Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 September 2012
Laboratory experiments were performed to study the interaction betweengroundwater and compacted sodium bentonite (Volclay MX-80). The solutionsused were the fresh and saline groundwater simulants. The experiments werecarried out in aerobic and anaerobic conditions at elevated temperature. Ofmain interest in the present study were the chemical changes in the reactingsolution, bentonite porewater. and bentonite itself. The results for majorcations display a principal difference between the interactions with freshand saline solutions, while the differences between aerobic and anaerobicconditions within each solution case seem to be minor. The experimentalresults for the bentonite-water equilibria were interpreted in terms of amulti-site surface complexation model and the computer program HYDRAQL. Theapparent diffusivities for sodium and sulphate in bentonite samplessandwiched between two filterplates were also determined.