Krol research group

Magdalena Krol is an Associate Professor at the Lassonde School of Engineering at York University, Toronto. Her area of expertise is in contaminant hydrogeology, specializing in the development and optimization of fate and transport models. Her current research in this field involves simulation of gas movement at contaminated sites that are under thermal remediation, as well as, examining the transport of corrosive agents to used nuclear fuel canisters (UFCs). The goal of Dr. Krol’s research is to develop, experimentally validated, models that help predict contaminant subsurface transport for various applications.

For the ORF grant, Professor Krol's group is studying the transport of corrosive agents through the engineered barrier system (EBS) to aid in refining the Canadian Deep Geological Repository (DGR). The current work involves the development of a 3D model that includes a variably saturated, non-isothermal domain representing the DGR. The model will establish a time to saturation of the EBS and investigate the effect of various parameters on sulfide diffusion to the UFC surface. The model is accompanied by diffusion and sorption experiments that will help in validating the model as well as establishing realistic transport parameters. The results from this project will give a comprehensive picture of transport dynamics in low permeable material and be used to perform parametric studies to refine and optimize the design of the Canadian DGR. This research will have implications in other domains such as landfill design or groundwater remediation, where the transport of contaminants such as metals, organics, or inorganics through low permeability soils is also an important consideration.