Characterization of the water flow through concrete based on parameter estimation from infiltration tests

Navarro, Vicente; Yustres, Ángel; Cea, Luís; Candel, Miguel; Juncosa, Ricardo; Delgado, Jordi

doi:10.1016/j.cemconres.2005.11.015

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…However, a literature review of capillary-pressure measurements in concrete indicates that P 0 could vary widely, and in some cases values of several tens of MPa have been measured. For example, Navarro et al [22] fitted the van Genuchten model to their experimental data with P 0 = 34.6 MPa and m = 0.63.…”

Section: Leakage Rates For Different Water Retention Properties Of Thmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the concept of compressed air energy storage (CAES) in lined rock caverns at shallow depth: A modeling study of air tightness and energy balance

et al. 2012

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This paper presents a numerical modeling study of coupled thermodynamic, multiphase fluid flow and heat transport associated with underground compressed air energy storage (CAES) in lined rock caverns. Specifically, we explored the concept of using concrete lined caverns at a relatively shallow depth for which constructing and operational costs may be reduced if air tightness and stability can be assured. Our analysis showed that the key parameter to assure long-term air tightness in such a system was the permeability of both the concrete lining and the surrounding rock. The analysis also indicated that a concrete lining with a permeability of less than 1×10 -18 m 2 would result in an acceptable air leakage rate of less than 1%, with the operational pressure range between 5 and 8 MPa at a depth of 100 m. It was further noted that capillary retention properties and the initial liquid saturation of the lining were very important. Indeed, air leakage could be effectively prevented when the air-entry pressure of the concrete lining is higher than the operational air pressure and when the lining is kept moist at a relatively high liquid saturation. Our subsequent energy-balance analysis demonstrated that the energy loss for a daily compression and decompression cycle is governed by the air-pressure loss, as well as heat loss by conduction to the concrete liner and surrounding rock. For a sufficiently tight system, i.e., for a concrete permeability off less than 1×10 -18 m 2 , heat loss by heat conduction tends to become proportionally more important. However, the energy loss by heat conduction can be minimized by keeping the air-injection temperature of compressed air closer to the ambient temperature of the underground storage cavern. In such a case, almost all the heat loss during compression is gained back during subsequent decompression. Finally, our numerical simulation study showed that CAES in shallow rock caverns is feasible from a leakage and energy efficiency viewpoint. Our numerical approach and energy analysis will next be applied in designing and evaluating the performance of a planned full-scale pilot test of the proposed underground CAES concept.

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Section: Leakage Rates For Different Water Retention Properties Of Thmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the concept of compressed air energy storage (CAES) in lined rock caverns at shallow depth: A modeling study of air tightness and energy balance

et al. 2012

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“…A microscopic mass balance for the liquid phase contained in a solid porous media such as concrete leads to: (Navarro et al 2006 andSavage andJanssen 1997) propose the van Genuchten (1980) formulation for concrete, so that the relative permeability can be expressed as:…”

Section: Transport Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

An improved procedure for obtaining and maintaining well characterized partial water saturation states on concrete samples to be used for mass transport tests

et al. 2012

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A conditioning procedure is proposed allowing to install into the concrete specimens any selected value of water saturation degree with homogeneous moisture distribution. This is achieved within the least time and the minimum alteration of the concrete specimens. The protocol has the following steps: obtaining basic drying data at 50ºC (water absorption capacity and drying curves); unidirectional drying of the specimens at 50ºC until reaching the target saturation degree values; redistribution phase in closed containers at 50ºC (with measurement of the quasi-equilibrium relative humidities); storage into controlled environment chambers until and during mass transport tests, if necessary. A water transport model is used to derive transport parameters of the tested materials from the drying data, i.e. relative permeabilities and apparent water diffusion coefficients. The model also allows calculating moisture profiles during isothermal drying and redistribution phases, thus allowing optimization of the redistribution times for obtaining homogeneous moisture distributions.

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“…Inclusions in heterogeneous materials are commonly observed, such as concrete (aggregates and cement paste) and fibre bundle composites (Hall, 1994, Hanžič, et al, 2010, Navarro, et al, 2006, Spaid, et al, 1998, where both matrix and inclusion phases can be treated as porous media with different material properties. Such differences between phases can influence the imbibition process.…”

Section: Regions With Inclusionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When observed at the mesoscale, concrete materials are typical examples, since the main compositions include aggregates, cements and C-S-H phase, each with distinct permeability. The overall permeability of concretes is determined by this mesoscale structure, which responds for barrier performance, concrete durability (Hall, 1994, Hanžič, et al, 2010, Navarro, et al, 2006, etc. However, earlier work on overall flow properties of heterogeneous porous media (Durlofsky, 1991, Pettersen, 1987, Warren, et al, 1961 focuses on effective permeability instead of detailed imbibition processes, e.g., the evolution of liquid front, whilst recent work are mostly limited to layered configuration (Bal, et al, 2011, Debbabi, et al, 2017, Ern, et al, 2010, Guerrero-Martínez, et al, 2017, Helmig, et al, 2007, Patel, et al, 2017, Reyssat, et al, 2009, Schneider, et al, 2017.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling Imbibition Processes in Heterogeneous Porous Media

2018

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Imbibition is a commonly encountered multiphase problem in various fields, and exact prediction of imbibition processes is a key issue for better understanding capillary flow in heterogeneous porous media. In this work, a numerical framework for describing imbibition processes in porous media with material heterogeneity is proposed to track the moving wetting front with the help of a partially saturated region at the front vicinity. A new interface treatment, named the interface integral method, is developed here, combined with which the proposed numerical model provides a complete framework for imbibition problems. After validation of the current model with existing experimental results of one-dimensional imbibition, simulations on a series of two-dimensional cases are analysed with the presences of multiple porous phases. The simulations presented here not only demonstrate the suitability of the numerical framework on complex domains but also present its feasibility and potential for further engineering applications involving imbibition in heterogeneous media.

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Characterization of the water flow through concrete based on parameter estimation from infiltration tests

Cited by 16 publications

References 7 publications

Exploring the concept of compressed air energy storage (CAES) in lined rock caverns at shallow depth: A modeling study of air tightness and energy balance

Exploring the concept of compressed air energy storage (CAES) in lined rock caverns at shallow depth: A modeling study of air tightness and energy balance

An improved procedure for obtaining and maintaining well characterized partial water saturation states on concrete samples to be used for mass transport tests

Modelling Imbibition Processes in Heterogeneous Porous Media

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