Method for efficient simulation of radionuclide transport in discrete fracture networks
Abstract
Limitations of the advection-dispersion equation for predicting transport in sparsely or moderately fractured rock are well known and have prompted many to consider discrete fracture network (DFN) simulation combined with particle tracking as an alternative. Although it is relatively straightforward to track particles moving only by advection through DFN-derived flow fields, more complex processes such as matrix diffusion, longitudinal dispersion, and decay/in-growth of radionuclides are more difficult and more computationally demanding. Moreover, the DFN simulations themselves are computationally intensive and are usually limited to relatively small volumes. A new time-domain particle method has been developed to efficiently simulate radionuclide transport in pathways derived from DFN simulations. The algorithm moves particles from node to node on a segmented pathway. The time to complete each segment is sampled from residence time distributions that include the effects of advection, longitudinal dispersion, and a variety of matrix retention processes. The method has been extended to include transport of decay chains and transient flow fields. The result of the simulation is a set of arrival times that can be post-processed with a log-normal kernel method to construct mass discharge (breakthrough) versus time. The approach can be used directly on pathways extracted from DFN models, or it may be combined with pathway simulation algorithms (Painter and Cvetkovic, Water Resources Research 41, 2005) that use information extracted from DFNs to construct realistic artificial pathways. The latter variant helps recover the effects of sub-grid velocity variability in flow fields constructed from continuum flow models. Thus, when combined with flow models based on upscaled permeability tensors, the result is a type of multiscale simulation that is applicable at large scales without making continuum-type assumptions about the transport processes. Verification tests show that the method is accurate and robust. The approach has been used in regional-scale simulations of radionuclide transport in fractured granite surrounding a hypothetical repository for nuclear waste. Acknowledgment: The authors are grateful to SwRI Advisory Committee for Research, the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company, and Posiva Oy for financial support
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2006
- Bibcode:
- 2006AGUFM.H11H..07P
- Keywords:
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- 1805 Computational hydrology;
- 1832 Groundwater transport