Solidification of Spent Ion Exchange Resin Using New Cementitious Material, (I): Swelling Pressure of Ion Exchange Resin

Cement solidification is a conventional technique to solidify spent ion exchange resin. Swelling property of the ion exchange resin was investigated theoretically and experimentally, as the first step to improve resin content in a cement package. Swelling pressure of the resin was first formulated based on Gregor's swelling model. It was shown that the pressure depended on such factors as ion exchange capacity, type of functional group, crosslinkage and water content. Subsequently, swelling pressures for over forty properties of cation exchange resin (DIAION SK-series) with different exchang capacities, water contents and others were experimentally evaluated using an originally developed method. The pressure changed over a range of 0-60 MPa, depending on properties of the ion exchange resin. These results were in close agreement with values calculated by Gregor's model, indicating that the swelling pressure could be evaluated without resorting to experiments.