Natural convection experiments in a liquid-saturated porous medium bounded by vertical coaxial cylinders

Conference · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:6525842

Reda, D. C.

An experimental effort is presently underway to investigate natural convection phenomena in liquid-saturated porous media utilizing a geometry, and hydrodynamic/thermal boundary conditions, relevant to the problem of nuclear-waste isolation in geologic repositories. During the first phase of this research program, detailed measurements were made of the steady-state thermal field throughout an annular test region bounded by a vertical, constant-heat-flux, inner cylinder and a concentrically-placed, constant-temperature, outer cylinder. An overlying, constant-pressure, fluid layer was utilized to supply a permeable upper surface boundary condition. Results showed the heater surface temperature to increase with increasing vertical distance due to the presence of a buoyantly-driven upflow. The measured temperature difference (..delta..T) between the average heater surface temperature and the constant, outer-surface, temperature was found to be progressively below the straight-line/conduction-only solution for ..delta..T vs power input as the latter was systematically increased. Comparisons between measured results and numerical predictions generated with the finite-element code MARIAH showed very good agreement, thereby contributing to the qualification of this code for repository-design applications.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 6525842
• Report Number(s): SAND-82-0793C; CONF-830301-1; ON: DE82017024
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
58 GEOSCIENCES
580100* -- Geology & Hydrology-- (-1989)
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
CONVECTION
ENERGY TRANSFER
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
HEAT TRANSFER
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
NATURAL CONVECTION
POROUS MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
SATURATION
TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION
TIME DEPENDENCE
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES