Dynamics of Fluids in Fractured Rock

About this book

Among the current problems that hydrogeologists face, perhaps there is none as challenging as the characterization of fractured rock. Within hydrogeological systems, general issues concerning groundwater flow and environmental remediation cannot be resolved in any practical manner prior to investigating the nature and vagaries of the fracture networks themselves. Comparable difficulties arise when developing economic programs for the exploitation of oil, gas, and geothermal reservoirs in fractured rock. Equal, if not greater, difficulties have commanded our attention relatively recently in regard to the storing of spent fuel generated by nuclear power plants. For example, if we are to isolate spent nuclear fuel in underground rock systems, we must construct a repository to protect the biosphere from contamination by radioactivity while subjecting the total rock system to a significant thermal field for many thousands of years. Predicting the behavior of a waste repository under such conditions, especially in fractured rock, is a formidable task.

Contents

Preface
      Boris Faybishenko and Sally M. Benson ix
Investigations at Berkeley on Fracture Flow in Rocks: From the Parallel Plate Model to Chaotic Systems
      Paul A. Witherspoon 1

Field Testing
A Brief Survey of Hydraulic Tests in Fractured Rocks
      Paul A. Hsieh  59
Unresolved Problems in Vadose Zone Hydrology and Contaminant Transport
      William A. Jury and Zhi Wang 67
Geostatistical, Type-Curve, and Inverse Analyses of Pneumatic Injection Tests in Unsaturated Fractured Tuffs at the Apache Leap Research Site Near Superior, Arizona
      Guoliang Chen, Walter A. Illman, Dick L. Thompson, VelimirV Vessel inov, and Shlomo P. Neuman 73
Estimation of the Heterogeneity of Fracture Permeability by Simultaneous Modeling of Multiple Air-Injection Tests in Partially Saturated Fractured Tuff
      Y. W. Tsang, K. Huang, and G. S. Bodvarsson 99
Estimation of Regional Recharge and Travel Time Through the Unsaturated Zone in Arid Climates
      Alan L. Flint, Lorraine E. Flint, Joseph A. Hevesi, Frank DAgnese, and Claudia Flint 115
Spatial and Temporal Instabilities in Water Flow Through Variably Saturated Fractured Basalt on a One-Meter Field Scale
      Robert K. Podgorney Thomas R. Wood, Boris Faybishenko, and Thomas M. Stoops 129

Laboratory Testing
Overview of Preferential Flow in Unsaturated Fractures
      Grace W. Su, Jil T Geller, Karsten Pruess, and James Hunt 147
Fracture-Matrix Flow: Quantification and Visualization Using X-Ray Computerized Tomography
      A. S. Grader, M. Balzarini, F Radaelli, G. Capasso, and A. Pellegrino 157
Role of Fracture Geometry in the Evolution of Flow Paths Under Stress
      S. Gentier, D. Hopkins, and J. Riss 169

Fracture Network Models
Predicting Hydrology of Fractured Rock Masses from Geology
      Paul R. La Pointe 185
Fracture Spatial Density and the Anisotropic Connectivity of Fracture Networks
      Carl E. Renshaw 203

Modeling Flow and Transport
Fluid Flow in Rock Fractures: From the Navier-Stokes Equations to the Cubic Law
      Robert W. Zimmerman and In-Wook Yeo 213
Multiphase Flow in Fractured Rocks—Some Lessons Learned from Mathematical Models
      Karsten Pruess 225
Physical Considerations in the Upscaling of Immiscible Displacements in a Fractured Medium
      Y. C Yortsos 235
Mixed Discrete-Continuum Models: A Summary of Experiences in Test Interpretation and Model Prediction
      Jesus Carrera and Lurdes Martinez-Landa 251
A Discrete-Fracture Boundary Integral Approach to Simulating Coupled Energy and Moisture Transport in a Fractured Porous Medium
      Stuart Stothoffand Dani Or 267
Critique of Dual Continuum Formulations of Multicomponent Reactive Transport in Fractured Porous Media
      Peter C Lichtner 281
On the Effective Continuum Method for Modeling Multiphase Flow, Multicomponent Transport, and Heat Transfer in Fractured Rock
      Yu-ShuWu 299
Effective-Porosity and Dual-Porosity Approaches to Solute Transport in the Saturated Zone at Yucca Mountain: Implications for Repository Performance Assessment
      Bill W. Arnold, Hubao Zhang, and Alva M. Parsons 313
Radionuclide Transport in the Unsaturated Zone at Yucca Mountain: Numerical Model and Preliminary Field Observations
      Bruce A. Robinson and Gilles Y Bussod 323

Isotopic Methods
Using Environmental Tracers to Constrain Flow Parameters in Fractured Rock Aquifers: Clare Valley, South Australia
      Peter G. Cook and Craig T. Simmons 337
Use of Chlorine-36 Data to Evaluate Fracture Flow and Transport Models at Yucca Mountain, Nevada
      Andrew Wolfsberg, Katherine Campbell, and June Fabryka-Martin 349

Geothermal Reservoirs
Pressure Interference Tests in a Fractured Geothermal Reservoir: Oguni Geothermal Field, Northern Kyushu, Japan
      Sabodh K. Garg and Shigetaka Nakanishi 363
Evaluation of Geothermal Well Behavior Using Inverse Modeling
      Stefan Finsterle, Grimur Bjdrnsson, Karsten Pruess, and Alfredo Battistelli 377

Remediation in Fractured Systems
Basic Research Strategies for Resolving Remediation Needs in Contaminated Fractured Media
      R M. Jardine, S. C. Brooks, G. V. Wilson, and W. E. Sanford 389

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