New evidence for the dominance of vapour diffusion during the re-saturation of compacted bentonite

Under certain conditions a balance equation for the water vapour in the bentonite can be transformed into the well-known Fickian approach that has been empirically derived from observations of uptake experiments with liquid water. This transformed balance equation allows to interpret the so-called “diffusion coefficient” as a product of several simple physical parameters. An exemplary set of parameters for compacted MX-80 bentonite yields a value that lies within the narrow band of empirically determined “diffusion coefficients”.