Brine Transport in the Bedded Salt of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (wipp): Field Measurements and a Darcy Flow Model

McTigue, D. F.; Nowak, E. J.

doi:10.1557/proc-112-209

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…This paper presents analytical results for a problem of considerable practical importance: flow to a heated borehole. The original motivation for the study was a concern for the rate at which pore water can be expected to flow into a hole containing a hot, nuclear waste canister [McTigue and Nowak, 1988]. However, the results have much wider application.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus the analysis exhibits the richest structure for rocks of very low permeability. For example, granites can be characterized by a diffusivity for water of the order of 10 -5 m2/s [e.g., Rice and Cleary, 1976], and rock salt may show values as low as 10 -7 m2/s [e.g., McTigue, 1986;McTigue and Nowak, 1988]. In this range, there is a strong interplay of the thermal and fluid transport processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Flow to a heated borehole in porous, thermoelastic rock: Analysis

McTigue¹

1990

Water Resources Research

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Exact solutions are obtained for fluid flow induced by the heating of a borehole. The rock is modeled as a fluid‐saturated, porous, thermoelastic medium. The temperature and pore pressure fields are governed by a pair of diffusion equations, which are coupled through a source term in the pressure equation proportional to the temperature rate. The pressure profile exhibits a maximum that grows in magnitude and propagates away from the borehole. For a constant heat flux applied as an instantaneous step, the fluid flux to the borehole takes a finite initial value, and decays monotonically. When the heat flux exhibits a finite rise time, the fluid flux is initially zero, rises to a maximum, and then decays. At late time, the inverse of the fluid flux is linear in ln t; this observation can be exploited to estimate the permeability and fluid diffusivity of low‐permeability rock. Sample calculations are shown for Westerly granite.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flow to a heated borehole in porous, thermoelastic rock: Analysis

McTigue¹

1990

Water Resources Research

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“…The nitrogen mass flow rate was increased, eventually drying out the tubing by day 130. Room B daily brine inflow rates are not (McTigue and Nowak, 1988) accurate before this time, but it is believed the cumulative mass by day 130 is representative, since no significant brine was lost. Brine inflow rates in Room A1 were initially high, then stabilized at a lower rate.…”

Section: Wipp In Situ Moisture Release Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Non-isothermal flow to a nondeforming borehole McTigue (1986McTigue ( , 1990 and McTigue and Nowak (1988) combined thermoelasticity (solid expansion due to heating) with poroelasticity (deforming porous rock coupled with liquid flow), to develop solutions to thermoporoelastic problems relevant to radioactive waste disposal in salt. The thermoporoelasticity problem discussed in Chapter 2 was solved by using the following simplifying assumptions:…”

Section: Isothermal Flow To a Nondeforming Boreholementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Brine migration data and preliminary modeling results were summarized in interim reports (Nowak, 1986a;Nowak and McTigue, 1987) and conference papers (Nowak, 1986b;McTigue and Nowak, 1988). All 4 test boreholes produced brine under isothermal conditions at 5 to 15 g/day, prior to the start of heating (Nowak, 1986a).…”

Section: Wipp In Situ Moisture Release Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Brine flow in heated geologic salt.

Kuhlman¹,

Malama²

2013

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This report is a summary of the physical processes, primary governing equations, solution approaches, and historic testing related to brine migration in geologic salt. Although most information presented in this report is not new, we synthesize a large amount of material scattered across dozens of laboratory reports, journal papers, conference proceedings, and textbooks.We present a mathematical description of the governing brine flow mechanisms in geologic salt. We outline the general coupled thermal, multi-phase hydrologic, and mechanical processes. We derive these processes' governing equations, which can be used to predict brine flow. These equations are valid under a wide variety of conditions applicable to radioactive waste disposal in rooms and boreholes excavated into geologic salt. 3We focus on the development of the governing equations with the intent to solve them analytically or in a simplified numerical manner, although we briefly summarize some available fully coupled three-dimensional numerical models and some historic modeling results. We non-dimensionalize the governing equations, and make some statements about importance of terms in the governing equations for physically plausible ranges of material property values.We summarize both in situ and laboratory brine migration testing in intact geologic salt, primarily focusing on tests performed under heated conditions relevant to high-level waste disposal. Supporting material is presented in appendices on relevant aspects of laboratory water content determination for bedded salt, the nature and evolution of the disturbed rock zone, and geologic salt permeability testing.In the final summary chapter, we provide a narrative description of the processes controlling both isothermal and heated brine inflow to excavations in geologic salt. Based upon our review, we recommend several potential in situ and laboratory tests, which could be conducted to increase understanding, parametrize numerical models, and confirm the importance of competing physical processes.4

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Temperature response and brine availability to heated boreholes in bedded salt

Guiltinan

Kuhlman

Rutqvist

et al. 2020

Vadose Zone Journal

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There is a growing need for disposal of high-level nuclear waste. To reduce uncertainty associated with brine availability to repository excavations in salt formations, a collaboration between Sandia, Los Alamos, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories is performing a series of borehole-scale coupled process tests. Here, we report on the first round of the Brine Availability Test in Salt (BATS) project, a "shakedown" experiment called Phase 1s. Experimental testing included placing a resistive heater, a 260-W radiative heater, and a 750-W radiative heater within previously drilled horizontal boreholes at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) while monitoring temperature and water inflow. The experiments successfully achieved the targeted temperature of 120 • C when using the 750-W radiative heater. Simulations using FEHM (Finite Element Heat and Mass transfer code) and TOUGH-FLAC (Transport Of Unsaturated Groundwater and Heat-Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua) were able to accurately predict the coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical response of salt, matching the observed temperature and brine production. Due to the extremely low permeability of salt, these systems take many years to reach steady state when perturbed by mining activities. Long-term numerical simulations are used to develop the initial pressure and saturation conditions. The inclusion of a damaged rock zone with higher permeability around the borehole also affects the saturation and pressure distributions and plays an important role in dissipating the potential for thermal pressurization. Knowledge gained from this round of experimentation and simulation will be used to conduct the next BATS project experiment in new boreholes at WIPP.

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Brine Transport in the Bedded Salt of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (wipp): Field Measurements and a Darcy Flow Model

Cited by 10 publications

References 5 publications

Flow to a heated borehole in porous, thermoelastic rock: Analysis

Flow to a heated borehole in porous, thermoelastic rock: Analysis

Brine flow in heated geologic salt.

Temperature response and brine availability to heated boreholes in bedded salt

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