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Alkaline buffer characteristics and mechanism of Gaomiaozi bentonite in high-level radioactive waste repository

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Abstract

In the high-level radioactive waste (HLW) repository, the concrete lining wrapped outside the bentonite buffer barrier releases strong alkaline solutions under the dual effects of groundwater and radiant heat. When the strong alkaline solutions acts on the bentonite, the alkalinity, and chemical properties of the bentonite would vary, affecting the safety of the HLW repository. In this paper, the reaction of the Gaomiaozi (GMZ) bentonite with KOH solution was carried out. The effects of pH, temperature, reaction time, and solid–liquid ratio (SLR) on the alkalinity and redox property of the bentonite suspension and the alkaline buffer capacity (ABC) of the bentonite were investigated. The alkaline buffer mechanism of the bentonite was discussed based on the variations in elemental compositions. It was found that the GMZ bentonite effectively reduced the pH value of the bentonite suspension. The reaction temperature, reaction time, and SLR were positively correlated with the decreasing range of pH value. There was a good linear negative correlation between pH and Eh of the bentonite suspension. Moreover, when the bentonite was in the strong alkaline solution, the silicate mineral dissolution, clay mineral phase transformation, and hydroxide precipitation occurred successively, continuously consuming the OH− of the solution. The silicate mineral dissolution increased with the increase in pH, temperature, and reaction time, but increasing the SLR had no significant effect on the silicate mineral dissolution. These could explain the effects of various influencing factors on the alkaline buffer characteristics of the bentonite. Based on the alkaline buffer mechanisms, the thickness of the bentonite buffer barrier without ABC was calculated to be 71.83 cm when the operation time was 10,000 a, which could be used for reference when designing the thickness of the bentonite buffer barrier.

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Funding

The authors are grateful for the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant No. 41972265 and Grant No. 41672261].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Lanzhou University, 222 South Tianshui Rd, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China

    Jianghong Zhu, Tingting Wang, Huyuan Zhang & Guangping Zhou

  2. Key Laboratory of Mechanics on Disaster and Environment in Western China (Lanzhou University), Ministry of Education, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Huyuan Zhang

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  1. Jianghong Zhu
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Contributions

JZ: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, data curation, writing—original draft preparation. TW: writing—review and editing. HZ: conceptualization, supervision, funding acquisition, project administration, writing—review & editing. GZ: writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Huyuan Zhang.

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Zhu, J., Wang, T., Zhang, H. et al. Alkaline buffer characteristics and mechanism of Gaomiaozi bentonite in high-level radioactive waste repository. Environ Earth Sci 82, 346 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-023-10928-w

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