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A study of thermally induced convection near a high‐level nuclear waste repository in partially saturated fractured tuff
Author(s) -
Tsang Y. W.,
Pruess K.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr023i010p01958
Subject(s) - buoyancy , convection , radioactive waste , mechanics , geology , convective flow , flow (mathematics) , materials science , physics , nuclear physics
We present simple estimates for velocities of buoyancy‐driven flow of liquid and gas phases near a hypothetical high‐level nuclear waste repository in partially saturated, fractured tuff. These estimates indicate that gas phase convection could take place with appreciable velocity, of the order of 20 m/year, while liquid convection is expected to be very slow, of the order of 0.1 mm/year. Detailed numerical simulations using an “effective continuum” approximation to represent fracture effects confirm these estimates and demonstrate a sensitivity of gas convection to the strength of binary diffusion.