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Multicomponent gas flow through compacted clay buffer in a higher activity radioactive waste geological disposal facility

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

S. A. Masum ,
P. J. Vardon ,
H. R. Thomas ,
Q. Chen  and
D. Nicholson
S. A. Masum*
Affiliation:
Geoenvironmental Research Centre, Cardiff School of Engineering, Cardiff University, Queen's Buildings, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK
P. J. Vardon
Affiliation:
Delft University of Technology, Geo-Engineering Section, PO Box 5048, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands
H. R. Thomas
Affiliation:
Geoenvironmental Research Centre, Cardiff School of Engineering, Cardiff University, Queen's Buildings, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK
Q. Chen
Affiliation:
Arup, 13 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 4BQ, UK
D. Nicholson
Affiliation:
Arup, 13 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 4BQ, UK
*
*E-mail: masumsa1@cardiff.ac.uk
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Abstract

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At the post-closure stage of a geological disposal facility for higher activity radioactive waste several species of gas are likely to be generated in the near-field environment. These could alter the sealing and chemical properties of the bentonite buffer and the local geochemical environment significantly. The authors' attempt to simulate multicomponent gas flow through variably saturated porous media is presented. Governing equations have been developed for a reactive gas-flow model to simulate the thermo-hydro-gas-chemical-mechanical behaviour, with specific reference to the performance of highly compacted bentonite buffer subjected to repository gas generation and migration. The developed equations have been included in the bespoke numerical model COMPASS and some generic simulations are also presented. The model presented extends current capability to assess buffer performance.

Keywords

transportradioactive wasteTHCMbentonitebuffer
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 76 , Issue 8 , December 2012 , pp. 3337 - 3344
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
© [2012] The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2012

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