Post-test comparison of thermal-hydrologic measurements and numerical predictions for the in situ single heater test, Yucca Mountain, Nevada
The Single Heater Test (SHT) is a sixteen-month-long heating and cooling experiment begun in August, 1996, located underground within the unsaturated zone near the potential geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. During the 9 month heating phase of the test, roughly 15 m{sup 3} of rock were raised to temperatures exceeding 100 C. In this paper, temperatures measured in sealed boreholes surrounding the heater are compared to temperatures predicted by 3D thermal-hydrologic calculations performed with a finite difference code. Three separate model runs using different values of bulk rock permeability (4 microdarcy to 5.2 darcy) yielded significantly different predicted temperatures and temperature distributions. All the models differ from the data, suggesting that to accurately model the thermal-hydrologic behavior of the SHT, the Equivalent Continuum Model (ECM), the conceptual basis for dealing with the fractured porous medium in the numerical predictions, should be discarded in favor of more sophisticated approaches.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 656521
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-98-0929C; CONF-980620-; ON: DE98005919; BR: NM2690200; TRN: 98:010929
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 3. North American Rock Mechanics Society conference, Cancun (Mexico), 3-5 Jun 1998; Other Information: PBD: [1998]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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