Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-t5pn6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T03:22:55.468Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Further Studies of the Anaerobic Corrosion of Steel in Bentonite

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2011

Nick R. Smart ,
Andrew P. Rance ,
Liisa Carlson  and
Lars O. Werme
Nick R. Smart
Affiliation:
Serco Assurance, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 3ED, U.K
Andrew P. Rance
Affiliation:
Serco Assurance, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 3ED, U.K
Liisa Carlson
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Finland, P.O. Box 96, FIN-02151, Espoo, Finland
Lars O. Werme
Affiliation:
SKB, Brahegatan 47, Box 5864 SE-102 40, Stockholm, Sweden
Get access

Abstract

In the horizontal emplacement concept (KBS-3H) for the disposal of radioactive waste, which is being developed in Sweden and Finland, copper canisters with cast iron inserts will be surrounded by bentonite buffer and mounted in perforated carbon steel support structures in boreholes within the bedrock. The groundwater will be reducing, leading to anaerobic corrosion of the ferrous material. It is important to understand both the effect of bentonite on the corrosion behaviour of the steel and the effect of the corrosion products on the performance of the bentonite. Previous work on the corrosion of steel in bentonite was extended to investigate a wider range of conditions, including the possible effects of alkaline plumes released from concrete support structures and the effect of chloride concentration and temperature on the corrosion rate of steel in bentonite. Corrosion rates were measured by collecting hydrogen produced by the anaerobic corrosion of iron. In addition, a range of analytical techniques was applied to study the composition and morphology of the corrosion products and the distribution and chemical state of the iron released into the bentonite. Comparison was also made between corrosion in compacted bentonite and artificial bentonite porewater. In the presence of bentonite, the corrosion product layer was relatively thin compared to fully aqueous conditions, probably because the ferrous ions released by corrosion exchanged with the bentonite interlayer or attached to the surface of the bentonite grains, rather than forming a separate iron oxide phase.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 932: Symposium – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXIX , 2006 , 32.1
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1 Smart, N.R., Rance, A.P. and Werme, L.O., Anaerobic Corrosion of Steel in Bentonite, Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings Volume 807, Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXVII, Oversby, V.M. and Werme, L.O. (eds.), p. 441–446, 2004.Google Scholar
2 Smart, N.R., Blackwood, D.J. and Werme, L., Corrosion 58(8), 627 (2002).Google Scholar
3 Carlson, L., Karnland, O., Oversby, V.M., Rance, A.P., Smart, N.R., Snellman, M., Vähänen, M. and Werme, L.O., Experimental Studies of the Interactions Between Anaerobically Corroding Iron and Bentonite, presented at conference on Clays in Natural and Engineered Barriers for Waste Confinement, held in Tours, France, March 14-18, 2005.Google Scholar
4 Géhin, A., Grenèche, J-M., Brendlé, J. and Charlet, L., Sorption Induced Reversible Oxidation of Fe(II) at the Smectite/Water Interface Under Strictly Anoxic Conditions. A Mössbauer Study, France, March 14-18, 2005.Google Scholar
5 Kamei, G., Oda, C., Mitsui, S., Shibata, M. and Shinozaki, T., Engineering Geology 54, 15–20 (1999).Google Scholar