Generalized Approach for Determination of Thermal Conductivity of Buffer Materials
Publication: Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 21, Issue 4
Abstract
Determination of thermal conductivity of buffer materials is an important aspect in the design and characterization of engineered barrier systems (EBS) in deep geological repositories (DGRs) for safe containment of high-level nuclear waste. Several factors, viz. compaction state, particle size distribution, and mineralogical characteristics of buffer materials, influence the thermal conductivity of composite buffer materials. Therefore, it is essential to give due regards to the influence of these factors while estimating thermal conductivity of buffer materials. In view of this, the present study pertains to an extensive laboratory scale determination of thermal conductivity of a wide range of sand-bentonite based buffer materials employing a thermal needle probe. Precision and accuracy of the thermal needle probe are established in relation to a contemporary and widely endorsed thermal property analyzer. Further, the efficacy of several predictive models available in the literature is evaluated to appraise the thermal conductivity of composite buffer materials in relation to the experimental data. Realizing the need of a generalized approach considering the influence of clay mineralogy and particle size fraction present in the geomaterial, the manuscript proposes generalized thermal conductivity prediction models meant for the buffer materials. The developed models are found to deliver satisfactory performance and accuracy in appraising thermal conductivity of sand-bentonite buffers used in DGRs.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Allen, C. C., and Wood, M. I. (1988). “Bentonite in nuclear waste disposal: A review of research in support of the basalt waste isolation project.” Appl. Clay Sci., 3(1), 11–30.
Anastácio, A. S., Aouad, A., Sellin, P., Fabris, J. D., Bergaya, F., and Stucki, J. W. (2008). “Characterization of a redox-modified clay mineral with respect to its suitability as a barrier in radioactive waste confinement.” Appl. Clay Sci., 39(3–4), 172–179.
Arnepalli, D. N., and Singh, D. N. (2004a). “A generalized procedure for determining thermal resistivity of soils.” Int. J. Therm. Sci., 43(1), 43–51.
Arnepalli, D. N., and Singh, D. N. (2004b). “Field probe for measuring thermal resistivity of soils.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 213–216.
ASTM. (1994a). “Standard test method for liquid limit, plastic limit and plasticity index of soils.” ASTM D4318, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (1994b). “Test method for shrinkage factors of soils by mercury method.” ASTM D427, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2006). “Standard test method for specific gravity of soil solids by gas pycnometer.” ASTM D5550, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2007). “Standard test method for particle size analysis of soils.” ASTM D422, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2012). “Laboratory compaction characteristics of soil using standard effort [12 400 ft-lbf/ft3 (600 kN-m/m3)].” ASTM D698, West Conshohocken, PA.
Bucher, F., and Vonmoos, M. M. (1989). “Bentonite as a containment barrier for the disposal of highly radioactive wastes.” Appl. Clay Sci., 4(2), 157–177.
Caridad, V., de Zarate, J. M. O., Khayet, M., and Legido, J. L. (2014). “Thermal conductivity and density of clay pastes at various water contents for pelotherapy use.” Appl. Clay Sci., 93(2), 23–27.
Chan, W. T., Chow, Y. K., and Liu, L. F. (1995). “Neural network: An alternative to pile driving formulas.” Comput. Geotech., 17(2), 135–156.
Cho, W-J., Lee, J-O., and Kwon, S. (2011). “An empirical model for the thermal conductivity of compacted bentonite and a bentonite-sand mixture.” Heat Mass Transfer, 47(11), 1385–1393.
Choobbasti, A. J., Farrokhzad, F., and Barari, A. (2009). “Prediction of slope stability using artificial neural network (case study: Noabad, Mazandaran, Iran).” Arabian J. Geosci., 2(4), 311–319.
Dao, L. Q., et al. (2014). “Anisotropic thermal conductivity of natural boom clay.” Appl. Clay Sci., 101(9), 282–287.
Das, S. K., and Basudhar, P. K. (2006). “Undrained lateral load capacity of piles in clay using artificial neural network.” Comput. Geotech., 33(8), 454–459.
Demuth, H., and Beale, M. (2000). Neural network toolbox, MathWorks, Inc., Natick, MA.
de Vries, D. A. (1963). “Thermal properties of soils.” The physics of plant environment, W. H. van Wijk, ed., North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
de Zarate, J. M. O., Hita, J. L., Khayet, M., and Legido, J. L. (2010). “Measurement of the thermal conductivity of clays used in pelotherapy by the multi-current hot-wire technique.” Appl. Clay Sci., 50(3), 423–426.
Dutta, J., and Mishra, A. K. (2015). “A study on the influence of inorganic salts on the behaviour of compacted bentonites.” Appl. Clay Sci., 116(8), 85–92.
Ewen, J., and Thomas, H. R. (1987). “The thermal probe—A new method and its use on an unsaturated sand.” Geotechnique, 37(1), 91–105.
Farouki, O. T. (1982). “Thermal properties of soils.”, U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, NH.
Flynn, D. R., and Watson, T. W. (1969). “Measurement of the thermal conductivity of soils to high temperature: Final report.”, Sandia Laboratories, Livermore, CA.
Fredlund, D. G., Rahardjo, H., and Fredlund, M. D. (2012). Unsaturated soil mechanics in engineering practice, Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 487–516.
Goh, A. T. C. (1994). “Nonlinear modelling in geotechnical engineering using neural networks.” Aust. Civ. Eng. Trans., 36(4), 293–297.
Goh, A. T. C. (1995). “Empirical design in geotechnics using neural networks.” Geotechnique, 45(4), 709–714.
Goh, A. T. C., Kulhawy, F. H., and Chua, C. G. (2005). “Bayesian neural network analysis of undrained side resistance of drilled shafts.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 84–93.
Gómez-Espina, R., and Villar, M. V. (2015). “Effects of heat and humidity gradients on MX-80 bentonite geochemistry and mineralogy.” Appl. Clay Sci., 109(3), 39–48.
Gualtieri, M. L., Gualteiri, A. F., Gagliardi, S., Ruffini, P., Ferrari, R., and Hanuskova, M. (2010). “Thermal conductivity of fired clays: Effects of mineralogical and physical properties of raw materials.” Appl. Clay Sci., 49(3), 269–275.
Guymon, G. L., and Luthin, J. N. (1974). “A coupled heat and moisture transport model for arctic soils.” Water Resour. Res., 10(5), 995–1001.
Hanna, A. M., Ural, D., and Saygili, G. (2007). “Evaluation of liquefaction potential of soil deposits using artificial neural networks.” Eng. Comput., 24(1), 5–16.
Horai, K. (1971). “Thermal conductivity of rock-forming minerals.” J. Geophys. Res., 76(5), 1278–1308.
Hubick, K. T. (1992). “Artificial neural networks in Australia.” Dept. of Industry, Technology and Commerce, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, Australia.
Jackson, R. D., and Taylor, S. A. (1965). “Heat transfer in methods of soil analysis. Part 1.” Agronomy, 9(1), 349–356.
Jobmann, M., and Buntebarth, G. (2009). “Influence of graphite and quartz addition on the thermo-physical properties of bentonite for sealing heat-generating radioactive waste.” Appl. Clay Sci., 44(3–4), 206–210.
Johansen, O. (1975). “Thermal conductivity of soils.” Ph.D. thesis, Institute for Kjoleteknikk, Trondheim, Norway.
Joseph, R. A. (2014). “Modeling and analysis of heat migration through buffer materials.” M.Tech. thesis, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India.
Juang, C. H., and Chen, C. J. (1999). “CPT-based liquefaction evaluation using artificial neural networks.” Comput. Aided Civ. Infrastruct. Eng., 14(3), 221–229.
Juang, C. H., and Elton, D. J. (1997). “Prediction of collapse potential of soil with neural networks.” Transp. Res. Rec., 1582(4), 22–28.
Kersten, M. S. (1949). “Laboratory research for the determination of the thermal properties of soils.”, Univ. of Minnesota, MN.
Komine, H., and Ogata, N. (2004). “Predicting swelling characteristics of bentonites.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 818–829.
Lee, I. M., and Lee, J. H. (1996). “Prediction of pile bearing capacity using artificial neural networks.” Comput. Geotech., 18(3), 189–200.
Mahamaya, M., Mishra, P. N., Suman, S., and Das, S. K. (2015). “Estimation of thermal migration around buried coolant ducts with engineered backfill material.” Procedia Earth Planet. Sci., 11, 410–417.
Mathur, R. K., Narayan, P. K., Joshi, M. R., Kumra, M. S., and Nair, M. K. T. (1993). “In-situ single heater thermo-mechanical experiment at underground chamber no. 1 in Mysore mines Kolar gold fields.” Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Dept. of Atomic Energy, Trombay, Mumbai.
McGaw, R. (1969). “Heat conduction in saturated granular materials: Effects of temperature and heat on engineering behaviour of soils.” Highway Research Board Special Rep., 103, 114–131.
Mishra, P. N., Gadi, V. K., Surya, S. S., and Arnepalli, D. N. (2014). “Appraisal of safe placement distance between canisters in a typical deep geological repository.” Proc., National Conf. on Geo-Environmental Issues and Sustainable Urban Development (GEN-2014), MNNIT Allahabad, Allahabad, India, 327–332.
Mishra, P. N., Suman, S., and Das, S. K. (2016). “Experimental investigation and prediction models for thermal conductivity of biomodified buffer materials for hazardous waste disposal.” J. Hazard. Toxic Radioact. Waste, .
Mitchell, J. K., and Kao, T. C. (1978). “Measurement of soil thermal resistivity.” J. Geotech. Eng. Div., 104(GT 10), 1307–1320.
Mitchell, J. K., and Soga, K. (2005). Fundamentals of Soil Behavior, 3rd Ed., Wiley, Hoboken, NJ.
Najjar, Y. M., and Basheer, I. A. (1996). “A neural network approach for site characterization and uncertainty prediction.” Geotech. Spec. Publ., 58(1), 134–148.
Pusch, R. (2006). “Clays and nuclear waste management.” Chapter 11.4, Handbook of clay science, F. Bergaya, B. Theng, and G. Lagaly, eds., Vol. 1, Elsevier Publications, Oxford, U.K., 703–716.
Sakellariou, M. G., and Ferentinou, M. D. (2005). “A study of slope stability prediction using neural networks.” Geotech. Geol. Eng., 23(4), 419–445.
Sanger, F. J. (1968). “Ground freezing in construction.” Proc. J. Soil Mech. Found. Div., 94(1), 131–158.
Shahin, M. A., Jaksa, M. B., and Maier, H. R. (2000). “Predicting the settlement of shallow foundations on cohesionless soils using back-propagation neural networks.”, Univ. of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.
Shahin, M. A., Jaksa, M. B., and Maier, H. R. (2001). “Artificial neural network applications in geotechnical engineering.” Aust. Geomech., 36(1), 49–62.
Shahin, M. A., Jaksa, M. B., and Maier, H. R. (2009). “Recent advances and future challenges for artificial neural systems in geotechnical engineering applications.” Adv. Artif. Neural Sys., 29(1), 308239.
Singh, D. N., and Devid, K. (2000). “Generalized relationships for estimating soil thermal resistivity.” Exp. Thermal Fluid Sci., 22(3–4), 133–143.
Singh, D. N., Devid, K., and Arnepalli, D. N. (2003). “Fabrication of thermal probes for estimation of soil thermal resistivity.” J. Test. Eval. ASTM, 31(1), 65–72.
Singh, D. N., and Rao, M. V. B. B. G. (1998). “Soil thermal resistivity.” Geotech. Eng. Bull., 7(3), 179–199.
Sivakugan, N., Eckersley, J. D., and Li, H. (1998). “Settlement predictions using neural networks.” Aust. Civ. Eng. Trans., 40(1), 49–52.
Surya, S. S., Joseph, R. A., and Arnepalli, D. N. (2014). “Modeling and analysis of heat migration through buffer material.” Proc., Indian Geotechnical Conf. (IGC-2014), IGS Kakinada Chapter, Kakinada, India, 1708–1717.
Tang, A. M., Cui, Y. J., and Le, T. T. (2008). “A study on the thermal conductivity of compacted bentonites.” Appl. Clay Sci., 41(3–4), 181–189.
Ural, D. N., and Saka, H. (1998). “Liquefaction assessment by neural networks.” Electron. J. Geotech. Eng., 3, in press.
van Rooyen, M., and Winterkorn, H. F. (1959). “Structural and textural influences on thermal conductivity of soils.” Highway Res. Board Proc., 39(4), 576–621.
Villar, M. V., and Lloret, A. (2004). “Influence of temperature on the hydro-mechanical behaviour of a compacted bentonite.” Appl. Clay Sci., 26(1–4), 337–350.
Winterkorn, H. F. (1964). “Discussion on influence of moisture content of soil on buried-cable ratings.” Proc. Inst. Electr. Eng., 111(12), 2081–2095.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 21 • Issue 4 • October 2017
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 21, 2016
Accepted: Nov 18, 2016
Published online: Feb 25, 2017
Discussion open until: Jul 25, 2017
Published in print: Oct 1, 2017
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.