Temperature measurements from the prototype engineered barrier system field test
A horizontal heater test was conducted in G-Tunnel, Nevada Test Site, to study the hydrothermal response of the rock mass due to a thermal loading. The results of the temperature measurements are reported here. The maximum temperature on the surface of the heater can was about 340{degrees}C; the maximum temperature at the bottom of the heater borehole wall was about 240{degrees}C, which is similar to that expected in the rock adjacent to a real nuclear waste package. The measured temperatures agree with the results of a model, assuming heat conduction as the heat transfer mechanism. The measured temperatures also agree with a scoping calculation that was performed using a model which investigates the transport of water, vapor, air, and heat in fractured porous media. Our results indicate that the temperature field might be affected by the initial moisture content of the rock, the fractures in the rock, the distance from the free surface of the alcove wall, and the temperature distribution on the heater surface. Higher initial moisture content, higher fracture density, and cooling from the alcove wall tend to decrease the measured temperature. The temperature on top of the horizontal heater can was about 30{degrees}C greater than at the bottom throughout most of the heating phase, causing the rock temperatures above the heater to be greater than those below. Along a radius from the center of the heater, the heating created a dry zone, followed by a boiling zone and a condensation zone. Gravity drainage of the condensed water in the condensation zone had a strong effect on the boiling process in the test region. The temperatures below and to the side of the heater indicated a region receiving liquid drainage from an overlying region of condensation. We verified that a thermocouple in a thin-wall measures the same temperature as one grouted in a borehole. 12 refs., 10 figs.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 138192
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-ID-104757; ON: DE91017524
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Jul 1991
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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