Modeling Studies of Multiphase Fluid and Heat Flow Processes in Nuclear Waste Isolation

Abstract

ABSTRACTMultiphase fluid and heat flow plays an important role in many problems relating to the disposal of nuclear wastes in geologic media. Examples include boiling and condensation processes near heat-generating wastes, flow of water and formation gas in partially saturated formations, evolution of a free gas phase from waste package corrosion in initially water-saturated environments, and redistribution (dissolution, transport, and precipitation) of rock minerals in non-isothermal flow fields. Such processes may strongly impact upon waste package and repository design considerations and performance.This paper summarizes important physical phenomena occurring in multiphase and nonisother-mal flows, as well as techniques for their mathematical modeling and numerical simulation. Illustrative applications are given for a number of specific fluid and heat flow problems, including: ther-mohydrologic conditions near heat-generating waste packages in the unsaturated zone; repository-wide convection effects in the unsaturated zone; effects of quartz dissolution and precipitation for disposal in the saturated zone; and gas pressurization and flow effects from corrosion of low-level waste packages.