Search

Density-driven convection has been identified to accelerate the rate of CO2 solubility trapping during geological CO2 storage in deep saline aquifers. In this paper, we present an experimental method using the refractive properties of fluids (their impact on light transmission), and an analogous system design, which enables the study of transport mechanisms in saturated porous media. The method is used to investigate solutally induced density-driven convective mixing under conditions relevant to geological CO2 storage. The analogous system design allows us by choice of initial solute concentration and bead size to duplicate a wide range of conditions (Ra-values), making it possible to study the convective process in general, and as a laboratory analogue for systems found in the field. We show that the method accurately determines the solute concentration in the system with high spatial and temporal resolution. The onset time of convection (tc), mass flux (F), and flow dynamics are quantified and compared with experimental and numerical findings in the literature. Our data yield a scaling law for tc which gives new insight into its dependence on Ra, indicating tc to be more sensitive to large Ra than previously thought. Furthermore, our data show and explain why F is described equally well by a Ra-dependent or a Ra-independent scaling law. These findings improve the understanding of the physical process of convective mixing in saturated porous media in general and help to assess the CO2 solubility trapping rate under certain field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The void space of a rock fracture is conceptualized as a two-dimensional heterogeneous system with variable apertures as a function of position in the fracture plane. The apertures are generated using geostatistical methods. Fluid flow is simulated with constant head boundary conditions on two opposite sides of the two-dimensional flow region, with closed boundaries on the remaining two sides. The results show that the majority of flow tends to coalesce into certain preferred flow paths (channels) which offer the least resistance. Tracer transport is then simulated using a particle tracking method. The apertures along the paths taken by the tracer particles are found to obey a distribution different from that of all the apertures in the fracture. They obey a distribution with a larger mean and a smaller standard deviation. The shift in the distribution parameters increases with increasing values of variance for the apertures in the two-dimensional fracture. Provided that the correlation length is no greater than one fifth of the scale of measurement, the aperture density distributions of tracer particle paths remain similar for flow in two orthogonal directions, even with anisotropy ratio of spatial correlation up to 5. These results may be applicable in general to flow and transport through a two-dimensional strongly heterogeneous porous medium with a broad permeability distribution, where the dispersion of the system may be related to the parameters of the permeability distribution along preferred flow channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field evidences indicate that the bulk of water flow in fractured crystalline rock often occurs in preferred flow paths, or channels. A theoretical approach was proposed by Tsang and Tsang (1987) to interpret flow and transport through a two- or three-dimensional fractured medium in terms of a system of statistically equivalent one-dimensional channels. The apertures along the flow channels are characterized by an aperture density distribution and a spatial correlation length. In this paper, we present detailed studies on the properties of these channels: channel volume, channel residence time, and channel volumetric flow rate. We also calculated the dispersion in tracer transport through groups of statistically equivalent channels. The one-dimensional channel model is then applied to breakthrough data from transport in a two-dimensional single fracture (Moreno et al., this issue) in both a forward and an inverse calculation. We show from the inverse calculation that the aperture density distribution parameters of the one-dimensional flow channels may be estimated from the dispersion and mean residence time of the tracer data. The tracer breakthrough curve should be obtained from line measurements with tracer sampled over several spatial correlation lengths of the variable apertures. This is in contrast to conventional point tracer measurements which is expected to fluctuate with statistical realization and may not yield pertinent information on the flow system. Based on the insight gained in such calculations, design, and analysis of field measurements are discussed. Both tracer breakthrough measurements and flow rate measurements are needed to obtain the aperture parameters of the flow systems. The permeability measurements alone are controlled by the small constrictions along the flow paths and therefore do not yield a good measure of the mean aperture in channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calculations for the flow and solute transport through a single rough-surfaced fracture were carried out. The fracture plane was discretized into a square mesh to which variable apertures were assigned. The spatially varying apertures of each single fracture were generated using geostatistical methods, based on a given aperture probability density distribution and a specified spatial correlation length. Constant head boundary conditions were assumed for the flow in the x direction of a single fracture with no flow boundaries in the y direction. The fluid potential at each node of the discretization mesh was computed and the steady state flow rates between all the nodes were obtained. Our calculations showed that fluid flow occurs predominantly in a few preferred paths. Hence, the large range of apertures in the single fracture gives rise to flow channeling. The solute transport was calculated using a particle tracking method. Both the spatial and time variations of tracer breakthrough results are presented. The spatial variation of tracer transport between a line of injection points and a line of observation points are displayed in contour plots which we labeled 'transfer matrix.' Our results indicate that such plots can give information on the spatial correlation length of the heterogeneity in the fracture. The tracer breakthrough curve obtained from a line of point measurements is shown to be controlled by the aperture density distribution and is insensitive to statistical realization and spatial correlation length. These results suggest the importance of making line measurements in the laboratory and the field. Sensitivity of our results on parameter variations was also investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of a review of recent theoretical and experimental studies of flow through fractured rocks, we have studied the fluid flow and solute transport in a tight fractured medium in terms of flow through channels of variable aperture. The channels are characterized by an aperture density distribution and a spatial correlation length. Aperture profiles along the channels are statistically generated and compared to laboratory measurements of fracture surfaces. Calculated tracer transport between two points in the fractured media is by way of a number of such channels. Tracer breakthrough curves display features that correspond well with recent data by Moreno et al., which lends support to the validity of our model. Calculated pressure profiles along the channels suggest possible measurements that may be useful in identifying the geometrical characteristics of the channels. Finally, predictions were made for tracer breakthrough curves in the case of single fractures under various degrees of normal stress. These suggest possible laboratory experiments which may be performed to validate this conceptual model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]