ABSTRACTA literature survey has been performed to assess the effects of the temperature, glass surface area/leachate volume ratio, leachant composition, leachant flow rate, and glass composition (actual radioactive vs. simulated glass) used in laboratory tests on the measured glass reaction rate. The effects of these parameters must be accounted for in mechanistic models used to project glass durability over long times. Test parameters can also be used to highlight particular processes in laboratory tests. Waste glass corrosion results as water diffusion, ion exchange, and hydrolysis reactions occur simultaneously to devitrify the glass and release soluble glass components into solution. The rates of these processes are interrelated by the effects of the solution chemistry and glass alteration phases on each process, and the dominant (fastest) process may change as the reaction progresses. Transport of components from the release sites into solution may also affect the observed corrosion rate. The reaction temperature will affect the rate of each process, while other parameters will affect the solution chemistry and the particular processes that are observed during the test. The early stages of corrosion will be observed under test conditions which maintain dilute leachates and the later stages will be observed under conditions that generate more concentrated leachate solutions. Typically, water diffusion and ion exchange reactions dominate the observed glass corrosion in dilute solutions, while hydrolysis reactions are dominant in more concentrated solutions. Which process controls the long-term glass corrosion is not fully understood, and the long-term corrosion rate may be either transport- or reaction-limited.
Laboratory Testing of Waste Glass Aqueous Corrosion; Effects of Experimental Parameters
