Baqer, Y., Thornton, S., Stewart, D.I. et al. (2 more authors) (2023) Analysis of uranium sorption in a laboratory column experiment using a reactive transport and surface complexation model. Transport in Porous Media, 149 (2). pp. 423-452. ISSN 0169-3913
Abstract
The transport and retardation of radioactive elements in hyper-alkaline conditions of radioactive waste repositories is a challenging field that is still poorly understood. In this study, the transport and attenuation of uranium in a column experiment was modelled by considering kinetic reactions, advection–dispersion and chemical/physical retardation processes. The modelling was first performed for three alluvium samples from Yucca Mountain in circumneutral pH to moderately alkaline conditions. Sorption of uranyl (UO2+2(UVI)) was found to strongly depend on the surface complexation model assumed, with no significant removal of UVI by precipitation or ion exchange process. The surface/edge site reaction of Al-hydroxyl group in kaolinite was shown to have a high affinity for uranyl adsorption, while the hydrous ferric oxide edge on hematite adsorbed most of the uranyl ions. The model was then used to interpret uranium transport in a laboratory column filled with Hollington sandstone under hyper-alkaline (pH 13) conditions. The simulation results show that uranium adsorption on the Al-hydroxyl edge of kaolinite exceeds adsorption by the calcium silicate hydrate phase. This result may reflect the lack of surface complexation parameters for calcium silicate hydrate minerals. Hence, further studies are required in the field of surface complexation reactions for calcium silicate hydrate phases.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | PHREEQC; C-S-H; Alkaline; Advection-dispersion; Uranyl |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Civil and Structural Engineering (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NATURAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH COUNCIL NE/H006540/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 24 Jul 2023 14:18 |
Last Modified: | 24 Jul 2023 14:18 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s11242-023-01956-y |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:201820 |