Numerical prediction of gas migration properties in Callovo‐Oxfordian (COx) argillite using morpho‐mathematical operations

Abstract

Summary The feasibility study of long‐term radioactive waste storage in low‐permeable rocks has been performed by considering various damage and failure scenarios. This study aims at the numerical investigation of gas (mainly produced by corrosion of metallic parts) migration properties through the low‐permeable formation of Callovo‐Oxfordian argillite. Traditional methods, based on macroscopic approaches or homogeneous transport properties, are inappropriate to analyze this issue at the mesoscopic/microscopic scale. In this study, realistic porous space morphologies are constructed through union of excursions of random fields considering different experimental pore size distributions. Afterwards, purely geometric analysis of pore space is conducted by morpho‐mathematical operations for the purpose of the extraction of preferential gas transport pathways and the prediction of the gas entry pressure, the gas breakthrough pressure, and the following imbibition process.