Measurements of Thermodynamic Data of Water in Ca-Bentonite by Relative Humidity Method

Buffer material (compacted bentonite), one of the engineered barrier elements in the geological disposal of a high-level radioactive waste, develops swelling stress due to groundwater penetration from the surrounding rock mass. Montmorillonite is the major clay mineral component of bentonite. Even previous studies provide few mechanical and thermodynamic data on Ca-montmorillonite. In this study, thermodynamic data on Ca-montmorillonite were obtained as a function of water content by measuring relative humidity (RH) and temperature. The activities of water and the relative partial molar Gibbs free energies of water were determined from the experimental results, and the swelling stress of Ca-bentonite was calculated using the thermodynamic model and compared with measured data. The activities of water and the relative partial molar Gibbs free energies obtained in the experiments decreased with decreasing water content in water contents lower than about 25%. This trend was similar to that of Na-montmorillonite. The swelling stress calculated based on the thermodynamic model was approximately 200 MPa at a montmorillonite partial density of 2.0 Mg/m³ and approximately 10 MPa at a montmorillonite partial density of 1.4 Mg/m³. The swelling stresses in the high-density region (around 2.0 Mg/m³) were higher than that of Na-montmorillonite and were similar levels in the low-density region (around 1.5 Mg/m³). Comparison with measured data showed the practicality of the thermodynamic model.