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Title: Coupled transport processes in semipermeable media

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6400480· OSTI ID:6400480

A numerical simulator has been developed to investigate the effects of coupled processes on heat and mass transport in semipermeable media. The governing equations on which the simulator is based were derived using the thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The equations are nonlinear and have been solved numerically using the n-dimensional Newton's method. As an example of an application, the numerical simulator has been used to investigate heat and solute transport in the vicinity of a heat source buried in a saturated clay-like medium, in part to study solute transport in bentonite packing material surrounding a nuclear waste canister. The coupled processes considered were thermal filtration, thermal osmosis, chemical osmosis and ultrafiltration. In the simulations, heat transport by coupled processes was negligible compared to heat conduction, but pressure and solute migration were affected. Solute migration was retarded relative to the uncoupled case when only chemical osmosis was considered. When both chemical osmosis and thermal osmosis were included, solute migration was enhanced. 18 refs., 20 figs.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE/ER
DOE Contract Number:
AC03-76SF00098
OSTI ID:
6400480
Report Number(s):
LBL-25619; ON: DE91004140
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English