DEWATERING OF SODIUM BENTONITE USING A DRY PLASTER-OF-PARIS MOLD

A model of the transfer of water from an initially uniform wet slurry to a dry material is described and tested. The model requires that the hydraulic conductivity and water potential of the two materials be we ll-defined functions of the water content. It permits the prediction o f the time course of the redistribution process and the evolution of t he water content profiles in each material. It offers an explanation o f aspects of the capillary suction time method used to estimate the '' filtrability'' of slurries, and of slip-casting, and in particular off ers a physically based method for optimising that process.