Transcript elsworth_thurs_plenary

Some Needs and Potential Benefits
Related to a
National Underground Science Laboratory
NUSL–Geo-Hydrology–Engineering-Team
Overview
Scientific Rationale
Societal Imperatives
Science and Engineering Needs
Approach
Anticipated Benefits
ARMA-NSF-NeSS Workshop
Scientific Rationale
Societal Imperatives
Resource Recovery
Petroleum and Natural Gas Recovery in
Conventional & Unconventional
Reservoirs
In Situ Mining
HDR/EGS
Potable Water Supply
Mining Hydrology
Waste Containment/Disposal
Deep Waste Injection
Nuclear Waste Disposal
CO2 Sequestration
Cryogenic Storage/Petroleum/Gas
Site Restoration
Acid-Rock Drainage
Aquifer Remediation
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Scientific Rationale (Cont’d)
Science & Engineering Needs
1.
2.
3.
4.
Mechanical & Transport Behavior (momentum, fluid,
mass, & energy fluxes)
Solid- and Fluid-Environment Interaction
Characterization of Mechanical and Transport
Properties
Sensing, Data Fusion, and Modeling
Natural fracture
Artificial fracture
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Science & Engineering Needs (Cont’d)
1. Mechanical and Transport Behavior
Connectivity of Fracture Networks
Multi-phase Flow
Particulate (Colloid/Bacterial) Transport
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Percolation
Solute flux
(Dagan et al. 1992)
8000 FEET
Remote Sensing
http://mocha.phys.washington.edu/NUSL/
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Science & Engineering Needs (Cont’d)
2. Solid- & Fluid-Environment Interaction
Models of Fracture Development
Coupled Processes

THM

CB

THMCB
800C
Fracture aperture (m)
50
40
1200C
1500C
30
20
10
0
800C
1200C
0
50
100
150
200
400
Time (h)
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600
800
1000
Importance of Large-Scale In-Situ Experiments
Validation of coupled reaction-transport
conceptual and numerical models requires
well-controlled in-situ experiments (not found
in nature)
Effective reaction rates are controlled by the
hierarchy of scale of fluid flow - e.g., flow in a
fracture, through the fracture network, and
flow between the rock matrix and the
adjacent fractures
Reaction-transport processes can be strongly
coupled to permeability changes from rock
mechanical processes and can affect rock
deformation as a result of changing
mineralogy, permeability, and the chemical
environment at fracture tips
The Drift-Scale Test at Yucca Mountain has
been used to study coupled thermalhydrological-chemical-mechanical processes
in unsaturated fractured tuff
However, different geological and chemical
environments can result in different system
evolutions
Example of thermal-hydrologicalchemical processes in boiling
unsaturated fractured rock
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Coupled Thermal, Hydrological, and Chemical
Processes in the Drift Scale Test at Yucca Mountain
Purpose of the test is to evaluate
coupled thermal, hydrological,
mechanical and chemical
processes surrounding the potential
repository
Dimensions: ~ 50 meters long by 5
meters in diameter
Electric heaters activated Dec.
1997, turned off Jan. 2002
Maximum drift wall temperature
reached ~ 200°C
Water, gas, and rock samples
collected from boreholes for
geochemical and isotopic studies
Reaction-transport modeling
performed prior to and during test
(examples on following slides)
Connecting
Drift
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Observation
Drift
Heated
Drift
Wing Heaters
Thermal
Mechanical
Hydrological
Chemical
Science & Engineering Needs (Cont’d)
3. Characterization of Mechanical & Transport Properties
Hydraulic Methods
Tracer Methods

Natural

Forced

Aqueous (Conservative/Reactive)

Thermal

Particulate
Geophysical Methods
Drilling Methods
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We think that this image might be telling us something about
fracture orientations and intensity, but it is not clear what
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0%
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Science & Engineering Needs (Cont’d)
4. Sensing, Data Fusion, and Modeling
Sensing
Data Fusion
Modeling
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Science & Engineering Needs (Cont’d)
Imperatives
Strong scale dependence
THMCB processes incompletely understood
The role of serendipity in scientific advance
Approach
Run-of-Mine Experiments (HCB)
Experiments Concurrent with Excavation of the
Detector Caverns (THM)
Purpose-Built Experiments (THMCB)

Large Block Tests

Mine-By and Drift Structure
Tests
Educational Opportunities
ARMA-NSF-NeSS Workshop
Science & Engineering Needs (Cont’d)
Anticipated Benefits and Applications
Resource Recovery and Security
Waste Containment/Disposal
Site Restoration
Education
ARMA-NSF-NeSS Workshop