294 research outputs found
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Current Status of the Thermodynamic Data for Technetium and Its Compounds and Aqueous Species
{sup 99}Tc is a major fission product from nuclear reactors. Because {sup 99}Tc has few applications outside of scientific research, most of this technetium will ultimately be disposed of as nuclear waste. The radioactive decay of {sup 99}Tc to {sup 99}Ru produces a low energy {beta}{sup -} particle, but because of its fairly long half-life of t{sub 1/2} = 2.13 x 10{sup 5} years, {sup 99}Tc is a major source of radiation in low level waste. Technetium forms the soluble TcO{sub 4}{sup -} anion under oxic conditions and this ion is very mobile in groundwater, but technetium is reduced to less soluble Tc(IV) hydrolyzed species under anoxic conditions. Geochemical modeling of the dissolution of nuclear waste, and of the solubility and speciation of the dissolved radionuclides in groundwaters, is an integral part of the Performance Assessment of the safety of a nuclear waste repository, and this modeling requires a critically-assessed thermodynamic database. Such a database for technetium was published in the book Chemical Thermodynamics of Technetium, with literature coverage through 1998. This database is described herein, along with more recent relevant studies. Gaps in the knowledge of the chemical and thermodynamic properties of technetium are pointed out, and recommendations are made for measurements that are needed to eliminate these gaps
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Potential for radionuclide immobilization in the EBS/NFE: solubility limiting phases for neptunium, plutonium, and uranium
Retardation and dispersion in the far field of radionuclides released from the engineered barrier system/near field environment (EBS/NFE) may not be sufficient to prevent regulatory limits being exceeded at the accessible environment. Hence, a greater emphasis must be placed on retardation and/or immobilization of radionuclides in the EBS/NFE. The present document represents a survey of radionuclide-bearing solid phases that could potentially form in the EBS/NFE and immobilize radionuclides released from the waste package and significantly reduce the source term. A detailed literature search was undertaken for experimental solubilities of the oxides, hydroxides, and various salts of neptunium, plutonium, and uranium in aqueous solutions as functions of pH, temperature, and the concentrations of added electrolytes. Numerous solubility studies and reviews were identified and copies of most of the articles were acquired. However, this project was only two months in duration, and copies of some the identified solubility studies could not be obtained at short notice. The results of this survey are intended to be used to assess whether a more detailed study of identified low- solubility phase(s) is warranted, and not as a data base suitable for predicting radionuclide solubility. The results of this survey may also prove useful in a preliminary evaluation of the efficacy of incorporating chemical additives to the EBS/NFE that will enhance radionuclide immobilization
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Conversion of Parameters Among Variants of Scatchard's Neutral-Electrolyte Model for Electrolyte Mixtures that Have Different Numbers of Mixing Terms
Various model equations are available for representing the excess Gibbs energy properties (osmotic and activity coefficients) of aqueous and other liquid mixed-electrolyte solutions. Scatchard's neutral-electrolyte model is among the simplest of these equations for ternary systems and contains terms that represent both symmetrical and asymmetric deviations from ideal mixing behavior when two single-electrolyte solutions are mixed in different proportions at constant ionic strengths. The usual form of this model allows from zero to six mixing parameters. In this report we present an analytical method for transforming the mixing parameters of neutral-electrolyte-type models with larger numbers of mixing parameters directly to those of models with fewer mixing parameters, without recourse to the source data used for evaluation of the original model parameters. The equations for this parameter conversion are based on an extension to ternary systems of the methodology of Rard and Wijesinghe [J. Chem. Thermodyn. 35, 439-473 (2003)] and Wijesinghe and Rard [J. Chem. Thermodyn. 37, 1196-1218 (2005)] that was applied by them to binary systems. It was found that the use of this approach with a constant ionic-strength cutoff of I {le} 6.2 mol {center_dot} kg{sup -1} (the NaCl solubility limit) yielded parameters for the NaCl + SrCl{sub 2} + H{sub 2}O and NaCl + MgCl{sub 2} + H{sub 2}O systems that predicted osmotic coefficients {phi} in excellent agreement with those calculated using the same sets of parameters whose values were evaluated directly from the source data by least-squares, with root mean square differences of RMSE({phi}) = 0.00006 to 0.00062 for the first system and RMSE({phi}) = 0.00014 to 0.00042 for the second. If, however, the directly evaluated parameters were based on experimental data where the ionic strength cutoff varied with the ionic-strength fraction, i.e. because they were constrained by isopiestic ionic strengths (MgCl{sub 2} + MgSO{sub 4} + H{sub 2}O) or solubility/oversaturation ionic strengths (NaCl + SrCl{sub 2} + H{sub 2}O and NaCl + MgCl{sub 2} + H{sub 2}O), then parameters converted by this approach assuming a constant ionic-strength cutoff yield RMSE({phi}) differences about an order of magnitude larger than the previous case. This indicates that for an accurate conversion of model parameters when the source model is constrained with variable ionic strength cutoffs, an extension of the parameter conversion method described herein will be required. However, when the source model parameters are evaluated at a constant ionic strength cutoff, such as when source isopiestic data are constrained to ionic strengths at or below the solubility limit of the less soluble component, or are Emf measurements that are commonly made at constant ionic strengths, then our method yields accurate converted models
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The Standard Chemical-Thermodynamic Properties of Phosphorus and Some of its Key Compounds and Aqueous Species: An Evaluation of Differences between the Previous Recommendations of NBS/NIST and CODATA
The aqueous chemistry of phosphorus is dominated by P(V), which under typical environmental conditions (and depending on pH and concentration) can be present as the orthophosphate ions H{sub 3}PO{sub 4}{sup 0}(aq), H{sub 2}PO{sub 4}{sup -}(aq), HPO{sub 4}{sup 2-}(aq), or PO{sub 4}{sup 3-}(aq). Many divalent, trivalent, and tetravalent metal ions form sparingly soluble orthophosphate phases that, depending on the solution pH and concentrations of phosphate and metal ions, can be solubility limiting phases. Geochemical and chemical engineering modeling of solubilities and speciation requires comprehensive thermodynamic databases that include the standard thermodynamic properties for the aqueous species and solid compounds. The most widely used sources for standard thermodynamic properties are the NBS (now NIST) Tables (from 1982 and earlier; with a 1989 erratum) and the final CODATA evaluation (1989). However, a comparison of the reported enthalpies of formation and Gibbs energies of formation for key phosphate compounds and aqueous species, especially H{sub 2}PO{sub 4}{sup -}(aq) and HPO{sub 4}{sup 2-}(aq), shows a systematic and nearly constant difference of 6.3 to 6.9 kJ {center_dot} mol{sup -1} per phosphorus atom between these two evaluations. The existing literature contains numerous studies (including major data summaries) that are based on one or the other of these evaluations. In this report we examine and identify the origin of this difference and conclude that the CODATA evaluation is more reliable. Values of the standard entropies of the H{sub 2}PO{sub 4}{sup -}(aq), HPO{sub 4}{sup 2-}(aq), and PO{sub 4}{sup 3-}(aq) ions at 298.15 K and p{sup o} = 1 bar were re-examined in the light of more recent information and data not considered in the CODATA review, and a slightly different value of S{sub m}{sup o}(H{sub 2}PO{sub 4}{sup -}, aq, 298.15 K) = 90.6 {+-} 1.5 J {center_dot} K{sup -1} mol{sup -1} was obtained
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Isopiestic Investigation of the Osmotic and Activity Coefficients of {yMgCl2 + (1 - y)MgSO4}(aq) and the Osmotic Coefficients of Na2SO4.MgSO4(aq) at 298.15 K
Isopiestic vapor pressure measurements were made for {l_brace}yMgCl{sub 2} + (1-y)MgSO{sub 4}{r_brace}(aq) solutions with MgCl{sub 2} ionic strength fractions of y = 0, 0.1997, 0.3989, 0.5992, 0.8008, and (1) at the temperature 298.15 K, using KCl(aq) as the reference standard. These measurements for the mixtures cover the ionic strength range I = 0.9794 to 9.4318 mol {center_dot} kg{sup -1}. In addition, isopiestic measurements were made with NaCl(aq) as reference standard for mixtures of {l_brace}xNa{sub 2}SO{sub 4} + (1-x)MgSO{sub 4}{r_brace}(aq) with the molality fraction x = 0.50000 that correspond to solutions of the evaporite mineral bloedite (astrakanite), Na{sub 2}Mg(SO{sub 4}){sub 2} {center_dot} 4H{sub 2}O(cr). The total molalities, m{sub T} = m(Na{sub 2}SO{sub 4}) + m(MgSO{sub 4}), range from m{sub T} = 1.4479 to 4.4312 mol {center_dot} kg{sup -1} (I = 5.0677 to 15.509 mol {center_dot} kg{sup -1}), where the uppermost concentration is the highest oversaturation molality that could be achieved by isothermal evaporation of the solvent at 298.15 K. The parameters of an extended ion-interaction (Pitzer) model for MgCl2(aq) at 298.15 K, which were required for an analysis of the {l_brace}yMgCl{sub 2} + (1-y)MgSO{sub 4}{r_brace}(aq) mixture results, were evaluated up to I = 12.025 mol {center_dot} kg{sup -1} from published isopiestic data together with the six new osmotic coefficients obtained in this study. Osmotic coefficients of {l_brace}yMgCl{sub 2} + (1-y)MgSO{sub 4}{r_brace}(aq) solutions from the present study, along with critically-assessed values from previous studies, were used to evaluate the mixing parameters of the extended ion-interaction model
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Ternary Isothermal Diffusion Coefficients of NaCl-MgCl2-H2O at 25 C. 7. Seawater Composition
The four diffusion coefficients D{sub ij} of the ternary system NaCl-MgCl{sub 2}-H{sub 2}O at the simplified seawater composition 0.48877 mol {center_dot} dm{sup -3} NaCl and 0.05110 mol {center_dot} dm{sup -3} MgCl{sub 2} have been remeasured at 25 C. The diffusion coefficients were obtained using both Gouy and Rayleigh interferometry with the highly precise Gosting diffusiometer. The results, which should be identical in principle, are essentially the same within or very close to their combined 'realistic' errors. This system has a cross-term D{sub 12} that is larger than the D{sub 22} main-term, where subscript 1 denotes NaCl and 2 denotes MgCl{sub 2}. The results are compared with earlier, less-precise measurements. Recommended values for this system are (D{sub 11}){sub V} = 1.432 x 10{sup -9} m{sup 2} {center_dot} sec{sup -1}, (D{sub 12}){sub V} = 0.750 x 10{sup -9} m{sup 2} {center_dot} sec{sup -1}, (D{sub 21}){sub V} = 0.0185 x 10{sup -9} m{sup 2} {center_dot} sec{sup -1}, and (D{sub 22}){sub V} = 0.728 x 10{sup -9} m{sup 2} {center_dot} sec{sup -1}
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Boiling Temperature and Reversed Deliquescence Relative Humidity Measurements for Mineral Assemblages in the NaCl + NaNO3 + KNO3 + Ca(NO3)2 + H2O System
Boiling temperature measurements have been made at ambient pressure for saturated ternary solutions of NaCl + KNO{sub 3} + H{sub 2}O, NaNO{sub 3} + KNO{sub 3} + H{sub 2}O, and NaCl + Ca(NO{sub 3}){sub 2} + H{sub 2}O over the full composition range, along with those of the single salt systems. Boiling temperatures were also measured for the four component NaCl + NaNO{sub 3} + KNO{sub 3} + H{sub 2}O and five component NaCl + NaNO{sub 3} + KNO{sub 3} + Ca(NO{sub 3}){sub 2} + H{sub 2}O mixtures, where the solute mole fraction of Ca(NO{sub 3}){sub 2}, x(Ca(NO{sub 3}){sub 2}), was varied between 0 and 0.25. The maximum boiling temperature found for the NaCl + KNO{sub 3} + H{sub 2}O system is {approx} 134.9 C; for the NaNO{sub 3} + KNO{sub 3} + H{sub 2}O system is {approx} 165.1 C at x(NaNO{sub 3}) {approx} 0.46 and x(KNO{sub 3}) {approx} 0.54; and for the NaCl + Ca(NO{sub 3}){sub 2} + H{sub 2}O system is 164.7 {+-} 0.6 C at x(NaCl) {approx} 0.25 and x(Ca(NO{sub 3}){sub 2}) {approx} 0.75. The NaCl + NaNO{sub 3} + KNO{sub 3} + Ca(NO{sub 3}){sub 2} + H{sub 2}O system forms molten salts below their maximum boiling temperatures, and the temperatures corresponding to the cessation of boiling (dry out temperatures) of these liquid mixtures were determined. These dry out temperatures range from {approx} 300 C when x(Ca(NO{sub 3}){sub 2}) = 0 to {ge} 400 C when x(Ca(NO{sub 3}){sub 2}) = 0.20 and 0.25. Mutual deliquescence/efflorescence relative humidity (MDRH/MERH) measurements were also made for the NaNO{sub 3} + KNO{sub 3} and NaCl + NaNO{sub 3} + KNO{sub 3} salt mixture from 120 to 180 C at ambient pressure. The NaNO{sub 3} and NaCl + NaNO{sub 3} + KNO{sub 3} salt mixture has a MDRH of 26.4% at 120 C and 20.0% at 150 C. This salt mixture also absorbs water at 180 C, which is higher than expected from the boiling temperature experiments. The NaCl + NaNO{sub 3} + KNO{sub 3} salt mixture was found to have a MDRH of 25.9% at 120 C and 10.5% at 180 C. The investigated mixture compositions correspond to some of the major mineral assemblages that are predicted to control brine composition due to the deliquescence of salts formed in dust deposited on waste canisters in the proposed nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada
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Osmotic and Activity Coefficients of the {xZnCl2 + (1 - x)ZnSO4}(aq) System at 298.15 K
Isopiestic vapor pressure measurements were made for (xZnCl{sub 2} + (1 - x)ZnSO{sub 4})(aq) solutions with ZnCl{sub 2} molality fractions of x = (0, 0.3062, 0.5730, 0.7969, and 1) at the temperature 298.15 K, using KCl(aq) as the reference standard. These measurements cover the water activity range 0.901-0.919 {le} a{sub w} {le} 0.978. The experimental osmotic coefficients were used to evaluate the parameters of an extended ion-interaction (Pitzer) model for these mixed electrolyte solutions. A similar analysis was made of the available activity data for ZnCl{sub 2}(aq) at 298.15 K, while assuming the presence of equilibrium amounts of ZnCl{sup +}(aq) ion-pairs, to derive the ion-interaction parameters for the hypothetical pure binary electrolytes (Zn{sup 2+}, 2Cl{sup -}) and (ZnCl{sup +},Cl{sup -}). These parameters are required for the analysis of the mixture results. Although significant concentrations of higher-order zinc chloride complexes may also be present in these solutions, it was possible to represent the osmotic coefficients accurately by explicitly including only the predominant complex ZnCl{sup +}(aq) and the completely dissociated ions. The ionic activity coefficients and osmotic coefficients were calculated over the investigated molality range using the evaluated extended Pitzer model parameters
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Radionuclide Reaction Chemistry as a Function of Temperature at the Cheshire Site
The goals of this task were to evaluate the availability of published temperature-dependent thermodynamic data for radionuclides and sorbing minerals and to evaluate the applicability of published estimation methods for temperature-dependent aqueous complexation, radionuclide mineral precipitation, and sorption. This task fills a gap in the hydrologic source term (HST) modeling approach, which, with few exceptions, has neglected the effects of temperature on radionuclide aqueous complexation, using 25 C complexation data for all temperatures without evaluating the consequences of this assumption. In this task, we have compiled thermodynamic data available in the literature and evaluated the options and benefits of applying temperature-dependent radionuclide speciation to future HST modeling. We use the recent experience of HST modeling at Cheshire (Pawloski et al., 2001) to focus our evaluation. Our literature search revealed that few thermodynamic data or extrapolation methods could be used to define the temperature-dependent speciation of key HST radionuclides Np, Pu, Am, and U, particularly for the higher valence-state (e.g., 5+ and 6+), the oxidation states most pertinent to NTS groundwater conditions at Cheshire. This suggests that using 25 C data for all temperatures may be the best modeling approach currently available. We tested established estimation techniques such as the Criss-Cobble method and other correlation algorithms to calculate thermodynamic parameters needed to extrapolate aqueous complexation data to higher temperatures. For some reactions, the isocoulombic method does allow calculation of free energy data and equilibrium values at higher temperatures. Limitations in algorithms and input data for pentavalent and hexavalent cations prevent extending temperature ranges for reactions involving radionuclides in these oxidation states and their complexes. In addition, for many of the radionuclides of interest, carbonate complexes appear to be the dominant complexes formed in NTS groundwaters, and data for these types of complexes are lacking for radionuclides as well as analog species. For the few species where enough data are available, the effect of temperature on radionuclide aqueous complexation has been calculated. These calculations allow partial estimation of the potential error that may be involved in ignoring speciation changes as a function of temperature, as was done in the Cheshire HST model (Pawloski et al., 2001). In some cases, differences between the most recent 25 C data available in the literature and data used in Pawloski et al. (2001) were more significant than calculated speciation changes as a function of temperature. To incorporate radionuclide speciation as a function of temperature, a robust set of temperature-dependent reaction constants is necessary. Based on our literature search and the few reactions that could be extrapolated to higher temperatures, the change in dominant complexes with temperature cannot be adequately addressed at this time. However, the effect of temperature on speciation can be qualitatively examined. In general, the log K values for radionuclide complexation reactions considered here increase with increasing temperature, suggesting that increasing temperature may enhance radionuclide aqueous complexation. However, complexation reactions often involve H{sup +} and reactant species such as carbonate which exhibit their own temperature-dependent speciation. Thus, any change in the value of a radionuclide complexation log K may be offset or enhanced by temperature effects on pH and carbonate speciation. In addition, sorption processes that involve surface complexation change with increasing temperature, and these reactions may enhance or negate the mobility effects of any increase in aqueous complexation with temperature. While increasing temperature may increase complexation, it also may reduce or increase ligand concentrations through shifts in speciation. Similarly, higher temperatures may favor or reduce sorption and/or co-precipitation in mineral phases. Consequently, the net effect on radionuclide mobility of increasing temperature depends on the effects of temperature on a number of geochemical processes. Thus, it is even difficult to make qualitative assumptions about the direction much less the magnitude of temperature effects on radionuclide mobility. Until sufficient data become available in the literature to precisely capture the effects of temperature on radionuclide complexation, it appears unwarranted to invest in complex estimation techniques based on extrapolations from available data
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