• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.25-39
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• 2022

This study was conducted to evaluate the manufacturing process of non-sintered cement for the safe containment of radioactive waste using low level or ultra-low level radioactive waste soil generated from nuclear-decommissioning facilities, clay minerals, and blast furnace slag (BFS) as an industrial by-product recycling and to characterize the products using mineralogical and morphological analyses. A stepwise approach was used: (1) measuring properties of source materials (reactants), such as waste soil, clay minerals, and BFS, (2) manufacturing the non-sintered cement for the containment of radioactive waste using source materials and deducing the optimal mixing ratio of solidifying and adjusting agents, and (3) conducting mineralogical and morphological analyses of products from the hydration reactions of manufactured non-sintered cement solidifier (NSCS) containing waste concrete generated from nuclear-decommissioning facilities. The analytical results of NSCS using waste soil and clay minerals confirmed none of the hydration products, but calcium silicate (CSH) and ettringite were examined as hydration products in the case of using BFS. The compressive strength of NSCS manufactured with the optimum mixing ratio and using waste soil and clay minerals was 3 MPa after the 28-day curing period, and it was not satisfied with the acceptance criteria (3.44 MPa) for being brought in disposal sites. However, the compressive strength of NSCS using BFS was estimated to be satisfied with the acceptance criteria, despite manufacturing conditions, and it was maximized to 27 MPa at the optimal mixing ratio. The results indicate that the most relevant NSCS for the safe containment of radioactive waste can be manufactured using BFS as solidifying agent and using waste soil and clay minerals as adsorbents for radioactive nuclides.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.151-159
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• 1999

This research was carried out to evaluate the possible usage of natural clay materials collected from the Kimpo landfill site and nearby clay mines as a clay liner material. In order to evaluate the possible usage as a clay liner material, specific gravity, pH, loss-on-ignition, organic carbon content and mineralogical composition of clay materials were measured. The Atterberg limit test and the size analysis were performed for the engineering classification and the prediction of hydraulic conductivity of clay materials. Caution exchange capacity and batch tests were also carried out for the assessment of attenuation capacity. Clay specimens of KPNCL, KP-1, KP-2 and SH were recommended as suitable clay linder materials from viewpoint of their basic quality and attenuation capacity.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.65-79
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• 2019

In this study, simple regression and multiple regression analyses were performed to analyze the relationship between breccia and clay content and shear strength in fault cores. The results of the simple regression analysis performed for each rock (andesitic rock, granite, and sedimentary rock) and three levels of normal stress (${\sigma}_n=54$, 108, 162 kPa), reveal that the shear strength is proportional to breccia content and inversely proportional to clay content. Furthermore, as normal stress increases, the shear strength is influenced by the change in component content, correlating more strongly with clay content than with breccia content. In the multiple regression analysis, which considers both breccia and clay content, the shear strength is found to be more sensitive to the change in breccia content than to that of clay. As a result, the most suitable regression model for each rock is proposed by comparing the coefficients of determination ($R^2$) estimated from the simple regression analysis with those from the multiple regression analysis. The proposed models show high coefficients of determination of $R^2=0.624-0.830$.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.55-61
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• 2012

The ability of clay mineral to remove non-point sources such as SS, COD, T-N. T-P in the urban runoff has been tested to develop the porous filter material. The diameter of 3mm ball type filters were made of clay minerals for the tests. The experiments were carried out to measure the concentration of non-point sources of contaminants with flow rate of effluents. The test results show that clay filter has good response to remove SS, COD comparing to those of activated carbon filter. Also the performance of the clay filter to remove T-N and T-P is almost the same when using the activated carbon filter.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.5-9
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• 2013

Electrokinetics technology is proposed for improving the recovery metals ion and oil from clay-sandy soil. In order to restore or extract them from clay-sandy soil, the gas produced by anode chamber is re-injected to the clay-sandy soil(sample). Samples produced in this study were completed to verify the proposed performance for 7 days by gradually increasing the pressure to the final pressure of 30psi($2.11kgf/cm^2$) through the compression process. Before compression, the copper rings were inserted into the sample, allowing us to observe the changes in appearance of copper ring after the end of the experiment. In this study, pressurized module and non-pressurized module were tested, respectively. The condition of test is a continuous process and the voltage gradient is 2V/cm during 24 hours. As a result, the efficiency of pressurized module is better than non-pressurized module.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.40-49
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• 1999

A laboratory flume experiment, using turbulence-generating acryl tank and natural sediments, was conducted to investigate the effects of salinity, concentration of suspended sediment, turbulence and clay minerals on the flocculation and settling of fine-grained suspended sediments. While experiments were run, a sequence of water samples were taken near the bottom of the tank to analyze the variations of size distribution and relative contents of clay minerals. The results of the salinity experiment indicate that median settling velocity ($W_{50}$) increases linearly with salinity. Different settling processes of suspended sediments under variable concentrations appear to be predictable, depending upon the range of the suspension concentration. At concentrations less than 200 mg/l, $W_{50}$ is rarely varied with concentration probably because of the individual--grain settling mode. In the range of 200 to 13,000 mg/l show $W_{50}$ and concentration a good relationship following an empirical formula: $W_{50}=0.45C^{0.44}$. This relationship, however, no longer holds in concentrations exceeding 13,000 mg/l; instead, a more or less reverse one is shown. This result suggests an effect of hindered settling. The turbulence effect is somewhat different from that of concentration. Turbulence accelerates the flocculation and settling susepended sediments at low concentration (200 mg/l), whereas at high concentration turbulence breaks floes down and impedes the settling. Size distribution of suspended sediments sampled near the bottom of the tank tend to be more negatively skewed and leptokurtic in turbulent conditions compared to those in static conditions. The clay mineral analysis from the sequential water samples shows that over time the content of smectite decreases most rapidly with illite remaining concentrated in suspension. This means that smectite, among other clay minerals, plays the most effective role in the flocculation of fine-grained sediment in saline water.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.209-220
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• 2016

Clay minerals are a major player to determine geochemical cycles of trace metals and carbon in the critical zone which covers the atmosphere down to groundwater aquifers. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can examine the Earth materials at an atomic level and, therefore, provide detailed fundamental-level insights related to physicochemical properties of clay minerals. In the current study, we have applied classical MD simulations with clayFF force field to dioctahedral clay minerals (i.e., gibbsite, kaolinite, and pyrophyllite) to analyze and compare structural parameters (lattice parameter, atomic pair distance) with experiments. We further calculated vibrational power spectra for the hydroxyls of the minerals by using the MD simulations results. The MD simulations predicted lattice parameters and interatomic distances respectively deviated less than 0.1~3.7% and 5% from the experimental results. The stretching vibrational wavenumber of the hydroxyl groups were calculated $200-300cm^{-1}$ higher than experiment. However, the trends in the frequencies among different surface hydroxyl groups of each mineral was consistent with experimental results. The angle formed by the surface hydroxyl group with the (001) plane and hydrogen bond distances of the surface hydroxyls were consistent with experimental result trends. The inner hydroxyls, however, showed results somewhat deviated from reported data in the literature. These results indicate that molecular dynamics simulations with clayFF can be a useful method in elucidating the roles of surface hydroxyl groups in the adsorption of metal ions to clay minerals.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.16 no.4 s.50
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• pp.403-409
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• 2006

This study was performed to assess the clay impact on alga growth which was a primary producer, in view of food chain in ecosystem. As clay minerals caused turbidity, a low sedimentation, high adsorption capacity with organic matter, adsorption - desorption effect with ionic chemicals, clay minerals were supposed to have a significant effect on the aquatic system. In study we tried to turn out NOAEL (No-observed-adverse-effect-level) of clay materials on the algae growth inhibition using such as kaolinite, sericite and montmorillonite. This study was indicated. (1) In both of kaolinite and sericite, the $72hr-EC_{50}$ of them shows 2,752 mg/L and 2,775 mg/L, respectively. (2) On the other hand, in the case of montmorillonite, the $72hr-EC_{50}$ is not shown a significant difference to that of control samples. (3) It can be explained that is also a very important parameter in an alga growth. Because an alga growth was increased when the permeability of W visible radiation was increased in all clay cases. (4) It is demonstrated alga growth was affected by the characteristics of clay materials. Hence we can assess the $\ulcorner$water environmental risk assessment caused clay materials$\lrcorner$ using the alga growth inhibition level indirectly.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.447-463
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• 2022

The lime and clay that used in the construction of the Tomb of King Muryeong and the Royal Tombs in Gongju are auxiliary materials, and are used joint and plaster materials for the wall to play a role of structural support. In this study, the homogeneity between the tombs and material characteristics were interpreted through quantitative analysis of lime and clay. As a result of microtexture and composition analysis, almost the same minerals were identified in each sample groups, and similar characteristics were shown in thermal analysis. Geochemically, it is confirmed that the behavior characteristics are very similar regardless of the tombs. The compositions is also confirmed high homogeneity in the diagrams of CaO-MgO-SiO₂, RO₂-(RO+R₂O) correlations, A-CN-K and A-CNK-FM triangles. Therefore, it is interpreted that the clay used for the construction of the tomb complex was supplied from around area, and the raw materials of lime were produced using shell fragments of oyster family based on mainly composed of calcite. It is interpreted that the raw materials of lime were supplied from middens along the west coast of down the Geumgang river in Korean peninsula, but the consideration of the supply site, needs to be cross-validated through stable isotope analysis, use of carbonate rock and reproduction experiments.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.491-508
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• 2002

While about 80% of Jeju soils are classified as Andisols, the soils derived from volcanic ash in Dangsanbong are not Andisols. There is a significant difference of precipitation in localities of Jeju island. The study area is characterized by the lowest amount of annual rainfall in Jeju Island, and by the layered silicates as dominant solid phase in clay fraction. The purpose of this study was to characterize the mineralogy of the non-Andie soils in detail, especially hydroxy-interlayered silicates. Two major soil horizons are recognized in the soil profile developed in the Dangsanbong area, which can be designated as A and C. The soil pH($H_{2}0$), ranges from 6.6 to 7.3 increasing with depth, is higher than that of typical Andisols(pH<6.0). While the pH(NaF), ranges from 9.49 to 9.81, indicates that significant amount of amorphous phases might be present as exchanging complexes. It is estimated to about 1.542.88 wt% by using chemical selective dissolution. The organic content of surface horizon is about 2 wt%. This soil are composed of quartz, feldspar and olivine as major constituents with minor of silicate clays. Quartz is frequently observed in A and distinctly decreases in its amount with depth, while olivine is dominant phase in C and rarely observed in A. In the <0.2$\mu\textrm{m}$ size fraction, smectite and kaolinite/smectite interstratification are dominant with minor of illite. The amounts of smectite decrease with depth, while the amounts of kaolinite/smecite interstratification increase with depth, which indicates the trend of mineral transformation with increasing the degree of weathering. The proportion of kaolinite in kaolinite/smectite interstratification is about 85%, and is not changed significantly through the profile. In the 2-0.2$\mu\textrm{m}$size fraction, vermiculite, smectite, illite and kaolinite are major components with minor of chlorite. Most of chlorite are interstratified with smectite. Chlorite which is not interstratified with smectite occurs only in surface horizon. The proportion of the chlorite in the chlorite/smectite interstratification is 59-70(%) and increases with depth. Hydroxy-interlayered vermiculite(HIV) with hydroxy-Fe/AI in their interlayers occurs in both A and C horizon. The amounts of hydroxy-Fe/AI decrease with depth. Hydroxy-interlayered smectite(HIS) of which interlayers might be composed of hydroxy-Mg/Al occurs only in C horizon. As the results of mineralogical investigation for the soil profile in the study area, clay minerals might be changed and evolved through the following weathering sequences: 1) Smectite Kaolinite, HIS, Vermiculite, 2) Vermiculite HIV Chlorite.