Download or read book Analyzing Unsatirated Flow Patterns in Fractured Rock Using an Integrated Modeling Approach written by and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Characterizing percolation patterns in unsaturated fractured rock has posed a greater challenge to modeling investigations than comparable saturated zone studies, because of the heterogeneous nature of unsaturated media and the great number of variables impacting unsaturated flow. This paper presents an integrated modeling methodology for quantitatively characterizing percolation patterns in the unsaturated zone of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, a proposed underground repository site for storing high-level radioactive waste. The modeling approach integrates a wide variety of moisture, pneumatic, thermal, and isotopic geochemical field data into a comprehensive three-dimensional numerical model for modeling analyses. It takes into account the coupled processes of fluid and heat flow and chemical isotopic transport in Yucca Mountain's highly heterogeneous, unsaturated fractured tuffs. Modeling results are examined against different types of field-measured data and then used to evaluate different hydrogeological conceptualizations and their results of flow patterns in the unsaturated zone. In particular, this model provides a much clearer understanding of percolation patterns and flow behavior through the unsaturated zone, both crucial issues in assessing repository performance. The integrated approach for quantifying Yucca Mountain's flow system is demonstrated to provide a practical modeling tool for characterizing flow and transport processes in complex subsurface systems.

Download or read book Analyzing Flow Patterns in Unsaturated Fractured Rock of YuccaMountain Using an Integrated Modeling Approach written by and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper presents a series of modeling investigations to characterize percolation patterns in the unsaturated zone of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, a proposed underground repository site for storing high-level radioactive waste. The investigations are conducted using a modeling approach that integrates a wide variety of moisture, pneumatic, thermal, and isotopic geochemical field data into a comprehensive three-dimensional numerical model through model calibration. This integrated modeling approach, based on a dual-continuum formulation, takes into account the coupled processes of fluid and heat flow and chemical isotopic transport in Yucca Mountain's highly heterogeneous, unsaturated fractured tuffs. In particular, the model results are examined against different types of field-measured data and used to evaluate different hydrogeological conceptual models and their effects on flow patterns in the unsaturated zone. The objective of this work to provide understanding of percolation patterns and flow behavior through the unsaturated zone, which is a crucial issue in assessing repository performance.

Download or read book An Integrated Modeling Analysis of Unsaturated Flow Patterns InFractured Rock written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Characterizing percolation patterns in unsaturated zones hasposed a greater challenge to numerical modeling investigations thancomparable saturated zone studies, because of the heterogeneous nature ofunsaturated media as well as the great number of variables impactingunsaturated zone flow. This paper presents an integrated modelingmethodology for quantitatively characterizing percolation patterns in theunsaturated zone of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, a proposed undergroundrepository site for storing high-level radioactive waste. It takes intoaccount the multiple coupled processes of air, water, heat flow andchemical isotopic transport in Yucca Mountain s highly heterogeneous, unsaturated fractured tuffs. The modeling approach integrates a widevariety of moisture, pneumatic, thermal, and isotopic geochemical fielddata into a comprehensive three-dimensional numerical model for modelinganalyses. Modeling results are examined against different types offield-measured data and then used to evaluate different hydrogeologicalconceptual models and their results of flow patterns in the unsaturatedzone. In particular, this integration model provides a much clearerunderstanding of percolation patterns and flow behavior through theunsaturated zone, both crucial issues in assessing repositoryperformance. The integrated approach for quantifying Yucca Mountain sflow system is also demonstrated to provide a comprehensive modeling toolfor characterizing flow and transport processes in complex subsurfacesystems.

Download or read book Rock Fractures and Fluid Flow written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1996-08-27 with total page 568 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientific understanding of fluid flow in rock fracturesâ€"a process underlying contemporary earth science problems from the search for petroleum to the controversy over nuclear waste storageâ€"has grown significantly in the past 20 years. This volume presents a comprehensive report on the state of the field, with an interdisciplinary viewpoint, case studies of fracture sites, illustrations, conclusions, and research recommendations. The book addresses these questions: How can fractures that are significant hydraulic conductors be identified, located, and characterized? How do flow and transport occur in fracture systems? How can changes in fracture systems be predicted and controlled? Among other topics, the committee provides a geomechanical understanding of fracture formation, reviews methods for detecting subsurface fractures, and looks at the use of hydraulic and tracer tests to investigate fluid flow. The volume examines the state of conceptual and mathematical modeling, and it provides a useful framework for understanding the complexity of fracture changes that occur during fluid pumping and other engineering practices. With a practical and multidisciplinary outlook, this volume will be welcomed by geologists, petroleum geologists, geoengineers, geophysicists, hydrologists, researchers, educators and students in these fields, and public officials involved in geological projects.

Download or read book Numerical Modelling and Analysis of Fluid Flow and Deformation of Fractured Rock Masses written by Xing Zhang and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2002-05-14 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our understanding of the subsurface system of the earth is becoming increasingly more sophisticated both at the level of the behaviour of its components (solid, liquid and gas) as well as their variations in space and time. The implementation of coupled models is essential for the understanding of an increasing number of natural phenomena and in predicting human impact on these.The growing interest in the relation between fluid flow and deformation in subsurface rock systems that characterise the upper crust has led to increasingly specialized knowledge in many branches of earth sciences and engineering. A multidisciplinary subject dealing with deformation and fluid flow in the subsurface system is emerging.While research in the subject area of faulting, fracturing and fluid flow has led to significant progress in many different areas, the approach has tended to be "reductionist", i.e. involving the isolation and simplification of phenomena so that they may be treated as single physical processes. The reality is that many processes operate together within subsurface systems, and this is particularly true for fluid flow and deformation of fractured rock masses. The aim of this book is to begin to explore how advances in numerical modelling can be applied to understanding the complex phenomena observed in such systems.Although mainly based on original research, the book also includes the fundamental principles and practical methods of numerical modelling, in particular distinct element methods. This volume explores the principles of numerical modelling and the methodologies for some of the most important problems, in addition to providing practical models with detailed discussions on various topics.

Download or read book Rock Fractures and Fluid Flow written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1996-09-27 with total page 568 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientific understanding of fluid flow in rock fracturesâ€"a process underlying contemporary earth science problems from the search for petroleum to the controversy over nuclear waste storageâ€"has grown significantly in the past 20 years. This volume presents a comprehensive report on the state of the field, with an interdisciplinary viewpoint, case studies of fracture sites, illustrations, conclusions, and research recommendations. The book addresses these questions: How can fractures that are significant hydraulic conductors be identified, located, and characterized? How do flow and transport occur in fracture systems? How can changes in fracture systems be predicted and controlled? Among other topics, the committee provides a geomechanical understanding of fracture formation, reviews methods for detecting subsurface fractures, and looks at the use of hydraulic and tracer tests to investigate fluid flow. The volume examines the state of conceptual and mathematical modeling, and it provides a useful framework for understanding the complexity of fracture changes that occur during fluid pumping and other engineering practices. With a practical and multidisciplinary outlook, this volume will be welcomed by geologists, petroleum geologists, geoengineers, geophysicists, hydrologists, researchers, educators and students in these fields, and public officials involved in geological projects.

Download or read book Modeling Flow and Transport in Unsaturated Fractured Rock written by and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 5 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Because the continuum approach is relatively simple and straightforward to implement, it has been commonly used in modeling flow and transport in unsaturated fractured rock. However, the usefulness of this approach can be questioned in terms of its adequacy for representing fingering flow and transport in unsaturated fractured rock. The continuum approach thus needs to be evaluated carefully by comparing simulation results with field observations directly related to unsaturated flow and transport processes. This paper reports on such an evaluation, based on a combination of model calibration and prediction, using data from an infiltration test carried out in a densely fractured rock within the unsaturated zone of Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Comparisons between experimental and modeling results show that the continuum approach may be able to capture important features of flow and transport processes observed from the test. The modeling results also show that matrix diffusion may have a significant effect on the overall transport behavior in unsaturated fractured rocks, which can be used to estimate effective fracture-matrix interface areas based on tracer transport data. While more theoretical, numerical, and experimental studies are needed to provide a conclusive evaluation, this study suggests that the continuum approach is useful for modeling flow and transport in unsaturated, densely fractured rock.

Download or read book Computational Science ICCS 2018 written by Yong Shi and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-06-12 with total page 881 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The three-volume set LNCS 10860, 10861 and 10862 constitutes the proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Computational Science, ICCS 2018, held in Wuxi, China, in June 2018. The total of 155 full and 66 short papers presented in this book set was carefully reviewed and selected from 404 submissions. The papers were organized in topical sections named: Part I: ICCS Main Track Part II: Track of Advances in High-Performance Computational Earth Sciences: Applications and Frameworks; Track of Agent-Based Simulations, Adaptive Algorithms and Solvers; Track of Applications of Matrix Methods in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning; Track of Architecture, Languages, Compilation and Hardware Support for Emerging ManYcore Systems; Track of Biomedical and Bioinformatics Challenges for Computer Science; Track of Computational Finance and Business Intelligence; Track of Computational Optimization, Modelling and Simulation; Track of Data, Modeling, and Computation in IoT and Smart Systems; Track of Data-Driven Computational Sciences; Track of Mathematical-Methods-and-Algorithms for Extreme Scale; Track of Multiscale Modelling and Simulation Part III: Track of Simulations of Flow and Transport: Modeling, Algorithms and Computation; Track of Solving Problems with Uncertainties; Track of Teaching Computational Science; Poster Papers

Download or read book An Integrated Methodology for Characterizing Flow and Transportprocesses in Fractured Rock written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To investigate the coupled processes involved in fluid andheat flow and chemical transport in the highly heterogeneous, unsaturated-zone (UZ) fractured rock of Yucca Mountain, we present anintegrated modeling methodology. This approach integrates a wide varietyof moisture, pneumatic, thermal, and geochemical isotopic field data intoa comprehensive three-dimensional numerical model for modeling analyses. The results of field applications of the methodology show that moisturedata, such as water potential and liquid saturation, are not sufficientto determine in situ percolation flux, whereas temperature andgeochemical isotopic data provide better constraints to net infiltrationrates and flow patterns. In addition, pneumatic data are found to beextremely valuable in estimating large-scale fracture permeability. Theintegration of hydrologic, pneumatic, temperature, and geochemical datainto modeling analyses is thereby demonstrated to provide a practicalmodeling approachfor characterizing flow and transport processes incomplex fractured formations.

Download or read book Characterization Modeling Monitoring and Remediation of Fractured Rock written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2021-01-29 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fractured rock is the host or foundation for innumerable engineered structures related to energy, water, waste, and transportation. Characterizing, modeling, and monitoring fractured rock sites is critical to the functioning of those infrastructure, as well as to optimizing resource recovery and contaminant management. Characterization, Modeling, Monitoring, and Remediation of Fractured Rock examines the state of practice and state of art in the characterization of fractured rock and the chemical and biological processes related to subsurface contaminant fate and transport. This report examines new developments, knowledge, and approaches to engineering at fractured rock sites since the publication of the 1996 National Research Council report Rock Fractures and Fluid Flow: Contemporary Understanding and Fluid Flow. Fundamental understanding of the physical nature of fractured rock has changed little since 1996, but many new characterization tools have been developed, and there is now greater appreciation for the importance of chemical and biological processes that can occur in the fractured rock environment. The findings of Characterization, Modeling, Monitoring, and Remediation of Fractured Rock can be applied to all types of engineered infrastructure, but especially to engineered repositories for buried or stored waste and to fractured rock sites that have been contaminated as a result of past disposal or other practices. The recommendations of this report are intended to help the practitioner, researcher, and decision maker take a more interdisciplinary approach to engineering in the fractured rock environment. This report describes how existing tools-some only recently developed-can be used to increase the accuracy and reliability of engineering design and management given the interacting forces of nature. With an interdisciplinary approach, it is possible to conceptualize and model the fractured rock environment with acceptable levels of uncertainty and reliability, and to design systems that maximize remediation and long-term performance. Better scientific understanding could inform regulations, policies, and implementation guidelines related to infrastructure development and operations. The recommendations for research and applications to enhance practice of this book make it a valuable resource for students and practitioners in this field.

Download or read book Advanced Conceptual Models for Unsaturated and Two Phase Flow in Fractured Rock written by and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 5 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This project was initiated in FY03. As of December 2003, we have accomplished the following: (1) We conducted a more detailed evaluation of the preliminary experiments used to develop our investigative approach. In those experiments, water was invaded at a variety of flow rates into an air-filled, two dimensional analog fracture network. Results demonstrated the critical control that fracture intersections place on two-phase flow in fracture networks. At low flows, capillary and gravitational forces combined to create a narrow pulsing flow structure that spanned the system vertically. At higher flows, viscous forces acted to remove the pulsation; however, the flow structure remained narrow. The intersections acted to impose a narrow ''slender ladder'' structure on the flowing phase that did not expand with depth, but instead remained focused. A manuscript documenting this effort has been published in Water Resources Research [Glass et al., 2003a]. (2) We initiated a collaborative relationship with a research group at Seoul National University. This group, which is led by Dr. Kang-Kun Lee is also using a combined experimental numerical approach to consider DNAPL migration in fracture networks. They are particularly interested in the influence of ambient groundwater flows, making their work complementary to ours. The first fruit of that collaboration is an article demonstrating that modification of an Invasion Percolation algorithm to include gravity and the first-order effects of viscous forces shows good agreement with physical experiments in a simplistic fracture network. Results were published in Geophysical Research Letters [Ji et al., 2003a]. (3) We carried out an extensive review of models for fracture networks. These include models developed from observations of networks on outcrops at several scales and stochastic models that are prevalent in the literature from the 1980s to very recent developments. The results of this review were included as par t of a review paper co-authored by Rajaram, which was submitted to Reviews in Geophysics [Molz et al., in press]. (4) We prepared a manuscript based on previous work that will be used to support the development of our new conceptual model(s) for transport in fractured rock. Eight experiments were conducted to evaluate the repeatability of flow under nearly identical conditions and to characterize general patterns in flow behavior. Collected data revealed that flow generally converged to a single fracture in the bottom row of blocks. Periods of pathway switching were observed to be more common than periods with steady, constant flow pathways. We noted the importance of fracture intersections for integrating uniform flow and discharging a ''fluid cascade'', where water advances rapidly to the next capillary barrier creating a stop and start advance of water through the network. The results of this simple experiment suggest that the interaction of multiple fracture intersections in a network creates flow behavior not generally recognized in popular conceptual and numerical models. A manuscript documenting this effort has been accepted for publication in Vadose Zone Journal [Wood et al., 2003]. (5) Slender transport pathways have been found in laboratory and field experiments within unsaturated fractured rock. We considered the simulation of such structures with a Modified form of Invasion Percolation (MIP). Results show that slender pathways form in fracture networks for a wide range of expected conditions, can be maintained when subsequent matrix imbibition is imposed, and may arise even in the context of primarily matrix flow due to the action of fractures as barriers to inter-matrix block transport. A manuscript documenting this effort has been submitted to Geophysical Research Letters [Glass et al., 2003b].

Download or read book Constitutive Relations for Unsaturated Flow in a Fracture Network written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A commonly used approach for modeling water flow in unsaturated fractured rocks is the continuum approach, in which the constitutive relation models originally developed for porous media have often been borrowed to represent constitutive relations for the fracture continuum. While these models have been successfully used for soils and other porous media, their usefulness and limitations have not been investigated for the fracture continuum. The objective of this study is to present an evaluation of the commonly used van Genuchten and Brooks-Corey models and to develop improved constitutive relation models based on the evaluation results.

Download or read book Conceptual Models of Flow and Transport in the Fractured Vadose Zone written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2001-05-21 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fluid flow and solute transport within the vadose zone, the unsaturated zone between the land surface and the water table, can be the cause of expanded plumes arising from localized contaminant sources. An understanding of vadose zone processes is, therefore, an essential prerequisite for cost-effective contaminant remediation efforts. In addition, because such features are potential avenues for rapid transport of chemicals from contamination sources to the water table, the presence of fractures and other channel-like openings in the vadose zone poses a particularly significant problem, Conceptual Models of Flow and Transport in the Fractured Vadose Zone is based on the work of a panel established under the auspices of the U.S. National Committee for Rock Mechanics. It emphasizes the importance of conceptual models and goes on to review the conceptual model development, testing, and refinement processes. The book examines fluid flow and transport mechanisms, noting the difficulty of modeling solute transport, and identifies geochemical and environmental tracer data as important components of the modeling process. Finally, the book recommends several areas for continued research.

Download or read book Fluid Flow in Fractured Rocks written by Robert W. Zimmerman and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2023-12-19 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: FLUID FLOW IN FRACTURED ROCKS "The definitive treatise on the subject for many years to come" (Prof. Ruben Juanes, MIT) Authoritative textbook that provides a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to fluid flow in fractured rocks Fluid Flow in Fractured Rocks provides an authoritative introduction to the topic of fluid flow through single rock fractures and fractured rock masses. This book is intended for readers with interests in hydrogeology, hydrology, water resources, structural geology, reservoir engineering, underground waste disposal, or other fields that involve the flow of fluids through fractured rock masses. Classical and established models and data are presented and carefully explained, and recent computational methodologies and results are also covered. Each chapter includes numerous graphs, schematic diagrams and field photographs, an extensive reference list, and a set of problems, thus providing a comprehensive learning experience that is both mathematically rigorous and accessible. Written by two internationally recognized leaders in the field, Fluid Flow in Fractured Rocks includes information on: Nucleation and growth of fractures in rock, with a multiscale characterization of their geometric traits Effect of normal and shear stresses on the transmissivity of a rock fracture and mathematics of fluid flow through a single rock fracture Solute transport in rocks, with quantitative descriptions of advection, molecular diffusion, and dispersion Fluid Flow in Fractured Rocks is an essential resource for researchers and postgraduate students who are interested in the field of fluid flow through fractured rocks. The text is also highly suitable for professionals working in civil, environmental, and petroleum engineering.

Download or read book Flow and Transport in Unsaturated Fractured Rock written by and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 5 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The heterogeneity of hydrogeologic properties at different scales may have different effects on flow and transport processes in a subsurface system. A model for the unsaturated zone of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, is developed to represent complex heterogeneity at two different scales: (1) layer scale corresponding to geologic layering and (2) local scale. The layer-scale hydrogeologic properties are obtained using inverse modeling, based on the available measurements collected from the Yucca Mountain site. Calibration results show a significant lateral and vertical variability in matrix and fracture properties. Hydrogeologic property distributions in a two-dimensional, vertical cross section of the site are generated by combining the average layer-scale matrix and fracture properties with local-scale perturbations generated using a stochastic simulation method. The unsaturated water flow and conservative (nonsorbing) tracer transport through the cross section are simulated for different sets of matrix and fracture property fields. Comparison of simulation results indicates that the local-scale heterogeneity of matrix and fracture properties has a considerable effect on unsaturated flow processes, leading to fast flow paths in fractures and the matrix. These paths shorten the travel time of a conservative tracer from the source (repository) horizon in the unsaturated zone to the water table for small fractions of total released tracer mass. As a result, the local-scale heterogeneity also has a noticeable effect on global tracer transport processes, characterized by an average breakthrough curve at the water table, especially at the early arrival time of tracer mass. However, the effect is not significant at the later time after 20 percent tracer mass reaches the water table. The simulation results also verify that matrix diffusion plays an important role in overall solute transport processes in the unsaturated zone at Yucca Mountain.

Download or read book Flow and Contaminant Transport in Fractured Rock written by Jacob Bear and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 1993-04-20 with total page 586 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modeling flow and contaminant transport in fractured rocks / J. Bear -- Solute transport in fractured rock--applications to radionuclide waste repositories / I. Neretnieks -- Solute transport through fracture networks / L. Smith, F.W. Schwartz -- Stochastic models of fracture systems and their use in flow and transport modeling / J.-P. Chilès, G. de Marsily -- Tracer transport in fracture systems / C.-F. Tsang --Multiphase flow in fractured petroleum reservoirs / H. Kazemi, J.R. Gilman -- Unsaturated flow in fractured porous media / J.S.Y. Wang, T.N. Narasimhan -- Simulation of flow and transport in fractured porous media / G.F. Pinder, P.S. Huyakorn, E.A. Sudicky -- A summary of field test methods in fractured rocks / P. Jouanna -- Index.

Download or read book Fluid Dynamics in Complex Fractured Porous Systems written by Boris Faybishenko and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2015-06-15 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite of many years of studies, predicting fluid flow, heat, and chemical transport in fractured-porous media remains a challenge for scientists and engineers worldwide. This monograph is the third in a series on the dynamics of fluids and transport in fractured rock published by the American Geophysical Union (Geophysical Monograph Series, Vol. 162, 2005; and Geophysical Monograph, No. 122, 2000). This monograph is dedicated to the late Dr. Paul Witherspoon for his seminal influence on the development of ideas and methodologies and the birth of contemporary fractured rock hydrogeology, including such fundamental and applied problems as environmental remediation; exploitation of oil, gas, and geothermal resources; disposal of spent nuclear fuel; and geotechnical engineering. This monograph addresses fundamental and applied scientific questions and is intended to assist scientists and practitioners bridge gaps in the current scientific knowledge in the areas of theoretical fluids dynamics, field measurements, and experiments for different practical applications. Readers of this book will include researchers, engineers, and professionals within academia, Federal agencies, and industry, as well as graduate/undergraduate students involved in theoretical, experimental, and numerical modeling studies of fluid dynamics and reactive chemical transport in the unsaturated and saturated zones, including studies pertaining to petroleum and geothermal reservoirs, environmental management and remediation, mining, gas storage, and radioactive waste isolation in underground repositories. Volume highlights include discussions of the following: Fundamentals of using a complex systems approach to describe flow and transport in fractured-porous media. Methods of Field Measurements and Experiments Collective behavior and emergent properties of complex fractured rock systems Connection to the surrounding environment Multi-disciplinary research for different applications