BackgroundIn geochemically perturbed systems where porewater and mineral assemblages are unequilibrated the processes of mineral precipitation and dissolution may change important transport properties such as porosity and pore diffusion coefficients. These reactions might alter the sealing capabilities of the rock by complete pore-scale precipitation (cementation) of the system or by opening new migration pathways through mineral dissolution. In actual 1D continuum reactive transport codes the coupling of transport and porosity is generally accomplished through the empirical Archie’s law. There is very little reported data on systems with changing porosity under well controlled conditions to constrain model input parameters. In this study celestite (SrSO4) was precipitated in the pore space of a compacted sand column under diffusion controlled conditions and the effect on the fluid migration properties was investigated by means of three complementary experimental approaches: (1) tritiated water (HTO) tracer through diffusion, (2) computed micro-tomography (µ-CT) imaging and (3) post-mortem analysis of the precipitate (selective dissolution, SEM/EDX).ResultsThe through-diffusion experiments reached steady state after 15 days, at which point celestite precipitation ceased and the non-reactive HTO flux became constant. The pore space in the precipitation zone remained fully connected using a 6 µm µ-CT spatial resolution with 25 % porosity reduction in the approx. 0.35 mm thick dense precipitation zone. The porosity and transport parameters prior to pore-scale precipitation were in good agreement with a porosity of 0.42 ± 0.09 (HTO) and 0.40 ± 0.03 (µ-CT), as was the mass of SrSO4 precipitate estimated by µ-CT at 25 ± 5 mg and selective dissolution 21.7 ± 0.4 mg, respectively. However, using this data as input parameters the 1D single continuum reactive transport model was not able to accurately reproduce both the celestite precipitation front and the remaining connected porosity. The model assumed there was a direct linkage of porosity to the effective diffusivity using only one cementation value over the whole porosity range of the system investigated.ConclusionsThe 1D single continuous model either underestimated the remaining connected porosity in the precipitation zone, or overestimated the amount of precipitate. These findings support the need to implement a modified, extended Archie’s law to the reactive transport model and show that pore-scale precipitation transforms a system (following Archie’s simple power law with only micropores present) towards a system similar to clays with micro- and nanoporosity.Graphical abstract:Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12932-015-0027-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
We present a comprehensive study of the solid solution system Ca 2 (MoO 4 ) 2 -NaGd(MoO 4 ) 2 on the molecular scale, by means of site-selective time resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS). Eu 3+ is used as a trace fluorescent probe, homogeneously substituting for Gd 3+ in the solid solution crystal structure. Site-selective TRLFS of a series of polycrystalline samples covering the whole composition range of the solid solution series from 10% substitution of Ca 2+ to the NaGd end-member reveals it to be homogeneous throughout the whole range. The trivalent ions are incorporated into the powellite structure in only one coordination environment, which exhibits a very strong ligand-metal interaction. Polarizationdependent measurements of a single crystal of NaGd(Eu)(MoO 4 ) 2 identify the coordination geometry to be of C 2v point symmetry. The S 4 symmetry of the Ca site within the powellite lattice can be transformed into C 2v assuming minor motion in the first coordination sphere.
Bentonite is planned to be used as a technical barrier in the final storage of spent nuclear fuel and high level vitrified waste. In contact with ground water of low ionic strength, montmorillonite colloids may be released from the bentonite buffer and thereby enhance the transport of radionuclides (RNs) sorbed. In the present case, clay colloids represent aggregates of several clay mineral layers. It is of major importance to determine RN sorption properties for different sizes of montmorillonite aggregates, since size fractionation may occur during particle transport in natural media. In this study, a protocol for size fractionation of clay aggregates is developed, by sequential and direct centrifugation, in the presence and absence of organic matter. Seven colloidal fractions of different mean aggregate sizes are obtained ranging, when considering the mean equivalent hydrodynamic sphere diameter (ESD), from~960 nm down to~85 nm. Applying mathematical treatments (Jennings and Parslow, 1988) and approximating the clay aggregates to regular disc-shaped stacks of clay mineral sheets result in mean surface diameters varying from~1.5 μm down to~190 nm. All these colloidal fractions are characterized by XRD, IC and ICP-OES where they are found to have the same chemical composition. The number of edge sites (aluminol and silanol) is estimated (in mol/kg) for each colloidal fraction according to (Tournassat et al., 2003). It is calculated from the mean particle sizes obtained from AsFlFFF and PCS measurements, where the clay aggregates are approximated to regular disc-shaped stacks of clay mineral sheets. The estimated number of edge sites varies significantly for the different clay dispersions. In addition, stability studies using the various clay colloidal fractions are performed by the addition of NaCl, CaCl 2 or MgCl 2 , in the presence or absence of organic matter, where no difference in stability is found.
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