Laboratory investigation of crushed salt consolidation and fracture healing
A laboratory test program was conducted to investigate the consolidation behavior of crushed salt and fracture healing in natural and artificial salt. Crushed salt is proposed for use as backfill in a nuclear waste repository in salt. Artificial block salt is proposed for use in sealing a repository. Four consolidation tests were conducted in a hydrostatic pressure vessel at a maximum pressure of 2500 psi (17.2 MPa) and at room temperature. Three 1-month tests were conducted on salt obtained from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and one 2-month test was conducted on salt from Avery Island. Permeability was obtained using argon and either a steady-state or transient method. Initial porosities ranged from 0.26 to 0.36 and initial permeabilities from 2000 to 50,000 md. Final porosities and permeabilities ranged from 0.05 to 0.19 and from <10/sup -5/ md to 110 md, respectively. The lowest final porosity (0.05) and permeability (<10/sup -5/ md) were obtained in a 1-month test in which 2.3% moisture was added to the salt at the beginning of the test. The consolidation rate was much more rapid than in any of the dry salt tests. The fracture healing program included 20 permeability tests conducted on fractured and unfractured samples. The tests were conducted in a Hoek cell at hydrostatic pressures up to 3000 psi (20.6 MPa) with durations up to 8 days. For the natural rock salt tested, permeability was strongly dependent on confining pressure and time. The effect of confining pressure was much weaker in the artificial salt. In most cases the combined effects of time and pressure were to reduce the permeability of fractured samples to the same order of magnitude (or less) as the permeability measured prior to fracturing.
- Research Organization:
- IT Corp., Albuquerque, NM (USA); Battelle Memorial Inst., Columbus, OH (United States). Office of Nuclear Waste Isolation
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-83CH10140
- OSTI ID:
- 6839572
- Report Number(s):
- BMI/ONWI-631; ON: DE87005487
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Microfiche only, copy does not permit paper copy reproduction. Original copy available until stock is exhausted
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
SALT DEPOSITS
CREEP
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
POROSITY
BACKFILLING
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
CRUSHING
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
PERMEABILITY
COMMINUTION
DATA
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
INFORMATION
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
NUMERICAL DATA
580300* - Mineralogy
Petrology
& Rock Mechanics- (-1989)
052002 - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage