skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Chemical durability of SRP waste glass: saturation effects and influence of SA/V

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6632181

The leachability of SRP waste glass is being assessed as a function of saturation effects, including solution pH and the ratio of glass surface area to volume of leachant (SA/V). The use of SA/V as a scaling factor for accelerated testing is also being assessed. Sample weight losses, pH changes, solution analyses, and surface studies were used to evaluate leachability in the present study and to provide better understanding of the corrosion mechanisms involved. Conclusions from this study are as follows: waste glass leach rates decrease significantly with increasing SA/V. Since high SA/V values are expected in geologic repositories, waste glass leachability in actual burial should be even lower than in laboratory tests performed at lower SA/V; at high SA/V, the rate of glass dissolution is reduced and limited by solution saturation effects; leaching of waste glass in buffered solutions of pH 3, 7, and 11 show that other factors, such as formation of surface layers, in addition to silica solution saturation, may contribute to decreasing the leach rate, depending on the conditions of the test; for intermediate SA/V ratios (1.0 cm/sup -1/), the leach rates of powders are similar to the leach rates of monolithic solids, based on Si and B extraction; and leaching at high SA/V for short periods of time is not always equivalent to leaching at low SA/V for longer times, i.e. SA/V may not be a scaling factor applicable to all elements. 5 references, 14 figures, 7 tables.

Research Organization:
Du Pont de Nemours (E.I.) and Co., Aiken, SC (USA). Savannah River Lab.
DOE Contract Number:
AC09-76SR00001
OSTI ID:
6632181
Report Number(s):
DP-MS-84-37; CONF-840440-6; ON: DE84016348
Resource Relation:
Conference: 86. annual meeting and exposition of the American Ceramic Society, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, 29 Apr 1984
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English