• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.245-265
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• 2004

This study was to compare the geological occurrences and geneses of the Myogi, Tsukinuno, Dobuyama and Kawasaki bentonite deposits distributed in the Tertiary sedimentary basins of NE Japan, and to compare the mineralogical and physicochemical properties of their bentonites. The Japanese bentonite deposits are mainly distributed in the Green-tuff region which was formed in Neogene. The shape of ore body of the Myogi, Tsukinuno and Kawasaki deposits formed by the diagenesis are layered and stratiform. In contrast to this, the Dobuyama deposit formed by hydrothermal alteration shows the cone shape. The mineralization age of four deposits are 1.8 ～ 21 Ha from Early Miocene to Pliocene. The Dobuyama bentonite with the highest montmorillonite content shows the highest surface area, CEC, MB adsorption, and strengths. The Tsukinuno bentonite with a little high montmorillonite content is characterized by strong alkalinity, high viscosity and swelling. The Kawasaki bentonite, the Na-Ca mixed type, shows higher viscosity and swelling than the Ca-type Dobuyama bentonite. The Myogi bentonite with the lowest montmorillonite content shows the properties of low viscosity, In adsorption, strengths and a little high CEC and surface area. The high CEC and surface area of this deposit is due to the sufficient occurrence of zeolite. A strong dispersion in the Na-type bentonite and a strong flocculation in the Ca-type bentonite took place, and both the types show a slow flocculation with time. The physicochemical properties of the bentonite are mainly controlled by the montmorillonite content, interlayer cations, and impurity minerals such as zeolite. But bentonites inconsistent to this factors are sometimes occurred. This is maybe due to the crystal chemistry such as layer charge of montmorillonite and crystal morphology of montmorillonite such as aspect ratio.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.704-712
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• 2006

This research was designed to investigate the removal of heavy metals, such as $Al^{3+}$, $Cu^{2+}$, $Mn^{2+}$, $Pb^{2+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$, by adsorption on clay minerals. Bentonite(Raw-Bentonite), $Ca^{2+}$ and $Na^+$ ion exchanged bentonite(Ca- and Na-Bentonite) and montmorillonite, such as KSF and K10 from Sigma Aldrich, were used as adsorbents. The component of five inorganic adsorbents was analyzed by XRF, and the concentration of metal ions was measured by ICP. The cation exchange capacity(CEC) and the particle charge of adsorbents were measured. The initial concentration range of metal ions was $10{\sim}100$ mg/L. From the experimental results, it was shown that the adsorption equilibrium was attained after $1{\sim}2$ hours. The maximum percentage removal of $Al^{3+}$, $Cu^{2+}$, $Pb^{2+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$ on Na-Bentonite were more than 98% and that of $Mn^{2+}$ was 66%. $Al^{3+}$ was leached out from KSF with the higher concentration of hydrogen ion. Percentage removals of $Pb^{2+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$ on KSF were 88% and 59%, respectively. In general, the percentage removal of metal ions was decreased with the higher initial concentration of metal ions. The adsorption capacity of metal ions on Na-Bentonite was $1.3{\sim}19$ mg/g. Freundlich equation was used to fit the acquired experimental data. As the results, the adsorption capacity of metal ions was in the order of Na-Bentonite$\gg$Raw-Bentonite$\cong$K10>Ca-Bentonite>KSF. Freundlich constant, K of Na-Bentonite was the largest for metal ions. The order K of Na-Bentonite was Al>Cu>Pb>Zn>Mn, and the adsorption intensity(1/n) was determined to be $0.2{\sim}0.39$.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.199-206
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• 2011

The influence of water salinity on the hydraulic conductivities of compacted bentonites with several dry densities were studied. The hydraulic conductivity increases with increasing salinity only when the dry density of bentonite is relatively low. The degree of increase becomes more remarkable at a lower dry density of bentonite. For bentonite with the density of 1.0 $Mg/m^3$ and 1.2 $Mg/m^3$, the hydraulic conductivity of the 0.4 M NaCl solution increases up to about 7 times and 3 times, respectively higher than that of freshwater. However, for the bentonite with a dry density higher than 1.4 $Mg/m^3$, the salinity has an insignificant effect on the hydraulic conductivity, and the hydraulic conductivity is nearly constant within the salinity range of 0.04 to 0.4 M NaCl. The pre-saturation of the bentonite specimen with freshwater has no significant influence on the hydraulic conductivity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.220-223
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• 2006

To investigate the effect of solution pH and particle size of Na-bentonite on swelling characteristics and relative hydraulic conductivity, four kinds of acids and two alkali were selected. The results showed that the swelling was decreased to half of the original Na-bentonite's swelling index. Also the decrease in SI was most distinctive in pH 3.5 of HCl. But changes of swelling index between initial and stabilized were minimal in alkali treatment, compared to the change by acid treatment. No flux was detected under atmospheric pressure although there was drastic decrease in swelling. However, leaching started after application of 1.5 bars of air-pressure equivalent to 15 m of water head.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.71-83
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• 2018

Compacted bentonites were chosen as the backfill material and buffer in high level nuclear waste disposal due to its high swelling pressure, high ion adsorption capacity and low permeability. It is essential to estimate the swelling pressure in design and considering the safety of the nuclear repositories. The swelling pressure model of expansive clay colloids was developed based on Gouy-Chapman diffuse double layer theory. However, the diffuse double layer model is effective in predicting low compaction dry density (low swelling pressure) for certain bentonites, and invalidation in simulating high compaction dry density (high swelling pressure). In this paper, the new relationship between nondimensional midplane potential function, u, and nondimensional distance function, Kd, were established based on the Gouy-Chapman theory by considering the variation of void ratio. The new developed model was constructed based on the published literature data of compacted Na-bentonite (MX80) and Ca-bentonite (FoCa) for sodium and calcium bentonite respectively. The proposed models were applied to re-compute swelling pressure of other compacted Na-bentonites (Kunigel-V1, Voclay, Neokunibond and GMZ) and Ca-bentonites (FEBEX, Bavaria bentonite, Bentonite S-2, Montigel bentonite) based on the reported experimental data. Results show that the predicted swelling pressure has a good agreement with the experimental swelling pressure in all cases.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.43-51
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• 2002

In this study, free swell index of betonite was examined in several regeants; distilled water, leachate, seawater and 3% NaCl solution. Free swell index values of bontonite to be added Poly(acrlylic acid), PYA(Polyvinyl Alcohol) or SCMC (Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose) were evaluated and compared. From this, it was confirmed that hydraulic conductivities of GCL in seawater were examined and the hydraulic conductivities of GCL in seawater were compared to those in distilled water. The average values of free swell indices of bentonite were decreased in order of distilled water>leachate>seawater. It was shown that no significant differences were occurred for free swell index between seawater and 3% NaCl solution. For bentonite to be added PVA, the other reagents except distilled water didn't affect increase of swelling. Swelling properties of bentonite to be added SCMC were improved except 3% NaCl solution.

• 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 the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.3 s.45
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• pp.183-194
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• 2005

The mineralogical, physicochemical and thermal properties of the Myogi bentonite occurring in Japan were measured. A adsorption properties of U, Th, Ce and Eu ions on the Myogi bentonite were also investigated in different solution concentrations and pH conditions. The Myogi bentonite showed a strong alkaline character (pH 10.4), very high swelling, viscosity property and CEC, and a slow flocculation behavior due to the strong hydrophilic property. By the thermal analysis, the dehydroxylation of crystal water in bulk and clay fractions of the Myogi bentonite occur at $591^{\circ}C$ and $658^{\circ}C$, respectively, The adsorption experiments of ions such as U, Th, Ce and Eu were conducted for 0.2 g bentonites with 20mL solutions of various concentrations and different pH conditions with pH 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11. As a result, the Myogi bentonite showed excellent adsorption capacities for Ce, Th and Eu ions, whereas U ion showed very low adsorption capacity. Generally, Ce, Th and Eu ions showed the similar adsorption properties for the different concentrated solutions and pH conditions. These adsorption properties seem to be affected by the formation of various forms of chemical species and precipitation as well as ionic exchange reaction and surface adsorptions on smectite. Some associated zeolite minerals perhaps have some effects on the adsorption of U, Th, Ce and Eu on Myogi bentonite.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.12-19
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• 2006

In this study, the stability of Ca-bentonite colloids from Gyeongju area was studied by investigating the changes in the size of the bentonite colloids using a dynamic light scattering method depending on the geochemical conditions such as pH and ionic strength. Kinetic and equilibrium coagulation behavior of the bentonite colloids was investigated by changing the pH and ionic strength of the bentonite suspensions. The results showed that the stability of the bentonite colloids strongly depended upon contact time, pH, and ionic strength. It was also shown that the bentonite colloids were unstable at higher ionic strength greater than 0.01 M $NaClO_4$ at whole pH values considered. In addition, the stability ratio Wand the critical coagulation concentration (CCC) were also calculated using the data from the kinetic coagulation experiments. The stability ratio W was decreased as the ionic strength increased and varied with pH depending on the ionic strength. The CCC of the Ca-bentonite colloids was about 0.05 M $NaClO_4$ around pH 7.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.71-76
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• 2007

We investigated the effects of solution pH on swelling characteristics and relevant hydraulic conductivity of different particle sizes of Na-bentonite which have significantly high swelling capacity. The results showed that the time taken to reach the maximum swelling indexes for all pH levels ranged from 84 hours and 156 hours for pH 6.5 or above by NaOH and pH 3.5 by HCl, respectively. The maximum swelling index slightly increased with increasing particle size, while the maximum swelling indexes were less or approximately half of that of the indigenous Na-bentonite. The changes in swelling indexes before and after solution treatment were distinctive in acidic condition, especially in pH 3.5 by HCl while there were not much differences in alkali condition. For hydraulic conductivities of fully swelled Na-bentonite in a given solution pH, elution did not occur under pressure below 1 bar. But elution started as the pressure was raised to 1.5 bars or above after 500 seconds. The stabilized hydraulic conductivities observed from 1.5, 3.0, and 5.0 bars ranged from $7{\times}10^{-3}cm\;day^{-1}$ to $6{\times}10^{-3}cm\;day^{-1}$, indicating that the hydraulic conductivities were slightly higher in acidic condition than that of normal condition.