The Effects of Surface Area to Solution Volume on Waste Glass Leaching

1983 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. R. Pederson ◽  
C. Q. Buckwalter ◽  
G. L. McVay
1982 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry R. Pederson ◽  
Charles Q. Buckwalter ◽  
Gary L. Mcvay ◽  
B. Lynn Riddle

ABSTRACTLeaching tests of PNL 76–68 glass in deionized water have been performed using the standard MCC-l static leaching procedure but with varied glass surface area to solution volume ratios (SA/V). It was found that leaching could be strongly influenced by the SA/V ratio, due largely to an effect of silicon solubility limitations. The conclusion that solubility and not solid state diffusion is most important in regulating leaching rates is supported by (1) the similarities in depth profiles of all soluble glass components with none depleted to depths greater than that of silicon despite vastly different solid state diffusivities, and (2) the lack of dependence of leaching rates on reaction layer thicknesses. To more directly examine the influence of dissolved silicon on glass leaching rates, leaching tests were performed in silicic acid solutions and in two actual groundwaters. As expected, leaching rates of all soluble glass components were reduced by amounts roughly proportional to the silicon saturation fraction. Since solubility modifies leaching rates in all but very dilute solutions, short-term tests at high SA/V values can be used to predict solution concentrations for long-term tests at low SA/V values, although reaction layers formed are not of the same thickness. Glass leaching data for a range of leaching times and SA/V values can be represented by a single curve when plotted versus the product of SA/V and time. However, the use of SA/V variations may have limited usefulness in accelerated leach testing for multicomponent systems. Events such as silica colloid and certain alteration phase formations modify the above relationship.


1989 ◽  
Vol 176 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Feng ◽  
I. L. Pegg ◽  
Y. Guo ◽  
AA. Barkatt ◽  
P. B. Macedo

ABSTRACTWe report data on the relationship between nuclear waste glass durability, as measured by leachate concentrations and leach rates, and the ratio of glass surface area to solution volume, S/V. The study includes West Valley non-radioactive production glasses (SF6 and SF10), West Valley glasses containing U and Th designed at CUA (WVCM47, WVCM50, and WVCM59), Savannah River SRLTDS-131 glass, and Hanford waste glass HW-39 (for which existing literature data is used). While some of these glasses show departures of leachate concentrations from simple (S/V)t scaling others conform well. The departures are, in all cases, most evident at high values of S/V. It is therefore important, therefore to understand how glass composition determines which corrosion mechanism is dominant in order to assess the region of validity of extrapolations based on (S/V)t scaling. While leach rates show a general tendency to decrease with S/V and time, exceptions are evident for the less durable glasses which show minima and maxima in the S/V-dependence at fixed time.


1996 ◽  
Vol 465 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Wei ◽  
P. Van Iseghem

ABSTRACTDuring the reaction of HLW glass with interstitial clay water at different temperatures with various ratios of glass surface area to solution volume (SA/V) and durations, Eu released from the glass forms predominantly Eu-humate colloids (organic colloids) by a complexation reaction. The size distribution and stability of Eu-humate colloids have been characterized. It is likely that inorganic colloids which are mainly composed of Si, Al and Ca are generated from the corrosion of waste glass by a nucleation reaction.


1982 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert J. Machiels ◽  
Claudio Pescatore

ABSTRACTThe effects of the surface area-to-solution volume ratio on waste glass leach rates are investigated from a theoretical point of view. Simple leach models are discussed first. Correlation variables to interpret the results of similar leaching experiments performed at different values of the surface area-to-solution volume ratio are obtained for static leach testing. For dynamic leaching conditions, the source term required for risk assessment is derived and its dependence on the leachant flow rate and leach specimen surface area is discussed. The findings are upheld by a more complex leach model, the mathematical formulation of which has been implemented in a computer code named LIX. When tested against actual PNL 76–68 glass leaching data, LIX shows excellent capabilities in reproducing the experimental evidence, in particular the effects of the surface area-to-solution volume ratio.


Author(s):  
Michael I. Ojovan ◽  
Natalia V. Ojóvan ◽  
Irene V. Startceva ◽  
Zoja I. Golubeva ◽  
Alexander S. Barinov

Abstract A mathematical model was used to predict radionuclide release from bitumen and glass waste forms over extended time periods. To calculate some model parameters, we used experimental data derived from 12yr field tests with six borosilicate waste glass blocks (each ∼30 kg in weight) and a bitumen block (310 kg), containing real intermediate-level NPP operational waste (NaNO3, 86 wt.% of a dry salt content; 137Cs, 82% of the radioactive inventory). Specific radioactivities of the glass material containing 35 wt.% waste oxides were βtot(90Sr+90Y), 3.74×106 Bq/kg, and αtot(239Pu), 1.3×104Bq/kg. The bitumen block with ∼31 wt.% salt content and βtot(90Sr+90Y), 4.0·106 Bq/kg, and αtot(239Pu), 3.0×103 Bq/kg was manufactured on base of a hard bitumen BN-IV. Tests with the waste forms were performed under saturated conditions of an experimental near-surface repository with a free access of groundwater to the waste blocks through a covering of host loamy soil and backfill of coarse sand. The way used to quantify the amount of leached radioactivity was to measure the volume and radioactivity concentrations of contacting groundwater. In the model, radionuclide release from the waste glass is assumed to be controlled by the processes of diffusion limited ion exchange and glass network dissolution. The mechanism of radionuclide release from the bitumen matrix is believed to remain the same throughout the long-term storage period, except for the initial stage when an enhanced leaching from the surface layer occurs. This long-term release is assumed to be controlled by diffusion of radionuclides through the bitumen matrix. So, identical formulae were applied to calculate the values of leached radioactivity fractions for two waste forms. Radioactivity release curves were plotted for field data and calculation results. For both waste forms, there was good agreement between the modelled and available experimental data. According to the modelling results, fmax = 2.3×10−3% of the initial radioactivity will release from the waste glass into the environment within a proposed institutional control period of 300 years under conditions of the near-surface repository and in the absence of additional engineered barriers. For the bitumen block and the same 300-yr period, the total (maximum) leached radioactivity fraction will be fmax = 4.2×10−3%. The main result of the modelling and experimental studies concerning the leaching behaviour of the bituminised and vitrified waste materials is that the fractional radioactivity release for two waste forms is on the same order of magnitude. Numerical release values per a unit of a surface area to volume ratio are also rather close for two waste forms (exposed surface area to volume ratio for the bitumen block is 2 to 4 times greater then for the glass).


1994 ◽  
Vol 66-67 (s1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Prikryl ◽  
Roberto T. Pabalan ◽  
David R. Turner ◽  
Bret W. Leslie

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