The dissolution of high-FeO olivine rock from the Lovasjärvi intrusion (SE-Finland) at 25 °C as a function of pH

Abstract

The high-FeO olivine-rich rock from the Lovasjärvi intrusion (65% olivine, 20% plagioclase, 8% magnetite, 4% pyroxene and 3% serpentine) has been proposed as a potential redox-active backfill-additive in deep high level nuclear waste repositories. In this work, the authors report on kinetic dissolution studies of this solid under different pH and redox conditions performed by using a flow-through methodology. Assuming that silicon is mainly released to solution from the olivine contained in the solid, the experimental results have been adjusted to an empirical rate law as a function of proton concentration. The proton concentration reaction orders agree with results found in the literature for both acidic and alkaline pH ranges. The calculations conducted with the reactive transport code RETRASO show that at alkaline pH, the olivine rock might have a lower redox buffer capacity than expected.