| 1. |
- Bond, A. E., et al.
(författare)
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Coupled THMC modelling of single fractures in novaculite and granite
- 2018
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Ingår i: 2nd International Discrete Fracture Network Engineering Conference, DFNE 2018. - : American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA).
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The host rock immediately surrounding a nuclear waste repository has the potential to undergo a complex set of physical and chemical processes starting from construction of the facility and continuing until many years after closure. Understanding the relevant processes of fracture evolution may be key to supporting the attendant safety arguments for such a facility. Experimental work has been examined wherein artificial fractures in novaculite and granite are subject to a mechanical confining pressure, variable fluid flows and different applied temperatures. This paper presents a synthesis of the work of seven separate research teams. A range of approaches are summarized including detailed thermal-hydrological-mechanical-chemical (THMC) models and homogenized ‘single compartment’ models of the fracture; the latter with a view to larger network or effective continuum models. The competing roles of aqueous geochemistry, pressure solution, stress corrosion and pure mechanics were found to be significant in the reproduction of the experimental observations. The results of the work show that while good, physically plausible representations of the experiment can be obtained, there is considerable uncertainty in the relative importance of the various processes, and that the parameterization of these processes can be closely linked to the physical interpretation of the fracture surface topography.
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| 2. |
- Bond, A. E., et al.
(författare)
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Development of approaches for modelling coupled thermal–hydraulic–mechanical–chemical processes in single granite fracture experiments
- 2016
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Ingår i: Environmental Earth Sciences. - : Springer. - 1866-6280 .- 1866-6299. ; 75:19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The geological formation immediately surrounding a nuclear waste disposal facility has the potential to undergo a complex set of physical and chemical processes starting from construction and continuing many years after closure. The DECOVALEX project (DEvelopment of COupled models and their VALidation against EXperiments) was established and maintained by a variety of waste management organizations, regulators and research organizations to help improve capabilities in experimental interpretation, numerical modelling and blind prediction of complex coupled systems. In the present round of DECOVALEX (D-2015), one component of Task C1 has considered the detailed experimental work of Yasuhara et al. (Appl Geochem 26:2074–2088, 2011), wherein three natural fractures in Mizunami granite are subject to variable fluid flows, mechanical confining pressure and different applied temperatures. This paper presents a synthesis of the completed work of six separate research teams, building on work considering a single synthetic fracture in novaculite. A range of approaches are presented including full geochemical reactive transport modelling and 2D and 3D high-resolution coupled thermo–hydro–mechanical–chemical (THMC) models. The work shows that reasonable fits can be obtained to the experimental data using a variety of approaches, but considerable uncertainty remains as to the relative importance of competing process sets. The work also illustrates that a good understanding of fracture topography, interaction with the granite matrix, a good understanding of the geochemistry and the associated multi-scale THMC process behaviours is a necessary pre-cursor to considering predictive models of such a system.
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| 3. |
- Soler, J. M., et al.
(författare)
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Predictive Modeling of a Simple Field Matrix Diffusion Experiment Addressing Radionuclide Transport in Fractured Rock. Is It So Straightforward?
- 2022
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Ingår i: Nuclear Technology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0029-5450 .- 1943-7471. ; 208:6, s. 1059-1073
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The SKB GroundWater Flow and Transport of Solutes Task Force is an international forum in the area of conceptual and numerical modeling of groundwater flow and solute transport in fractured rocks relevant for the deep geological disposal of radioactive waste. Two in situ matrix diffusion experiments in crystalline rock (gneiss) were performed at POSIVA’s ONKALO underground facility in Finland. Synthetic groundwater containing several conservative and sorbing radiotracers was injected at one end of a borehole interval and flowed along a thin annulus toward the opposite end. Several teams performed predictive modeling of the tracer breakthrough curves using “conventional” modeling approaches (constant diffusion and sorption in the rock, no or minimum rock heterogeneity). Supporting information, derived from small-scale laboratory experiments, was provided. The teams were free to implement different concepts, use different codes, and apply the transport and retention parameters that they considered to be most suited (i.e., not a benchmark exercise). The main goal was the comparison of the different sets of results and the analysis of the possible differences for this relatively simple experimental setup with a well-defined geometry. Even though the experiment was designed to study matrix diffusion, the calculated peaks of the breakthrough curves were very sensitive to the assumed magnitude of dispersion in the borehole annulus. However, given the very different timescales for advection and matrix diffusion, the tails of the curves provided information concerning diffusion and retention in the rock matrix regardless of the magnitude of dispersion. In addition, although the task was designed to be a blind modeling exercise, the model results have also been compared to the measured experimental breakthroughs. Experimental results tend to show relatively small activities, wide breakthroughs, and early first arrivals, which are somewhat similar to model results using large dispersivity values.
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| 4. |
- Bayrak Pehlivan, Ilknur, et al.
(författare)
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The climatic response of thermally integrated photovoltaic-electrolysis water splitting using Si and CIGS combined with acidic and alkaline electrolysis
- 2020
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Ingår i: Sustainable Energy & Fuels. - : ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY. - 2398-4902. ; 4:12, s. 6011-6022
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Horizon 2020 project PECSYS aims to build a large area demonstrator for hydrogen production from solar energy via integrated photovoltaic (PV) and electrolysis systems of different types. In this study, Si- and CIGS-based photovoltaics are developed together with three different electrolyzer systems for use in the corresponding integrated devices. The systems are experimentally evaluated and a general model is developed to investigate the hydrogen yield under real climatic conditions for various thin film and silicon PV technologies and electrolyser combinations. PV characteristics using a Si heterojunction (SHJ), thin film CuInxGa1-xSe2, crystalline Si with passivated emitter rear totally diffused and thin film Si are used together with temperature dependent catalyst load curves from both acidic and alkaline approaches. Electrolysis data were collected from (i) a Pt-IrO2-based acidic electrolysis system, and (ii) NiMoW-NiO-based and (iii) Pt-Ni foam-based alkaline electrolysis systems. The calculations were performed for mid-European climate data from Julich, Germany, which will be the installation site. The best systems show an electricity-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 74% and over 12% solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiencies using both acidic and alkaline approaches and are validated with a smaller lab scale prototype. The results show that the lower power delivered by all the PV technologies under low irradiation is balanced by the lower demand for overpotentials for all the electrolysis approaches at these currents, with more or less retained STH efficiency over the full year if the catalyst area is the same as the PV area for the alkaline approach. The total yield of hydrogen, however, follows the irradiance, where a yearly hydrogen production of over 35 kg can be achieved for a 10 m(2) integrated PV-electrolysis system for several of the PV and electrolyser combinations that also allow a significant (100-fold) reduction in necessary electrolyser area for the acidic approach. Measuring the catalyst systems under intermittent and ramping conditions with different temperatures, a 5% lowering of the yearly hydrogen yield is extracted for some of the catalyst systems while the Pt-Ni foam-based alkaline system showed unaffected or even slightly increased yearly yield under the same conditions.
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| 5. |
- Hudson, John A., et al.
(författare)
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Characterising and modelling the excavation damaged zone in crystalline rock in the context of radioactive waste disposal
- 2009
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Ingår i: Environmental Geology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0943-0105 .- 1432-0495. ; 57:6, s. 1275-1297
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper describes current knowledge about the nature of and potential for thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical modelling of the excavation damaged zone (EDZ) around the excavations for an underground radioactive waste repository. In the first part of the paper, the disturbances associated with excavation are explained, together with reviews of Workshops that have been held on the subject. In the second part of the paper, the results of a DECOVALEX [DEmonstration of COupled models and their VALidation against EXperiment: research funded by an international consortium of radioactive waste regulators and implementers (http://www.decovalex.com)] research programme on modelling the EDZ are presented. Four research teams used four different models to simulate the complete stress-strain curve for Avro granite from the Swedish A"spo Hard Rock Laboratory. Subsequent research extended the work to computer simulation of the evolution of the repository using a 'wall-block model' and a 'near-field model'. This included assessing the evolution of stress, failure and permeability and time-dependent effects during repository evolution. As discussed, all the computer models are well suited to sensitivity studies for evaluating the influence of their respective supporting parameters on the complete stress-strain curve for rock and for modelling the EDZ.
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| 6. |
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