| 1. |
- André, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
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Determining sorption coefficients in intact rock using an electrical potential gradient as a driving force for migration
- 2006
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Ingår i: Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXIX. - WARRENDALE, PA : MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY. - 1558998896 ; , s. 975-982
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The transport of radionuclides in indigenous rock is greatly affected by the sorption of cations in the porous rock matrix. For the determination of sorption coefficients, batch experiments have traditionally been used. For these experiments, the rock sample is crushed into fine particles to reduce the experimental time. However, this procedure increases the specific surface area of the sample and the new surfaces created could have different sorption qualities than the naturally occurring surfaces, which may impair the results of sorption coefficient determinations. A new method for determining sorption coefficients in intact rock is being developed, using electromigration as a means to speed up the transport process, thereby allowing for faster equilibration between the rock sample and the tracer solution. Here, we report results from preliminary experiments, using cesium as a sorbing tracer, showing a consistent difference between sorption coefficients obtained using electromigration methods on intact rock samples and traditional batch experiments on crushed samples.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Arjmand, Mehdi, et al.
(författare)
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Exergetic efficiency of high-temperature-lift chemical heat pump (CHP) based on CaO/CO2 and CaO/H2O working pairs
- 2013
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Ingår i: International Journal of Energy Research. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0363-907X .- 1099-114X. ; 37:9, s. 1122-1131
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The use of reversible chemical reactions in recuperation of heat has gained significant interest due to higher magnitude of reaction heat compared to that of the latent or sensible heat. To implement chemical reactions for upgrading heat, a chemical heat pump (CHP) may be used. A CHP uses a reversible chemical reaction where the forward and the reverse reactions take place at two different temperatures, thus allowing heat to be upgraded or degraded depending on the mode of operation. In this work, an exergetic efficiency model for a CHP operating in the temperature-level amplification mode has been developed. The first law and the exergetic efficiencies are compared for two working pairs, namely, CaO/CO2 and CaO/H2O for high-temperature high-lift CHPs. The exergetic efficiency increases for both working pairs with increase in task, TH, decrease in heat source, TM, and increase in condenser, TL, temperatures. It is also observed that the difference in reaction enthalpies and specific heats of the involving reactants affects the extent of increase or decrease in the exergetic efficiency of the CHP operating for temperature-level amplification.
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| 4. |
- Bond, Alexander E., et al.
(författare)
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A synthesis of approaches for modelling coupled thermal-hydraulic-mechanical-chemical processes in a single novaculite fracture experiment
- 2017
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Ingår i: Environmental Earth Sciences. - : Springer. - 1866-6280 .- 1866-6299. ; 76:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The geological formation immediately surrounding a nuclear waste disposal facility has the potential to undergo a complex set of physical and chemical processes starting from construction and continuing many years after closure. The DECOVALEX project (DEvelopment of COupled models and their VALidation against EXperiments) was established and maintained by a variety of waste management organisations, regulators and research organisations to help improve capabilities in experimental interpretation, numerical modelling and blind prediction of complex coupled systems. In the present round of DECOVALEX (D-2015), one component of Task C1 has considered the detailed experimental work of Yasuhara et al. (Earth Planet Sci Lett 244: 186-200, 2006), wherein a single artificial fracture in novaculite (micro-or crypto-crystalline quartz) is subject to variable fluid flows, mechanical confining pressure and different applied temperatures. This paper presents a synthesis of the completed work of six separate research teams. A range of approaches are presented including 2D and 3D high-resolution coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical models. The results of the work show that while good, physically plausible representations of the experiment can be obtained using a range of approaches, there is considerable uncertainty in the relative importance of the various processes, and that the parameterisation of these processes can be closely linked to the interpretation of the fracture surface topography at different spatial scales.
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| 5. |
- Bond, A. E., et al.
(författare)
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Coupled THMC modelling of single fractures in novaculite and granite
- 2018
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Ingår i: 2nd International Discrete Fracture Network Engineering Conference, DFNE 2018. - : American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA).
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The host rock immediately surrounding a nuclear waste repository has the potential to undergo a complex set of physical and chemical processes starting from construction of the facility and continuing until many years after closure. Understanding the relevant processes of fracture evolution may be key to supporting the attendant safety arguments for such a facility. Experimental work has been examined wherein artificial fractures in novaculite and granite are subject to a mechanical confining pressure, variable fluid flows and different applied temperatures. This paper presents a synthesis of the work of seven separate research teams. A range of approaches are summarized including detailed thermal-hydrological-mechanical-chemical (THMC) models and homogenized ‘single compartment’ models of the fracture; the latter with a view to larger network or effective continuum models. The competing roles of aqueous geochemistry, pressure solution, stress corrosion and pure mechanics were found to be significant in the reproduction of the experimental observations. The results of the work show that while good, physically plausible representations of the experiment can be obtained, there is considerable uncertainty in the relative importance of the various processes, and that the parameterization of these processes can be closely linked to the physical interpretation of the fracture surface topography.
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| 6. |
- Bond, A. E., et al.
(författare)
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Development of approaches for modelling coupled thermal–hydraulic–mechanical–chemical processes in single granite fracture experiments
- 2016
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Ingår i: Environmental Earth Sciences. - : Springer. - 1866-6280 .- 1866-6299. ; 75:19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The geological formation immediately surrounding a nuclear waste disposal facility has the potential to undergo a complex set of physical and chemical processes starting from construction and continuing many years after closure. The DECOVALEX project (DEvelopment of COupled models and their VALidation against EXperiments) was established and maintained by a variety of waste management organizations, regulators and research organizations to help improve capabilities in experimental interpretation, numerical modelling and blind prediction of complex coupled systems. In the present round of DECOVALEX (D-2015), one component of Task C1 has considered the detailed experimental work of Yasuhara et al. (Appl Geochem 26:2074–2088, 2011), wherein three natural fractures in Mizunami granite are subject to variable fluid flows, mechanical confining pressure and different applied temperatures. This paper presents a synthesis of the completed work of six separate research teams, building on work considering a single synthetic fracture in novaculite. A range of approaches are presented including full geochemical reactive transport modelling and 2D and 3D high-resolution coupled thermo–hydro–mechanical–chemical (THMC) models. The work shows that reasonable fits can be obtained to the experimental data using a variety of approaches, but considerable uncertainty remains as to the relative importance of competing process sets. The work also illustrates that a good understanding of fracture topography, interaction with the granite matrix, a good understanding of the geochemistry and the associated multi-scale THMC process behaviours is a necessary pre-cursor to considering predictive models of such a system.
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| 7. |
- Bozkurt, S., et al.
(författare)
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Long-term processes in waste deposits
- 2000
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 250:03-jan, s. 101-121
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A conceptual model, which is a unitary and continuous description of the overall processes in waste deposits, has been developed. In the model the most important processes governing the long-term fate of organic matter in landfills and the transport and retention of toxic metals are included. With the model as a base, a number of scenarios with different levels of complexity have been defined and studied in order to carry out long-term assessments of the chemical evolution in waste deposits for industrial and municipal solid waste containing much organic matter and the leaching of toxic metals. The focus of the modelling has been to quantify the important processes occurring after the methane production phase has ceased, i.e. during the humic phase. The scenarios include the main mechanisms based on various transport processes as well as different landfill constructions, e.g. binding capacities of sulfides and humic substances. They also include transport mechanisms by which the reactant oxygen can intrude into a deposit, sorption capacities of hydrous ferric oxides, and pH-buffering reactions, etc. Scoping calculations have shown that the binding capacity of humic substances is sufficient to bind all toxic metals (Cd, Cr, Pb, Zn and Hg). In addition, the humics could also bind a smaller part of Ca, Fe and Al, provided much of the organic waste remain as humic substances. Sulfides on the other hand can bind approximately twice the amount of all toxic metals. The binding capacity of hydrous ferric oxides, which can be formed by oxidation reactions during the humic phase, is estimated to be three times the total content of metals that can sorb on hydrous ferric oxides. In the studied landfill the pi-I-buffering capacity, primarily represented by calcite, is estimated to be 1 mol/kg dry waste. Quantifications indicate that the alkalinity of the wastes is high enough to buffer the acidity produced by the oxidation of sulfides and by the degradation of organic matter, as well as that added by acid precipitation. Therefore, the main conclusion is that higher remobilisation rates of heavy metals due to lowering of pH are not expected for many thousands of years.
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| 8. |
- Bozkurt, S., et al.
(författare)
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Peat as a potential analogue for the long-term evolution in landfills
- 2001
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Ingår i: Earth-Science Reviews. - 0012-8252 .- 1872-6828. ; 53:02-jan, s. 95-147
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- A survey of the existing studies on peat and its decomposition processes is presented with the aim to characterise the long-term behaviour of peat accumulating systems. The chemical and physical characteristics of peat together with its accumulation and decay processes have been analysed. Peat is an acidic mixture of dead and decomposed. mainly vegetable, matter formed in boggy areas; it is the youngest and least altered component of the combustible rocks and is characterised by the lowest content of fixed carbon and the highest content of volatile constituents. Peat is formed by degeneration processes under exclusion of atmospheric oxygen by the action of water; the speed of formation depends upon the climatic and environmental conditions. In most peatlands two layers can be characterised: the aerobic acrotelm and the anaerobic catotelm, their relative importance being controlled mainly by the position of the water table. In the acrotelm the aerobic processes are responsible for the loss of up to 90% of the original mass, Degeneration in the acidic and anaerobic catotelm is still imperfectly characterised even though the catotelm is the real site of peat accumulation. Most of the recent literature considers peat as composed of easily degradable compounds, e.g. polysaccharides. and recalcitrant matter (lignin and complex aromatics). The lone-term destiny of peat has not been sufficiently characterised: although in a large majority of cases it seems probable that peat decomposes completely (even though slowly) provided that it is given a sufficiently long residence rime in the catotelm, some cases can still be interpreted as examples of simple accumulation. The rates of influx of oxygen and hence the degradation of organic matter into both saturated and partially saturated peat have been estimated. The depletion rate is about 4500 g m(-1) year(-1) for partially saturated peat. The average depletion rate of the peat for this case will then be such that it will take on the order of 5 to 50 years to degrade half of the organics in a 10 cm partially saturated layer. For the water-saturated case the depletion rate varies between 8 and 12 g m(-2) year(-1), which is considerably lower than in the partially saturated region. The models used to analyse the field and laboratory data on generation, diffusion and emission of methane and carbon dioxide indicate that laboratory data and field observations agree reasonably well. It is suggested that peat-accumulating ecosystems may be valuable natural analogues for the study of the long-term destiny of industrial and municipal solid wastes. Accurate studies of active mires together with an ad hoc review of the existing literature give valuable insights in this problem. Peatlands might then be considered as organic waste deposition experiments lasting up to several thousands years.
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| 9. |
- Bozkurt, S., et al.
(författare)
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The long-term evolution of and transport processes in a self-sustained final cover on waste deposits
- 2001
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 271:03-jan, s. 145-168
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A new principle for confinement of waste based on a self-sustained seal is presented. The top cover is considered to consist of two main layers; an organic carbon rich surface layer that is able to support vegetation and an inorganic layer beneath it. The function of the cover is to mitigate oxidation and acidification of landfilled waste and hence the release of toxic metals. It is suggested that forest soil formation and soil development could prove to be valuable information sources for the study of the long-term behaviour of a final cover on waste deposits. Since the cover is expected to develop in northern temperate climate the focus is on Spodosol soil. A number of simulations of the long-term behaviour of the final self-sustained landfill cover are made, including the rates of influx of oxygen into the cover. A cover having a large portion of organic matter compared with a cover with no organics can considerably decrease the oxygen concentration and thus the influx of oxygen into a landfill. The calculated oxygen intrusion rate for the former case is of the order of 0.05 kg m(-2) year(-1). Degradation of the organics produces acids. Our simulations indicate that the pH-buffering capacity of the mineral layer, represented by calcite and primary rock minerals, will last for many thousands of years.
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| 10. |
- Crawford, J., et al.
(författare)
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Determination of the flow-wetted surface in fractured media
- 2003
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Ingår i: Journal of Contaminant Hydrology. - 0169-7722 .- 1873-6009. ; 61:04-jan, s. 361-369
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Diffusion and sorption in the rock matrix are important retardation mechanisms for radionuclide transport in fractured media. For the conditions existing in a deep repository in crystalline rock, interaction with the rock matrix is controlled by the water flowrate in the fractures and the surface area in contact with the flowing water (the so-called flow-wetted surface (FWS)). The flow-wetted surface may be determined from the frequency of open fractures intersecting a borehole. The choice of packer distance used in these hydraulic measurements is crucial, however, since several open fractures may be found in one packer interval. The use of a packer distance that is too large may result in a considerable underestimation of the flow-wetted surface. This is especially important in zones with a high frequency of open fractures (fracture zones) where a small packer distance is a fundamental requirement. A large volume of hydraulic data has been compiled in Sweden from measurements using quite small packer distances. Over the last decade, the most common packer distance used for the hydraulic tests has been 3 m, although some new measurements using a shorter packer distance have also been performed. In several cases, the resolution of these measurements has been less than 0.5 m. All these data have been analysed in detail. From these data, the flow-wetted surface has been calculated and compared with the flow-wetted surface estimated in earlier studies. The results show the importance of using a small packer distance for carrying out borehole transmissivity measurements.
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