Open AccessSecond progress report on pre-test calculations for the large block test
Author(s) -
K.H. Lee
Publication year - 1995
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/206416
Subject(s) - block (permutation group theory) , block model , thermal conduction , vadose zone , radioactive waste , heat transfer , borehole , adiabatic process , thermal , geology , hydrothermal circulation , environmental science , geotechnical engineering , materials science , groundwater , mechanics , engineering , meteorology , mining engineering , waste management , thermodynamics , physics , geometry , mathematics , seismology , composite material
The US Department of Energy`s (DOE) Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project (YMP) is investigating the suitability of the Topopah Spring tuff in the thick vadose zone at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as a host rock for permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste. As part of the YMP, a group of field tests, called the Large Block Test (LBT), will be conducted on a large electrically heated block of Topopah Spring tuff. The block will be heated by electrical heaters. The goals of the LBT are to gain information on the coupled thermal-mechanical-hydrological-chemical processes that will be active in the near-field environment of a repository; to provide field data for testing and calibrating models; and to help in the development of measurement systems and techniques. In this second progress report, we present results of the final set of numerical modeling calculations performed in support of the LBT design. The results include block temperatures and heat fluxes across the surfaces. The results are applied primarily to the design of guard heaters to enforce adiabatic conditions along the block walls. Conduction-only runs are adequate to estimate the thermal behavior of the system, because earlier calculations showed that heat transfer in the block is expected to be dominated by conduction. In addition, conduction-only runs can be made at substantially shorter execution times than full hydrothermal runs. We also run a two-dimensional, hydrothermal, discrete fracture model, with 200-{mu}m vertical fractures parallel to the heaters and occurring at a uniform spacing of 30 cm. The results show the development of distinct dryout and recondensation zones. The dryout zones are thickest at the fractures and thinnest in the matrix midway between the fractures