• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.55 no.3
• /
• pp.219-229
• /
• 2022

Bentonite is being considered as a candidate for buffer material in geological disposal systems for high-level radioactive wastes. In this study, the effect of cement-bentonite interactions on bentonite alteration was investigated by reviewing the literature on studies of cement-bentonite interactions. The major bentonite alteration by hyperalkaline fluids produced by the interaction of cementitious materials with groundwater includes cation exchange, montmorillonite dissolution, secondary mineral precipitation, and illitization. When the hyperalkaline leachate from the reaction of the cementitious material with the groundwater comes into contact with bentonite, montmorillonite, the main component of bentonite, is dissolved and a small amount of secondary minerals such as zeolite, calcium silicate hydrate, and calcite is produced. When montmorillonite is continuously dissolved, the physicochemical properties of bentonite may change, which may ultimately causes changes in bentonite performance as a buffer material such as adsorption capacity, swelling capacity, and hydraulic conductivity. In addition, the bentonite alteration is affected by various factors such as temperature, reaction period, pressure, composition of pore water, bentonite constituent minerals, chemical composition of montmorillonite, and types of interlayer cations. This study can be used as basic information for the long-term stability verification study of the buffer material in the geological disposal system for high-level radioactive wastes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
• /
• 1999.10a
• /
• pp.73-76
• /
• 1999

Soil-bentonite mixtures are frequently used as impervious for waste disposal sites. In the present work, bentonite composite liner systems(BCL) have been developed by utilizing Korean zeolitic bentonites. The geomechanical properties of the liner systems, such as strength, hydraulic conductivity, etc. have been studied. The laboratory and field test results are also be presented.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.231-239
• /
• 2005

This study was performed to investigate adsorption characteristics of MTBE and Cd depending upon types of clay minerals md their physicochemical properties. The adsorption characteristics were examined by batch adsorption test on various experimental parameters such as adsorption time, ratio of solution to soil, concentration of contaminants, content of organic matter, pH, and zeta potential. The adsorption efficiency of MTBE or Cd for three types of clays decreased in response to the increase of the ratio of solution to soil whereas their adsorbed amounts increased. MTBE was greatly adsorbed in the decreasing order of vermiculite, bentonite, and CTAB-bentonite while Cd was adsorbed in the decreasing order of bentonite, vermiculite, and CTA-bentonite. An equilibrium isotherm for MTBE was well fitted to Freundlich plotting whereas that for Cd was closely corresponded to Langmuir isotherm. The adsorbed amount of MTBE on bentonite and vermiculite showed the maximum at 1% and 5% of humic acid, thereafter diminished while the adsorbed amount of MTBE on CTAB-bentonite increased in proportion to humic acid. Conversely, the adsorbed amount of Cd on the addition of humic acid continued to increase regardless of types of adsorbents. For all types of adsorbents, adsorbed quantity and adsorption efficiency of Cd have been coincidently increased at pH 8 and they were further enhanced at pH 10 showing 90% adsorption efficiency. Upon pH rose, the zeta potential on each adsorbent began to decrease, while increasing Cd concentration led to decline of zeta potential, which in turn ascribed to lowering dispersion stability that could consequently enhance adsorption capability.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.341-344
• /
• 2018

This study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary bentonite supplementation on the fatty acid profiles of eggs in older laying hens. A total of 90 Hy-line Brown layers, 74 weeks of age, were confined in 6 wire cages and then assigned randomly to two groups to receive one of the two diets (3 replicates of 15 older layers each) containing 0 and 0.2% bentonite for 4 weeks. After the 4-week feeding trial, no remarkable differences in individual fatty acid, saturated fatty acid (SFA), unsaturated fatty acid (UFA), and mono unsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) levels were found. However, linoleic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, and poly unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and UFA/SFA ratio were influenced by 0.2% bentonite. In conclusion, supplementation with 0.2% bentonite improved the profiles of PUFA more than those of SFA, UFA, and MUFA inthe eggs of the older laying hens.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.62-72
• /
• 2001

The one-dimensional finite element program was developed to analyze the coupled behavior of heat, moisture, and air transfer in unsaturated porous media. By using this program, the simulation results were compared with those from the laboratory infiltration tests under isothermal condition and temperature gradient condition, respectively. The discrepancy of water uptake was found in the upper region of a bentonite sample under isothermal condition between numerical simulation and laboratory experiment. This indicated that air pressure was built up in the bentonite sample which could retard the infiltration velocity of liquid. In order to consider the swelling phenomena of compacted bentonite which cause the discrepancy of the distribution of water content and temperature, swelling and shrinkage factors were incorporated into the finite element formulation. It was found that these factors could be effective to represent the moisture diffusivity and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity due to volume change of bentonite sample.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.32 no.5
• /
• pp.495-503
• /
• 2000

The hydraulic conductivities in the bentonite-sand mixtures with high density were measured, and the effects of sand content and dry density on the hydraulic conductivity were investigated. The hydraulic conductivities of the bentonite-sand mixtures with a dry density of 1.6 Mg/㎥ and 1.8 Mg/㎥ are less than 10$^{-11}$ m/s when the sand content is not higher than 70 wt%. However at the sand content of 90 wt%, the hydraulic conductivity increases rapidly At the same dry density, the logarithm of hydraulic conductivity increases linearly with increasing sand content. The hydraulic conductivity of the bentonite-sand mixture can be explained by the concept of effective clay dry density, and using this concept, the hydraulic conductivities for the mixtures with various sand contents and dry densities can be estimated.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.39-50
• /
• 1999

The physicochemical, mineralogical, hydraulic, swelling and mechanical properties of a domestic bentonite for use as the buffer material in a high-level waste repository have been measured. The bentonite is identified to be a Ca-bentonite, and the hydraulic conductivity of the compacted bentonite with the dry density higher than 1.4 Mg/㎥ is lower than 10$^{-11}$ m/s When the dry densities are 1.4 to 1.8 Mg/㎥, the swelling pressures are in the range of 6.6 to 143.5 kg/$\textrm{cm}^2$. The unconfined compressive strength is about 94 kg/$\textrm{cm}^2$, and the coefficient of volume change and the coefficient of consolidation are in the range of 0.O0249 to 0.02142 $m^2$/MN and 0.018 to 0.115$m^2$/year, respectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.4
• /
• pp.1495-1506
• /
• 2023

For the safe disposal of high-level radioactive waste using Engineered Barrier Systems (EBS), bentonite buffer is used by its high swelling capability and low hydraulic conductivity. When the bentonite buffer is contacted to heated pore water containing ions by radioactive decay, chemical alterations of minerals such as illitization reaction occur. Illitization of bentonite indicates the alteration of expandable smectite into non-expandable illite, which threatens the stability and integrity of EBS. This study intends to provide a thorough review on the information underlying in the illitization of bentonite, by covering basic clay mineralogy, smectite expansion, mechanisms and observation of illitization, and illitization in EBS. Since understanding of smectite illitization is crucial for securing the safety and integrity of nuclear waste disposal systems using bentonite buffer, this thorough review study is expected to provide essential and concise information for the preventive EBS design.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.3
• /
• pp.1191-1198
• /
• 2023

Bentonite buffer material is a critical component in an engineered barrier system (EBS) for disposing high-level radioactive waste (HLW). The bentonite buffer material protects the disposal canister from groundwater penetration and releases decay heat to the surrounding rock mass; thus, it should possess high thermal conductivity, low hydraulic conductivity, and moderate swelling pressure to safely dispose the HLWs. Bentonite clay is a suitable buffer material because it satisfies the safety criteria. Several additives have been suggested as mixtures with bentonite to increase the thermal-hydraulic-mechanical-chemical (THMC) properties of bentonite buffer materials. Therefore, this study investigated the geotechnical, mineralogical, and THMC properties of several candidate additives such as sand, graphite, granite, and SiC powders. Datasets obtained in this study can be used to select adequate additives to improve the THMC properties of the buffer material.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
• /
• 2009.03a
• /
• pp.844-851
• /
• 2009

A soil mixture with low permeability and bentonite as an additive has been highly utilized as a cutoff material in landfills, banks, and dams. Even though it is anticipated that the water can seep through shear failures in the filter layer due to external loads and embankment loads during construction, usually only the coefficient of permeability of the soil mixture is considered rather than the changes of strength from the different amounts of additives. Therefore, the amount of bentonite was changed between 0%~4% in the soil mixture of the bed material to conduct a series of unconfined compressive strength, tensile strength, and shear strength tests on a specimen in order to study the characteristics of the strength. In the result, the unconfined compressive and tensile strength were increased along with the increased amount of bentonite in the low water content; however, the tensile strength in the consolidated-drained shear test generally showed similar values without significant changes.