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Minerals
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Environmental Mineralogy, 2nd Edition
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Environmental Mineralogy, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Mineralogy and Biogeochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (16 February 2024) | Viewed by 3731

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Tsutomu Sato

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Guest Editor
Laboratory of Eco-materials and Resources, Faculty of Engineering Hokkaido University, Kita 13 Nishi 8, Kita-Ku, Sapporo 060-8628, Japan
Interests: environmental mineralogy; radioactive waste disposal; natural analogue; natural attenuation; geochemical modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Yuichi Niibori

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Quantum Science and Energy Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-01-2, Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-Ku, Sendai 980-8579, Miyagi, Japan
Interests: underground transport phenomena; water-solid surface interaction; kinetics; radioactive waste disposal; safety assessment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

“Environmental mineralogy” has developed over the past decade in response to the recognition that minerals are unambiguously linked in many important ways. This includes, of course, the local and global ecosystem, but also areas of geo-engineering technology, such as mining and waste disposal. Addressing a broad spectrum of issues encountered in geo-engineering will require an accurate and detailed understanding of the nature and extent of mineral–water interactions at the interface between built and natural environments. Such issues include the disposal of hazardous and radioactive waste, treatment of acid mine drainage and wastewater, capture and storage of carbon dioxide, construction using cement, slag, and fly ash, and the health effect of minerals, such as asbestos. Safety and performance assessments in such cases require the results of cutting-edge scientific research in many areas: (1) the kinetics of dissolution, alteration, and formation of minerals; (2) pollutant uptake by and release from minerals; (3) geochemical buffering of acid–base and redox reactions by minerals; and (4) mineral–microbe interactions. In this Special Issue, we seek to assemble a balanced combination of field, laboratory, and computational studies that represent recent advances and the future challenges in this field.

Prof. Dr. Tsutomu Sato
Prof. Dr. Yuichi Niibori
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • acid mine drainage
  • asbestos
  • carbon sequestration and mineralization
  • cement
  • enhanced rock weathering
  • fly ash
  • mining
  • slag
  • radioactive waste
  • waste disposal
  • water treatment

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 7180 KiB  
Article
Measurements of Thermodynamic Data of Water in Ca-Bentonite by Relative Humidity Method
by Kosuke Ichikawa and Haruo Sato
Minerals 2024, 14(5), 477; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14050477 - 30 Apr 2024
Viewed by 314
Abstract
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 [...] Read more.
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. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Mineralogy, 2nd Edition)
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16 pages, 5110 KiB  
Article
Swelling Stress of Bentonite: Thermodynamics of Interlayer Water in K-Montmorillonite in Consideration of Alteration
by Misato Endo and Haruo Sato
Minerals 2024, 14(4), 430; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14040430 - 21 Apr 2024
Viewed by 493
Abstract
The buffer material that makes up the geological disposal system of high-level waste swells by contact with groundwater and seals space with rock mass and fractures in rock mass. The buffer material has a function of mechanical buffer with rock pressure, and swelling [...] Read more.
The buffer material that makes up the geological disposal system of high-level waste swells by contact with groundwater and seals space with rock mass and fractures in rock mass. The buffer material has a function of mechanical buffer with rock pressure, and swelling stress is important in this case. The alteration of bentonite may occur due to the initial replacement of cations (Na+ ions) in the interlayer with K+ ions upon contact with groundwater, but there are no studies on the swelling stress of K-bentonite. In this study, the author prepared K-montmorillonite samples and obtained thermodynamic data on interlayer water as a function of water content using a relative humidity method. The swelling stress was analyzed based on a thermodynamic model developed in earlier studies and compared with measured data. The activity and the relative partial molar Gibbs free energy of porewater decreased with decreasing water content in the region, below approximately 15%. This behavior significantly differs from that of other ions, such as Na. The swelling stress calculated based on the thermodynamic model and date occurred in the region of high density of 1.9 Mg/m3 with montmorillonite partial density. It was indicated for the first time that K-bentonite scarcely swells under realistic design conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Mineralogy, 2nd Edition)
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20 pages, 2481 KiB  
Article
Changes of Temperature and Moisture Distribution over Time by Thermo-Hydro-Chemical (T-H-C)-Coupled Analysis in Buffer Material Focusing on Montmorillonite Content
by Kohei Ouchi and Haruo Sato
Minerals 2024, 14(4), 394; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14040394 - 10 Apr 2024
Viewed by 557
Abstract
Bentonite is used as a buffer material in engineered barriers for the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. The buffer material will be made of bentonite, a natural clay, mixed with silica sand. The buffer material is affected by decay heat from high-level [...] Read more.
Bentonite is used as a buffer material in engineered barriers for the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. The buffer material will be made of bentonite, a natural clay, mixed with silica sand. The buffer material is affected by decay heat from high-level radioactive waste, infiltration of groundwater, and swelling of the buffer material. The analysis of these factors requires coupled analysis of heat transfer, moisture transfer, and groundwater chemistry. The purpose of this study is to develop a model to evaluate bentonite types and silica sand content in a unified manner for thermo-hydro-chemical (T-H-C)-coupled analysis in buffer materials. We focused on the content of the clay mineral montmorillonite, which is the main component of bentonite, and developed a model to derive the moisture diffusion coefficient of liquid water and water vapor based on Philip and de Vries, and Kozeny–Carman. The evolutions of the temperature and moisture distribution in the buffer material were analyzed, and the validity of each distribution was confirmed by comparison with the measured data obtained from an in situ experiment at 350 m in depth at the Horonobe Underground Research Center, Hokkaido, Japan. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Mineralogy, 2nd Edition)
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10 pages, 3991 KiB  
Article
A Bayesian Approach to End-Member Mixing Estimations in a Geological Nuclear Waste Repository in Sweden
by Lino Nilsson, Simon Pontér and María J. Gimeno
Minerals 2024, 14(4), 357; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14040357 - 28 Mar 2024
Viewed by 457
Abstract
The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co. (SKB) has been searching for a site to construct a deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel in Sweden. In 2012, Forsmark was selected as the location for the nuclear fuel repository and construction will [...] Read more.
The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co. (SKB) has been searching for a site to construct a deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel in Sweden. In 2012, Forsmark was selected as the location for the nuclear fuel repository and construction will start in 2027. An understanding of the chemical composition and evolution of the groundwaters at the site is an integral part of the long-term safety case. SKB’s traditional approach to describe a site has been to use M3 mixing of end-members as the main process controlling the groundwater composition. We propose a new approach using a Bayesian mixing model. Similarly to the traditional mixing approach, the fraction of each end-member for all samples in the dataset is calculated, with the exception of the deep saline end-member. Given the slow movement of the deep groundwaters, it is likely that they have reached equilibrium with the host rock and fracture minerals. Therefore, we introduce an additional step, consisting of a Phreeqc model to construct the theoretical composition of groundwater with an increasing Cl concentration in equilibrium with the mineralogy of the host rock. This is a way of introducing a geochemical explanation to deep saline waters found in the geosphere of the Forsmark site. The results indicated a higher fraction of glacial meltwater in deep groundwaters in Forsmark compared to previous models. This approach could be directly applied to other groundwater systems, with different mineralogy of the host rock, assuming slow moving groundwater in equilibrium. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Mineralogy, 2nd Edition)
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15 pages, 13206 KiB  
Article
Immobilization Forms of Cadmium and Mercury in a Potassium-Activated Metakaolin-Based Geopolymer
by Pramesti Prihutami, Raudhatul Islam Chaerun, Yusuke Ohya, Tsubasa Otake, Ryosuke Kikuchi and Tsutomu Sato
Minerals 2024, 14(3), 311; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14030311 - 15 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1007
Abstract
Previous studies of cadmium and mercury immobilization in geopolymers have produced inconsistent results due to their different pozzolans, metal concentrations, and mixing procedures. Understanding the effects of these parameters on heavy metal immobilization is key to predicting their long-term stability. In this study, [...] Read more.
Previous studies of cadmium and mercury immobilization in geopolymers have produced inconsistent results due to their different pozzolans, metal concentrations, and mixing procedures. Understanding the effects of these parameters on heavy metal immobilization is key to predicting their long-term stability. In this study, cadmium and mercury were incorporated into a metakaolin-based K-activated geopolymer by three mixing procedures and concentrations of 0.02–1.00 wt.%. The samples were then immersed in water for 90 d to determine their stability. The results show that mercury is readily leached from the geopolymer, but cadmium is retained. Adding the heavy metals in salt form converts the metals into cadmium hydroxide and mercury oxide that reside at the bottom of the geopolymer. Mixing the salts with water forms soluble heavy metals prior to geopolymerization. This procedure produces more-homogeneous geopolymers. Cadmium is associated with silicate and aluminate, giving a better stability, whereas mercury forms mercury oxide. Different cadmium and mercury concentrations do not change the metal speciation as mercury is affected by relativistic contribution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Mineralogy, 2nd Edition)
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