Monitoring and Repair of Cement-Geomaterial Interfaces in Borehole and Repository Scenarios

Technical Report · Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1569352· OSTI ID:1569352

Matteo, Edward N. ^[1]; McMahon, Kevin A. ^[1]; Camphouse, Russell Chris ^[1]; Dewers, Thomas ^[1]; Jove-Colon, Carlos F. ^[1]; Fuller, Timothy Jesse ^[1]; Mohahgheghi, Joseph ^[1]; Stormont, J. C ^[2]; Taha, Mahmoud R. ^[2]; Pyrak-Nolte, Laura ^[3]; Wang, Chaoyi ^[3]; Douba, A. ^[2]; Genedy, Moneeb ^[2]; Fernandez, Serafin G. ^[2]; Kandil, U. F. ^[4]; Soliman, E. E. ^[2]; Starr, J. ^[2]; Stenko, Mike ^[5]

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1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
2. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)
3. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
4. Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute (Egypt)
5. Transpo Industries, Inc., New Rochelle, NY (United States)

The failure of subsurface seals (i.e., wellbores, shaft and drift seals in a deep geologic nuclear waste repository) has important implications for US Energy Security. The performance of these cementitious seals is controlled by a combination of chemical and mechanical forces, which are coupled processes that occur over multiple length scales. The goal of this work is to improve fundamental understanding of cement-geomaterial interfaces and develop tools and methodologies to characterize and predict performance of subsurface seals. This project utilized a combined experimental and modeling approach to better understand failure at cement-geomaterial interfaces. Cutting-edge experimental methods and characterization methods were used to understand evolution of the material properties during chemo-mechanical alteration of cement-geomaterial interfaces. Software tools were developed to model chemo-mechanical coupling and predict the complex interplay between reactive transport and solid mechanics. Novel, fit-for-purpose materials were developed and tested using fundamental understanding of failure processes at cement-geomaterial interfaces.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 1569352
• Report Number(s): SAND-2019-11174; 679809
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English