MODELING COUPLED PROCESSES OF MULTIPHASE FLOW AND HEAT TRANSFER IN UNSATURATED FRACTURED ROCK
A mountain-scale, thermal-hydrologic (TH) numerical model is developed for investigating unsaturated flow behavior in response to decay heat from the radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, USA. The TH model, consisting of three-dimensional (3-D) representations of the unsaturated zone, is based on the current repository design, drift layout, and thermal loading scenario under estimated current and future climate conditions. More specifically, the TH model implements the current geological framework and hydrogeological conceptual models, and incorporates the most updated, best-estimated input parameters. This mountain-scale TH model simulates the coupled TH processes related to mountain-scale multiphase fluid flow, and evaluates the impact of radioactive waste heat on the hydrogeological system, including thermally perturbed liquid saturation, gas- and liquid-phase fluxes, and water and rock temperature elevations, as well as the changes in water flux driven by evaporation/condensation processes and drainage between drifts. For a better description of the ambient geothermal condition of the unsaturated zone system, the TH model is first calibrated against measured borehole temperature data. The ambient temperature calibration provides the necessary surface and water table boundary as well as initial conditions. Then, the TH model is used to obtain scientific understanding of TH processes in the Yucca Mountain unsaturated zone under the designed schedule of repository thermal load.
- Research Organization:
- Yucca Mountain Project, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 884907
- Report Number(s):
- NA; MOL.20060405.0097, DC#47003
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
A Mountain-Scale Thermal Hydrologic Model for Simulating FluidFlow and Heat Transfer in Unsaturated Fractured Rock
Modeling thermal-hydrological response of the unsaturated zone at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, to thermal load at a potential repository