Real-case benchmark for flow and tracer transport in the fractured rock

M. Hokr; H. Shao; W. P. Gardner; A. Balvín; H. Kunz; Y. Wang; M. Vencl

doi:10.1007/s12665-016-6061-z

Real-case benchmark for flow and tracer transport in the fractured rock

M. Hokr
, H. Shao
, W. P. Gardner
, A. Balvín
, H. Kunz
, Y. Wang
, M. Vencl

Geosciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

The paper is intended to define a benchmark problem related to groundwater flow and natural tracer transport using observations of discharge and isotopic tracers in fractured, crystalline rock. Three numerical simulators: Flow123d, OpenGeoSys, and PFLOTRAN are compared. The data utilized in the project were collected in a water-supply tunnel in granite of the Jizera Mountains, Bedřichov, Czech Republic. The problem configuration combines subdomains of different dimensions, 3D continuum for hard-rock blocks or matrix and 2D features for fractures or fault zones, together with realistic boundary conditions for tunnel-controlled drainage. Steady-state and transient flow and a pulse injection tracer transport problem are solved. The results confirm mostly consistent behavior of the codes. Both the codes Flow123d and OpenGeoSys with 3D–2D coupling implemented differ by several percent in most cases, which is appropriate to, e.g., effects of discrete unknown placing in the mesh. Some of the PFLOTRAN results differ more, which can be explained by effects of the dispersion tensor evaluation scheme and of the numerical diffusion. The phenomenon can get stronger with fracture/matrix coupling and with parameter magnitude contrasts. Although the study was not aimed on inverse solution, the models were fit to the measured data approximately, demonstrating the intended real-case relevance of the benchmark.

Original language	English
Article number	1273
Journal	Environmental Earth Sciences
Volume	75
Issue number	18
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-6061-z
State	Published - Sep 1 2016

Funding

The work described in this paper was conducted within the context of the international DECOVALEX—2015 project. The authors are grateful to the funding organizations who supported the work. The views expressed in the paper are, however, those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the funding organizations. Technical University of Liberec (TUL) has been supported by the Radioactive Waste Repository Authority of the Czech Republic (SÚRAO), under contract no. SO2013-077. The results of the TUL authors were also obtained through the financial support of the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic (MSMT) in the project LO1201 in the framework of the targeted support of the “National Programme for Sustainability I” and the OPR&DI project Centre for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technologies and Innovation CZ.1.05/2.1.00/01.0005. BGR’s work was supported by the BMWi (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie, Berlin). Sandia National Laboratory was supported under the DOE Used Fuel Disposition Campaign. Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

Funder number
SO2013-077
1633831
CZ.1.05/2.1.00/01.0005, LO1201

Keywords

Code comparison
Multidimensional
Natural tracer
Numerical model
Transit time
Tunnel inflow

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10.1007/s12665-016-6061-z

Cite this

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title = "Real-case benchmark for flow and tracer transport in the fractured rock",

abstract = "The paper is intended to define a benchmark problem related to groundwater flow and natural tracer transport using observations of discharge and isotopic tracers in fractured, crystalline rock. Three numerical simulators: Flow123d, OpenGeoSys, and PFLOTRAN are compared. The data utilized in the project were collected in a water-supply tunnel in granite of the Jizera Mountains, Bed{\v r}ichov, Czech Republic. The problem configuration combines subdomains of different dimensions, 3D continuum for hard-rock blocks or matrix and 2D features for fractures or fault zones, together with realistic boundary conditions for tunnel-controlled drainage. Steady-state and transient flow and a pulse injection tracer transport problem are solved. The results confirm mostly consistent behavior of the codes. Both the codes Flow123d and OpenGeoSys with 3D–2D coupling implemented differ by several percent in most cases, which is appropriate to, e.g., effects of discrete unknown placing in the mesh. Some of the PFLOTRAN results differ more, which can be explained by effects of the dispersion tensor evaluation scheme and of the numerical diffusion. The phenomenon can get stronger with fracture/matrix coupling and with parameter magnitude contrasts. Although the study was not aimed on inverse solution, the models were fit to the measured data approximately, demonstrating the intended real-case relevance of the benchmark.",

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AU - Shao, H.

AU - Gardner, W. P.

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AU - Kunz, H.

AU - Wang, Y.

AU - Vencl, M.

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N2 - The paper is intended to define a benchmark problem related to groundwater flow and natural tracer transport using observations of discharge and isotopic tracers in fractured, crystalline rock. Three numerical simulators: Flow123d, OpenGeoSys, and PFLOTRAN are compared. The data utilized in the project were collected in a water-supply tunnel in granite of the Jizera Mountains, Bedřichov, Czech Republic. The problem configuration combines subdomains of different dimensions, 3D continuum for hard-rock blocks or matrix and 2D features for fractures or fault zones, together with realistic boundary conditions for tunnel-controlled drainage. Steady-state and transient flow and a pulse injection tracer transport problem are solved. The results confirm mostly consistent behavior of the codes. Both the codes Flow123d and OpenGeoSys with 3D–2D coupling implemented differ by several percent in most cases, which is appropriate to, e.g., effects of discrete unknown placing in the mesh. Some of the PFLOTRAN results differ more, which can be explained by effects of the dispersion tensor evaluation scheme and of the numerical diffusion. The phenomenon can get stronger with fracture/matrix coupling and with parameter magnitude contrasts. Although the study was not aimed on inverse solution, the models were fit to the measured data approximately, demonstrating the intended real-case relevance of the benchmark.

AB - The paper is intended to define a benchmark problem related to groundwater flow and natural tracer transport using observations of discharge and isotopic tracers in fractured, crystalline rock. Three numerical simulators: Flow123d, OpenGeoSys, and PFLOTRAN are compared. The data utilized in the project were collected in a water-supply tunnel in granite of the Jizera Mountains, Bedřichov, Czech Republic. The problem configuration combines subdomains of different dimensions, 3D continuum for hard-rock blocks or matrix and 2D features for fractures or fault zones, together with realistic boundary conditions for tunnel-controlled drainage. Steady-state and transient flow and a pulse injection tracer transport problem are solved. The results confirm mostly consistent behavior of the codes. Both the codes Flow123d and OpenGeoSys with 3D–2D coupling implemented differ by several percent in most cases, which is appropriate to, e.g., effects of discrete unknown placing in the mesh. Some of the PFLOTRAN results differ more, which can be explained by effects of the dispersion tensor evaluation scheme and of the numerical diffusion. The phenomenon can get stronger with fracture/matrix coupling and with parameter magnitude contrasts. Although the study was not aimed on inverse solution, the models were fit to the measured data approximately, demonstrating the intended real-case relevance of the benchmark.

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KW - Numerical model

KW - Transit time

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Real-case benchmark for flow and tracer transport in the fractured rock

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Keywords

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