A Large Block Heater Test for High Level Nuclear Waste Management,

Lin, Wenliang; Wilder, D.G.; Blink, J.A.; Blair, S.C.; Buscheck, Thomas A.; Glass, Robert J.; Glassley, William E.; Lee, K.; McCright, R.D.; Owens, M. W.; Roberts, Jeffery J.

doi:10.1557/proc-353-411

Cited by 6 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Natural alteration in the lower vitrophyre exemplifies hydrothermal modification of rock porosity by the dissolution of volcanic glass and precipitation of smectite, zeolite, and silica. This is consistent with several previous detailed studies which documented that significant changes in bulk rock solid volume will occur during rock-water interaction and temperature change, and that these changes may significantly modify rock and fracture porosity and permeability (Meike and Glassley, 1990;Glassley, 1993;Glassley et al, 1994;Lin et al, 1995). Simplified mass balance calculations are presented in Section 3.4.3 that substantiate those previous conclusions.…”

Section: Near-field Environmentsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…The techniques used to measure the permeability were described by Lin and Daily (1984). As expected, water permeability in intact Topopah Spring tuff samples was different than in fractured samples; however, it was determined that permeabilities of fractured samples responded to elevated temperature in a fundamentally different way than for unfractured samples (see Section 2.2.3) (Lin and Daily, 1984;Daily et al, 1987;Roberts and Lin, 1995b;Lin et al, 1995). The water permeability of intact Topopah Spring tuff samples is reported in this section.…”

Section: I2 Water Permeability At Elevated Pressures and Temperaturesmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…A series of laboratory experiments were conducted to understand the mechanism(s) that may cause the fracture healing. Those experiments have been reported by Lin and Daily (1984), Daily et al (1987), , , Roberts and Lin (1995b), and Lin et al (1995). The experimental techniques were described in Lin and Daily (1984).…”

Section: Fracture Healingmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…All the x-ray images presented in this report use the following convention: darker shades indicate higher x-ray attenuation (or changes in attenuation) and imply higher water content, and lighter shades indicate relatively low x-ray attenuation (or changes in attenuation) and imply lower water content. Quantitative saturation fields can be calculated but are not presented here (see Tidwell andGlass, 1994, or Roberts andLi.n, 1996c). …”

Section: Fracture Flow Vs Matrix Imbibition At Elevated Temperaturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is primarily due to the presence of cracks and fractures, and unfortunately, the scaling relations for the behavior and properties of fractured tuff are not well developed. Recently, Lin et al (1995) proposed an intermediate scale test to aid in the development of scaling relations. This testis known as the Large Block Test and is described in detail in Chapter 9 of this report.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Volume II: near-field and altered-zone environment report

Wilder¹

1996

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Section: Near-field Environmentsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: I2 Water Permeability At Elevated Pressures and Temperaturesmentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Fracture Healingmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Fracture Flow Vs Matrix Imbibition At Elevated Temperaturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Volume II: near-field and altered-zone environment report

Wilder¹

1996

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Liquid phase structure within an unsaturated fracture network beneath a surface infiltration event: Field experiment

Glass

Nicholl

Ramirez

et al. 2002

Water Resources Research

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[1] We conducted a simple field experiment to elucidate structure (i.e., geometry) of the liquid phase (water) resulting from ponded infiltration into a pervasive fracture network that dissected a nearly impermeable rock matrix. Over a 46 min period, dyed water was infiltrated from a surface pond while electrical resistance tomography (ERT) was employed to monitor the rapid invasion of the initially dry fracture network and subsequent drainage. We then excavated the rock mass to a depth of $5 m, mapping the fracture network and extent of dye staining over a series of horizontal pavements located directly beneath the pond. Near the infiltration surface, flow was dominated by viscous forces, and the fracture network was fully stained. With increasing depth, flow transitioned to unsaturated conditions, and the phase structure became complicated, exhibiting evidence of fragmentation, preferential flow, fingers, irregular wetting patterns, and varied behavior at fracture intersections. ERT images demonstrate that water spanned the instrumented network rapidly on ponding and also rapidly drained after ponding was terminated. Estimates suggest that our excavation captured from $15 to 1% or less of the rock volume interrogated by our infiltration slug, and thus the penetration depth from our short ponding event could have been quite large.

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Understanding the anomalous temperature data from the Large Block Test at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

Mukhopadhyay

Tsang

2002

Water Resources Research

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[1] The Large Block Test (LBT) at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, is unique because of its size, which is large enough to include a number of large fractures, while still small enough so that boundary conditions and heterogeneities can be adequately controlled or characterized. Extensive mapping of the test block has established the presence of many small and large fractures. Preheat air injection testing has also revealed that the block is highly heterogeneous, with fracture permeability varying more than four orders of magnitude. We hypothesize that these large fractures and the resulting heterogeneity play a significant role in the development of coupled thermal-hydrological (TH) processes in the LBT. A large volume of TH data, including temperature and saturation measurements, has been collected from the LBT. Some of these temperature data from the LBT, particularly those recorded by sensors TT1-14 and TT2-14, appear anomalous. We show that these anomalous temperature data can be understood only if heterogeneity is invoked.As an example, we show that the heat pipe signature, an indication of the extent of TH coupling, in TT2-14 is significantly longer in duration than that in TT1-14. We show that such a difference can be explained only if one includes a high-permeability layer, the existence of which has been indicated by air injection testing, through the location of sensor TT2-14. Similarly, the oscillating temperature pattern in all sensors of borehole TT2 during 4470-4500 hours of heating is shown to be the result of rainwater flowing down a high-permeability fracture. The irregular temperature pattern in borehole TT1 happens because of rainwater reaching the source of heat quickly through a highly permeable, inclined fracture and vapor rising upwards through a less permeable vertical fracture. We also demonstrate that the anomalous temperature pattern recorded by TT1-14 during 2500-3500 hours of heating can be explained in terms of continuous upward movement of vapor and the downward flow of condensate through the fractures. We conclude that the temperature data from the LBT are the results of coupled TH processes occurring in a heterogeneous environment.

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A Large Block Heater Test for High Level Nuclear Waste Management,

Cited by 6 publications

References 5 publications

Volume II: near-field and altered-zone environment report

Volume II: near-field and altered-zone environment report

Liquid phase structure within an unsaturated fracture network beneath a surface infiltration event: Field experiment

Understanding the anomalous temperature data from the Large Block Test at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

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