It is a well established fact that both acid
and basic media can cause the degradation of microstructural bonds within
crystallites of clay minerals if acting for sufficiently long time periods.
Previous research gave evidence that the degraded microstructure can be
restored by the alternative action of acid and base, using some conditioning
agent, such as water-glass. The problem is to select an appropriate
reacting substance. Changes in the environmental pH can also be observed
on applying an external electric field. The investigations will focus on
clay materials (kaolinite, bentonite). The materials will be exposed in
cells to waters of varying pH on one side and to mill tailings material
on the other side. The objective is to observe the development of the degradation
front with time.For the first year the following activities are foreseen:
I. Selection of suitable claysII. Determination of fundamental parameters
1. Geotechnical properties 2. Structural properties 3.
Mineralogy 4. Ion exchange capacity 5. Suction potentialIII.
Selection of reacting substancesIV. Cell experimentsV. Determination
of parameter (as above) changes with timeVI. Analysis of results and reporting.The
results will be used in the following year for designing the active control
of materials’ properties. |
Poland
K