• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.89-103
• /
• 2024

In the disposal environment, gases can be generated at the interface between canister and buffer due to various factors such as anaerobic corrosion, radiolysis, and microbial degradation. If the gas generation rate exceeds the diffusion rate, the gas within the buffer may compress, resulting in physical damage to the buffer due to the increased pore pressure. In particular, the rapid movement of gases, known as gas breakthroughs, through the dilatancy pathway formed during this process may lead to releasing radionuclide. Therefore, understanding these gas generation and movement mechanism is essential for the safety assessment of the disposal systems. In this study, an experimental apparatus for investigating gas migration within buffer was constructed based on a literature review. Subsequently, a gas injection experiment was conducted on a compacted bentonite block made of Bentonile WRK (Clariant Ltd.) powder. The results clearly demonstrated a sharp increase in stress and pressure typically observed at the onset of gas breakthrough within the buffer. Additionally, the range of stresses induced by the swelling phenomenon of the buffer, was 4.7 to 9.1 MPa. The apparent gas entry pressure was determined to be approximately 7.8 MPa. The equipment established in this study is expected to be utilized for various experiments aimed at building a database on the initial properties of buffer and the conditions during gas injection, contributing to understanding the gas migration phenomena.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.267-277
• /
• 2010

Gas separation membranes have been developed for decades in various areas to replace the conventional processes. Membrane processes for gas separation have many advantages of energy saving, compact size, and easy scale-up. Nowadays, gas separation processes is widely spreaded in nitrogen generating system, hydrogen generating system, membrane dryer, on board inert gas generating system, natural gas purification, biogas purification and fuel cells. Carbon dioxide separation process using membrane would be a strong candidate of carbon dioxide capturing process. In order to broaden the scope of application of gas separation membranes, development of new materials which can overcome the borderline of Robeson's plot should be necessary, so that many researchers and companies are trying to develop the new materials like polymers containing cardo and spiro group and PIMs (polymers for intrinsic microporosity).