Ground-water flow modeling of the Culebra dolomite

This hydrogeologic modeling study has been performed as part of the regional hydrologic characterization of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site in southeastern New Mexico. The study has produced an estimation of the transmissivity and Darcy-velocity distributions in the Culebra Dolomite Member of the Permian Rustler Formation at the WIPP site. The results of this study are intended to support Sandia National Laboratories performance-assessment calculations. The three-dimensional finite-difference code SWIFT II was employed for the numerical modeling, using a variable-fluid-density and single-porosity formulation. The spatial scale of the model, 21.3 km by 30.6 km, was chosen to allow simulation of regional-scale pumping tests conducted at the H-3 and H-11 hydropads and the WIPP-13 borehole, which are located south, southeast, and northwest, respectively, of the center of the WIPP site. The modeled area includes and extends beyond the controlled area defined by the WIPP-site boundaries. The work performed in this study consisted of modeling the hydrogeology of the Culebra in two stages: steady-state modeling to develop the best estimate of the undisturbed head distribution (i.e., of the hydraulic conditions before excavation of the WIPP shafts, which began in 1981) and superimposed transient modeling of local hydrologic response to excavation of the four WIPP shafts at the center of the WIPP site, as well as to various well tests. The transient modeling used the calculated steady-state freshwater heads as initial conditions. 144 refs., 98 figs., 23 tabs

Effect of Roof Slope and Thickness on the Performance of a Saltstone Vault

At the Savannah River Site, low-level radioactive decontaminated salt solution is mixed with slag, flyash, and cement to form a grout-like material called ``Saltstone.`` The Saltstone is poured into concrete vaults constructed at the Saltstone Disposal Facility (SDF). The SDF is designed for the release of contaminants in a slow, controlled manner over thousands of years. The impact of SDF on groundwater has been studied in a radiological performance assessment (PA). Groundwater models were used to predict the fluid flow and contaminant transport at SDF. The models predicted a spatial contaminant concentration distribution in groundwater as a function of time. This study focuses on the roof configuration of Saltstone vault, with special interests in cost-effectiveness. We conducted a study to evaluate the effect of roof slope and thickness on the performance of a Saltstone vault. Four roof configurations were simulated. The tool used for the simulation was ECLIPSE, a finite-difference petroleum reservoir engineering code with an environmental tracer option. Nitrate was used as the ``tracer`` contaminant. In this study, ECLIPSE solves the two-phase two-dimensional flow and transport problem up to 10,000 years. This paper describes a modeling study used to evaluate roof design options for the Saltstone vault

Water-Resources Investigations Report 79-96

Abstract: Details of additions and modifications to a computer code described in an earlier report entitled "A model for calculating effects of liquid waste disposal in deep saline aquifers,: USGS WRI 76-61, NTIS-PB256 903/AS are documented. These additions and modifications include free water surface, vertical recharge, equilibrium controlled linear absorption and a first order irreversible rate reaction. These, plus additional modifications, make this model more adaptable to general hydrologic problems and those involving waste disposal with simple chemical reactions

Revision of the documentation for a model for calculating effects of liquid waste disposal in deep saline aquifers /

Bibliography: p. 73.Mode of access: Internet

Core analyses for selected samples from the Culebra Dolomite at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant site

Two groups of core samples from the Culebra Dolomite Member of the Rustler Formation at and near the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant were analyzed to provide estimates of hydrologic parameters for use in flow-and-transport modeling. Whole-core and core-plug samples were analyzed by helium porosimetry, resaturation and porosimetry, mercury-intrusion porosimetry, electrical-resistivity techniques, and gas-permeability methods. 33 refs., 25 figs., 10 tabs

Theory and verification for the GRASP II code for adjoint-sensitivity analysis of steady-state and transient ground-water flow

Calibration of a numerical model of the regional ground-water flow in the Culebra dolomite at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in southeastern New Mexico, has been performed by an interative parameter-fitting procedure. Parameterization has been secured by choosing to assign the transmissivity values at a limited number of selected locations, designated as pilot points. The transmissivity distribution in the model is derived by kriging the combined pool of measured and pilot-plant transmissivities. Iterating on the twin steps of sequentially adding additional pilot point(s) and kriging leads to the model of required accuracy, as judged by a weighted least-square-error objective function. At the end of calibration, it must be ensured that the correlation structure of the measured transmissivities is broadly preserved by the pilot-plant transmissivities. Adjoint-sensitivity analysis of the model has been coupled with kriging to provide objectively the optimal location of the pilot points during an iteration. The pilot-point transmissivities have been adjusted by modeler's judgement incorporating information, where available, on local geologic conditions and large-scale hydraulic interference tests, in order to minimize the objective function. 43 refs., 5 figs., 5 tabs