User's Manual for the FEHM Application-A Finite-Element Heat- and Mass-Transfer Code

Abstract

This document is a manual for the use of the FEHM application, a finite-element heat- and mass-transfer computer code that can simulate nonisothermal multiphase multicomponent flow in porous media. The use of this code is applicable to natural-state studies of geothermal systems and groundwater flow. A primary use of the FEHM application will be to assist in the understanding of flow fields and mass transport in the saturated and unsaturated zones below the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. The equations of heat and mass transfer for multiphase flow in porous and permeable media are solved in the FEHM application by using the finite-element method. The permeability and porosity of the medium are allowed to depend on pressure and temperature. The code also has provisions for movable air and water phases and noncoupled tracers; that is, tracer solutions that do not affect the heat- and mass-transfer solutions. The tracers can be passive or reactive. The code can simulate two-dimensional, two-dimensional radial, or three-dimensional geometries. In fact, FEHM is capable of describing flow that is dominated in many areas by fracture and fault flow, including the inherently three-dimensional flow that results from permeation to and from faults and fractures. The code can handle coupled heat and mass-transfer effects, such as boiling, dryout, and condensation that can occur in the near-field region surrounding the potential repository and the natural convection that occurs through Yucca Mountain due to seasonal temperature changes. The code is also capable of incorporating the various adsorption mechanisms, ranging from simple linear relations to nonlinear isotherms, needed to describe the very complex transport processes at Yucca Mountain. This report outlines the uses and capabilities of the FEHM application, initialization of code variables, restart procedures, and error processing. The report describes all the data files, the input data, including individual input records or parameters, and the various output files. The system interface is described, including the software environment and installation instructions. Examples illustrating various aspects of the code are sprinkled throughout the report, and the final section demonstrates how to construct an input file, shows typical code execution, and gives three examples: heat conduction in a square, a reactive-transport problem, and Problem 5, Case of the DOE Code Comparison Project.