Hostname: page-component-54dcc4c588-wlffp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-07T12:39:29.861Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Tough – A Numerical Model for Nonisothermal Unsaturated Flow to Study Waste Canister Heating Effects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2011

Karsten Pruess  and
Joseph S.Y. Wang
Karsten Pruess
Affiliation:
Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
Joseph S.Y. Wang
Affiliation:
Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
Get access

Abstract

The physical processes modeled and the mathematical and numerical methods employed in a simulator for non-isothermal flow of water, vapor, and air in permeable media are briefly summarized. The simulator has been applied to study thermohydrological conditions in the near vicinity of high-level nuclear waste packages emplaced in unsaturated rocks. The studies reported here specifically address the question whether or not the waste canister environment will dry up in the thermal phase.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 26: Symposium D – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management VII , 1983 , 1031
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

1. Narasimhan, T.N., Physics of Saturated-Unsaturated Subsurface Flow, In Narasimhan, T.N., ed., Recent Trends in Hydrogeology, Geological Society of America, Special Paper 189 (1982).Google Scholar
2. Milly, P.C.D., Moisture and Heat Transport in Hysteretic, Inhomogeneous Porous Media: A Matric-Head Based Formulation and a Numerical Model, Water Resources Research 18 (3), pp. 489–498 (1982).10.1029/WR018i003p00489CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3. Pruess, K., Heat Transfer in Fractured Geothermal Reservoirs with Boiling, Water Resources Research 19 (1), pp. 201–208 (1983).10.1029/WR019i001p00201CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4. Coats, K.H., A Highly Implicit Steam Flood Model, Soc. Petr. Eng. J., October 1978, pp. 369–393.10.2118/6105-PACrossRefGoogle Scholar
5. International Formulation Committee, A Formulation of the Thermodynamic Properties of Ordinary Water Substance, IFC Secretariat, Dusseldorf, Germany (1967).Google Scholar
6. Pruess, K. and Narasimhan, T.N., A Practical Method for Modeling Fluid and Heat Flow in Fractured Porous Media, Proc. Sixth SPE Symposium on Reservoir Simulation (paper SPE-10509), New Orleans, Louisiana, February 1982.Google Scholar
7. Philip, J.R., Numerical Solution of Equations of the Diffusion Type with Diffusivity Concentration Dependent, Trans. Faraday Soc., 51, pp. 885–892 (1955).10.1039/tf9555100885Google Scholar
8. Pruess, K. and Wang, J.S.Y. Mechanics and Parameters Controlling the Moisture Conditions near High-Level Nuclear Waste Packages Embedded in Unsaturated Rock, in preparation.Google Scholar
9. Haverkemp, R., Vauclin, M., Touma, J., Wierenga, P.J., and Vachaud, G., A Comparison of Numerical Simulation Models for One-Dimensional Infiltration, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 41, pp. 285–294 (1977).10.2136/sssaj1977.03615995004100020024xGoogle Scholar
10. van Genuchten, M.Th., A Closed-Form Equation for Predicting the Hydraulic Conductivity of Unsaturated Soils, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 44, pp. 892–898 (1980).10.2136/sssaj1980.03615995004400050002xGoogle Scholar
11. Narasimhan, T.N. and Witherspoon, P.A., Numerical Model for Saturated- Unsaturated Flow in Deformable Porous Media, 3. Applications, Water Resources Research, 14 (6), pp. 1017–1034 (1977).10.1029/WR014i006p01017CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12. Faust, C.R. and Mercer, J.W., Geothermal Reservoir Simulation - 2. Numerical Solution Techniques for Liquid- and Vapor-Dominated Hydrothermal Systems, Water Resources Research, 15, (1), pp. 31–46, February 1979.10.1029/WR015i001p00031CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13. Eastman, G.Y., The Heat Pipe, Scientific American, 218, pp. 38–46 (1968).10.1038/scientificamerican0568-38Google Scholar