Title

Understanding the Behavior of Sulfidic Colloids in the Presence of Metals

Author Info

Daniel Zamudio, California State Polytechnic University - PomonaFollow
Alex QuyenVo, University of Texas at Arlington
Vincent Noël, SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryFollow
John Bargar, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Recommended Citation

September 1, 2019.

Abstract

Riverton, Wyoming was host to a former uranium and vanadium ore processing plant, which operated from 1958 to 1963. The milling operations at the site contaminated the surface and shallow groundwater. The area became a Department of Energy (DOE) legacy site, where the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the DOE’s natural flushing compliance strategy. Up until the flooding in 2010, the natural flushing compliance strategy was going underway as expected. Sampling after the flood revealed a significant increase in contaminant concentration.

New updated models need to be developed to help understand the situation at Riverton, for which this laboratory experiment is conducted. We want to understand the behavior of sulfidic colloids in the groundwater to the presence of metals. At the lab of Stanford’s Green Earth Sciences Building, samples of Riverton groundwater solution and 0.1 M NaCl water solution were place under different parameters. These parameters were: different Ferrihydrite and Sulfur ratios (0.05, 0.1, 0.5, and 2), the duration of agitation (3h, 9h, 24h, 48h, 3d, 5d, 10d, and 14d), and the metals used (Uranium, Zinc, Copper, Nickel, and Molybdenum). The generation of sulfidic colloids is closely monitored throughout the progression of the experiment, which will give insight to their behavior.

Disciplines

Biogeochemistry | Geology

Mentor

Vincent Noel

Lab site

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC)

Funding Acknowledgement

The 2019 STEM Teacher and Researcher Program and this project have been made possible through support from Chevron (www.chevron.com), the National Science Foundation through the Robert Noyce Program under Grant #1836335 and 1340110, the California State University Office of the Chancellor, and California Polytechnic State University in partnership with [Your lab site] and [Any other organizations pertinent to your project]. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funders.