Measuring Thermal, Hydrological, Mechanical, and Chemical Responses in the Yucca Mountain Drift Scale Test

Datta, Robin N.; Barr, D.; Boyle, William

doi:10.1016/s1571-9960(04)80034-x

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The initial saturation was reduced in this example case to avoid unrealistically high gravity-driven percolation flux at ambient conditions. The selected heater power is identical to the average line load generated by the nine floor heaters in the Drift Scale Test, a large-scale underground heater test currently being conducted at the geologic repository for nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain (Datta et al, 2004).…”

Section: Basecasementioning

confidence: 99%

A Temperature-Profile Method for Estimating Flow Processes in Geologic Heat Pipes

Birkhölzer¹

2005

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Above-boiling temperature conditions, as encountered, for example, in geothermal reservoirs and in geologic repositories for the storage of heat-producing nuclear wastes, may give rise to strongly altered liquid and gas flow processes in porous subsurface environments. The magnitude of such flow perturbation is extremely hard to measure in the field. We therefore propose a simple temperature-profile method that uses high-resolution temperature data for deriving such information. The energy that is transmitted with the vapor and water flow creates a nearly isothermal zone maintained at about the boiling temperature, referred to as a heat pipe. Characteristic features of measured temperature profiles, such as the differences in the gradients inside and outside of the heat pipe regions, are used to derive the approximate magnitude of the liquid and gas fluxes in the subsurface, for both steady-state and transient conditions.-1 -1.

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Section: Basecasementioning

confidence: 99%

A Temperature-Profile Method for Estimating Flow Processes in Geologic Heat Pipes

Birkhölzer¹

2005

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“…For a more detailed analysis of the heat pipe behavior in fractured porous rock, we have Mountain (Datta et al, 2004).…”

Section: Simulated Heat Pipes Observed In a Hypothetical Example Casementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The so-called Drift Scale Test (DST) is currently being conducted to probe the coupled thermal, hydrological, mechanical, and chemical processes likely to occur in the unsaturated rock mass around the geologic repository (Datta et al, 2004). For this illustrative example, we select a subset of the approximately 1,750 temperature sensors in the DST and estimate the magnitude of the flux perturbation along vertical boreholes drilled into the heated fractured tuff.…”

Section: Analysis Of Temperature Data From the Yucca Mountain Drift Smentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The dimensions of the heated drift and the dimensions of the floor heaters are similar to the current design of waste emplacement Detailed site characterization with field and laboratory analysis conducted prior to heating provided relevant hydrological and thermal properties of the fractured rock in the DST, as given in Table 1. For monitoring purposes, the DST test block was instrumented with thousands of sensors to collect thermal, mechanical, hydrological, and chemical data during the test ,duration (Datta et al, 2004). Radial clusters of 20'm long boreholes emanating from the heated drift monitor the temperature evolution, as do longitudinal boreholes parallel to the heated dnft (Figure 9a).…”

Section: Configuration Of the Drift Scale Testmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Estimating Liquid Fluxes in Thermally Perturbed Fractured Rock Using Measured Temperature Profiles

Birkholzer¹

2005

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04865686, jtbirkholzer@lbl.gov Abstract: A new temperature-profile method was recently developed for analyzing perturbed flow conditions in superheated porous media. The method uses high-resolution temperature data to estimate the magnitude of the heat-driven liquid and gas fluxes that form as a result of boiling, condensation, and recirculation of pore water. In this paper, we evaluate the applicability of this new method to the more complex flow behavior in fractured formations with porous rock matrix. In such formations, with their intrinsic heterogeneity, the porous but low-permeable matrix provides most of the mass and heat storage capacity, and dominates conductive heat transfer, Fractures, on the other hand, offer highly effective conduits for gas and liquid flow, thereby generating significant convective heat transfer. After establishing the accuracy of the temperature-profile method for fractured porous formations, we apply the method in analyzing the perturbed flow conditions in a large-scale underground heater test conducted in unsaturated fractured porous tuff. The flux estimates for this test indicate a signifcant reflux of water near the heat source, on the order of a few hundred millimeter per year-much larger than the ambient percolation flux of only a few millimeter per year.Key Words: heat, flow, fractured rock, temperature profile, thermal perturbation -1 -REV00 IntroductionEvaluating the magnitude of flux perturbation in superheated subsurface systems can be a challenging task, in part because the direct in situ measurement of such quantities is virtually impossible. Flux perturbations are particularly strong in geologic heat pipes, where vapor is transported away from the heat source while condensate water flows back towards the heat source, thereby creating a continuous recirculation of vapor and water at significant rates (e.g., Udell, 1985;Doughty and Pruess, 1990, 1992). Examples of geologic heat pipes can be found in geothermal systems, near emplacement tunnels for the disposal of heat-producing nuclear wastes, in the vicinity of buried pipelines and electrical cables, in post-accident sites with boiling of fluids from nuclear reactor debris, and in oil fields as a result of thermally enhanced recovery (Udell, 1985).Of specific concern in t h s paper is the expected flux perturbation in the vicinity of the geologic repository for nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada (Pruess et al., 1990a(Pruess et al., , 1990b, where the decaying radioactive material produces significant amounts of heat.Determining the two-phase flow conditions in the fractured porous rock at YuccaMountain is relevant to the performance of this repository, because these conditions affect the temperature and relative humidity close to the waste packages-important parameters for their corrosion. Large-scale heater tests have been conducted in underground research tunnels at Yucca Mountain to assess the future repository's response to the decay heat and to determine the impact of thermal perturbation on liquid and g...

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“…In the context of THM coupled processes in rocks including gas flow, the Yucca Mountain DST (drift scale test) experiment has been investigated in some detail (Datta et al, 2004). The drift scale test is an in situ heating test in a fractured tuff (Yucca Mountain) simulating a radioactive waste disposal scheme.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gas flow through clay barriers

2008

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A model for the simulation of gas flow in clayey rocks and clays is described. Gas migration is associated with the development of preferential paths along existing or pressure-dependent discontinuities. The model handles the combined phenomena of two-phase (air and liquid) flow and the generation of discrete paths. Aperture of discrete paths is the main variable to account for permeability and capillary pressure variations. The model, which has been implemented in a general thermo-hydromechanical code, is used to simulate two experiments (laboratory and field). The laboratory experiment involved gas flow through shale specimens tested in a triaxial cell. In the field experiment, gas flow was forced through a sand-bentonite barrier. Experimental results and model calculations are compared in the paper.

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Measuring Thermal, Hydrological, Mechanical, and Chemical Responses in the Yucca Mountain Drift Scale Test

Cited by 8 publications

References 10 publications

A Temperature-Profile Method for Estimating Flow Processes in Geologic Heat Pipes

A Temperature-Profile Method for Estimating Flow Processes in Geologic Heat Pipes

Estimating Liquid Fluxes in Thermally Perturbed Fractured Rock Using Measured Temperature Profiles

Gas flow through clay barriers

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