Effectiveness of rock fracture sealing with bentonite grouting

Abstract

A new fracture grouting technology has been developed to meet the requirements of high-level nuclear waste isolation. Bentonite fracture grouting tests are performed on a fracture model, made of circular acrylic plates with outer diameter of 30 cm and a central injection hole of 2.5 cm diameter. Suspensions with bentonite concentration of 9% to 31% have been injected into fractures with apertures of 9 to 39 microns under injection pressures less than 0.5 MPa. After grouting, the hydraulic conductivities of the fractures are reduced from the 10-1 to the 10-5 cm/s level. When the suspension is thin enough and the fracture is very small, channeling develops in the grouted fractures. Preliminary results indicate that the permeability of a grouted fracture does not increase with time in 125 days. The flow properties of bentonite suspensions, viscosity, shear stress, yield stress and gelation, are investigated. Water flow through ungrouted fractures and movement of water in bentonite grout are studied.