Ph.D. projects

Pore scale radionuclide migration and sorption in the sandy facies of the Opalinus Clay - numerical investigations

Till Bollermann
Eu atoms (green) at an etch pit surface on the
base of muscovite (kMC simulation)

Ph.D. student:
Till Bollermann
Supervisor:
PD Dr. Cornelius Fischer (HZDR)
Division:
Reactive Transport
Duration:
02/2018–01/2021


In the PhD thesis, the influence of mineralogical and crystallographic parameters, in particular defect density distribution and crystal orientation, on the heterogeneous sorption of radionuclides in the host rock is investigated experimentally and analytically. Experimental investigations on a larger length scale (plug/core scale) aim at quantifying the fluid dispersion in the sandy facies of the Opalinus Clay. Within the iCross network, the PhD project is closely linked with numerically working groups, because the expected results are needed for the parameterisation and validation of reactive transport models. Methodologically, interferometric microscopy, µCT, µTRLFS and Geo-PET are used in particular.