behavior characteristics of heavy metal elements (P b, Cr, As) and the hydrothermal alteration of bentonite in the reserch area.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.167.1-167.1
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• 2010

본 연구에서는 수직 밀폐형 지중열교환기 뒤채움용 그라우트의 종류와 첨가재 종류, 지중열교환기 파이프 단면에 따른 지중열교환기의 성능을 비교 평가하기 위해 현장 시험 시공과 현장 열응답 시험을 수행하였다. 뒤채움용 그라우트재는 벤토나이트와 시멘트를 사용하였으며 첨가제로는 천연규사와 흑연을 적용하였다. 지중열교환기 파이프 단면은 일반적으로 시공되는 U-loop 파이프 단면과 파이프 사이의 열간섭 효과를 최소화 한 3공형 파이프 단면이 적용되었다. 시멘트-천연규사 그라우트재가 벤토나이트-천연규사 그라우트재 보다 큰 지중 유효열전도도를 보이고 흑연을 첨가한 그라우트는 시멘트와 벤토나이트 모두에서 천연규사만 첨가하였을 때 보다 지중 유효열전도도가 높게 나타났다. 3공형 파이프 단면의 경우 단면에 따른 영향을 비교하기 위해 그라우트는 시멘트-천연규사와 벤토나이트-천연규사를 사용하였으며 지중 유효열전도도 측정결과 각각 3.64 W/mK, 3.40 W/mK으로 일반 U-loop 파이프 단면을 사용하였을 때 보다 높게 나타났다.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.329-344
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• 2002

Mineralogical and chemical characterization of some domestic bentonites, such as quantitative XRD analysis, chemical leaching experiments, pH and CEC determinations, were done without any separation procedures to understand their relationships among mineral composition, characteristics, and cation exchange properties. XRD quantification results based on Rietveld method reveal that the bentonites contain totally more than 25 wt% of impurities, such as zeolites, opal-CT, and feldspars, in addition to montmorillonite ranging 30～75 wt%. Cation exchange properties of the zeolitic bentonites are deeply affected by the content of zeolites identified as clinoptilolite-heulandite series. Clinoptilolite is common in the silicic bentonites with lighter color. and occurs closely in association with opal-CT. Ca is mostly the dominant exchangeable cation, but some zeolitic bentonites have K as a major exchangeable cation, The values of cation exchange capacity (CEC) determined by Methylene Blue method are comparatively low and have roughly a linear relationship with the montmorillonite content of the bentonite, though the correlated data tend to be rather dispersed. Compared to this, the CEC determined by Ammonium Acetate method, i.e.‘Total CEC’, has much higher values (50～115 meq/100 g). The differences between those CEC values are much greater in zeolitic bentonites, which obviously indicates the CEC increase affected by zeolite. Other impurities such as opal-CT and feldspars seem to affect insignificantly on the CEC of bentonites. When dispersed in distilled water, the pH of bentonites roughly tends to increase up to 9.3 with increasing the alkali abundance, especially Na, in exchangeable cation composition. However, some bentonites exhibit lower pH (5～6) so as to regard as ‘acid clay’. This may be due to the presence of $H^{＋}$ in part as an exchangeable cation in the layer site of montmorillonite. All the works of this study ultimately suggest that an assesment of domestic bentonites in grade and quality should be accomplished through the quantitative XRD analysis and the ‘Total CEC’measurement.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.259-272
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• 2002

This study was tried to interpret the important major factors controlling some physicochemical properties by comparing mineralogical and physicochemical characteristics such as pH, cation exchange capacity, Methylene Blue adsorption amount, swelling, viscosity, strength (compressional and tensile), and surface area etc. Investigated bentonite samples are five Korean samples from Dusan, Naa, Oksan, Dongyang, and Yeonil deposits and two Japanese bentonites from Tsukinuno and Tomioka deposits which were formed under a similar geological environment of the Tertiary basin. Tsukinuno bentonite is only natural Na-type bentonite and the others are all Ca-type bentonites. Most of the properties are not explained by the montmorillonite content only though the most important factor controlling the physicochemical properties is the montmorillonite content. The layer charge of montmorillonite will strongly control cation exchange capacity and Methylene Blue adsorption. Zeolite bearing bentonites show the strong alkaline character and causes the increase of cation exchange capacity, however decrease swelling, viscosity and strengths. Pyrite bearing bentonites decrease green compressional strength and wet tensile strength. The exchangeable interlayer cations control some physicochemical properties. Na-type bentonite than Ca-type shows more strong alkaline character and much more advanced swelling and viscosity. Also the size and thickness of montmorillonite flakes seem to control some physicochemical properties. Bentonite mainly composed of montmorillonite of very thin and large flakes is characterized by the very high surface area, cation exchange capacity, viscosity, swelling, Methylene Blue adsorption, green compressional strength and wet tensile strength. Domestic Dusan bentonite shows the most excellent physicochemical properties, which is due to the high content(84%) and very well crystallinity of montmorillonite.

• 한국방재학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.91.1-91.1
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• 2010

본 연구에서는 수직 밀폐형 지중 열교환기를 현장 시험시공하고 현장 열응답 시험을 수행하여 보어홀과 지반의 유효열전도도를 측정하였다. 뒤채움용 그라우트재는 벤토나이트와 시멘트가 고려되었으며 첨가제로는 천연규사와 흑연을 사용하고, 지중 열교환기 파이프 단면은 일반적으로 시공되는 U-loop 파이프 단면과 파이프 사이의 열간섭 효과를 최소화 한 3공형 파이프 단면이 착용되었다. 시멘트-천연규사 그라우트재가 벤토나이트-천연규사 그라우트재 보다 큰 유효열전도도를 보이고 흑연을 첨가한 그라우트는 시멘트와 벤토나이트 모두에서 천연규사만 첨가하였을 때 보다 유효열전도도가 높게 나타났다. 3공형 파이프 단면의 경우 단면에 따른 영향을 비교하기 위해 그라우트는 시멘트-천연규사와 벤토나이트-천연규사를 사용하였으며 유효 열전도도 측정결과 각각 3.65 W/mK, 3.40 W/mK으로 일반 U-loop 파이프 단면을 사용하였을 때 보다 높게 나타났다.