Multirate Transport of Natural Tracers in a Fractured System

Flow and transport in fractured systems is important in both groundwater applications and low-permeability hydrocarbon systems. We apply the multirate solute transport model to the flow of single-phase natural tracers in low-permeability hydrocarbon source rocks. We explore the effects of fracture and domain geometry, reservoir boundary conditions, and initial conditions of both the flow and transport problems using analytical and semi-analytical solutions. The flow and transport solutions will be combined to optimize reservoir characterization using a Bayesian framework. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.