Ubc 2000-0351

CONT AMI NANT TRANS P ORT
T HROUGH
A B A N D O N E D BOREHOLES
I N
F RACT URE D R OC K
by
S E AN R A Y MO N D P ATRI CK BURNS
B . A S c , University of British Columbia, 1997
A THESIS SUBMI TTED I N P ART I AL F U L F I L L ME N T OF
THE REQUI REMENTS FOR THE DE GR E E OF
MAS T E R OF APPLI ED SCI ENCE
in
THE F A C U L T Y OF G R A D U A T E STUDI ES
Department of Earth and Ocean Science
We accept this thesis as conforming
to the required standard
THE UNI VERSI TY OF BRI TI SH C O L U MB I A
June 2000
Sean Raymond Patrick Burns, 2000
In present i ng t hi s t hesi s i n par t i al f ul f i l ment of the requi rements
for an advanced degree at the Uni versi t y of Br i t i s h Col umbi a, I
agree that the Li brary s hal l make i t f reel y avai l abl e f or reference
and study. I f urt her agree that permi ssi on for extensi ve copyi ng of
t hi s t hesi s f or schol arl y purposes may be granted by the head of my
department or by hi s or her represent at i ves. It i s understood that
copyi ng or publ i cat i on of t hi s t hesi s f or f i nanci al gai n s hal l not
be al l owed wi thout my wri t t en permi ssi on.
Department
The Uni vers i t y of Br i t i s h Columbia
Vancouver, Canada
Abstract
Abandoned exploration boreholes are commonly found around mine sites in a fractured
crystalline rock environment. If the abandoned boreholes have not been properly
decommissioned they have the potential to create connections through the rock fractures
and influence ground water flow and contaminant transport. A fully three-dimensional
discrete fracture model is used to investigate the impact of abandoned boreholes on
contaminant transport from a waste-rock pile overlying a fractured rock mass. Dissolved
contaminants travel through the fractured rock mass under the influence of a sub-
horizontal regional hydraulic gradient towards a downstream compliance boundary. A
number of different fracture geometries are investigated to gain an understanding of the
field situations in which abandoned boreholes can be expected to have an impact. The
effect of fracture density, transmissivity contrasts, and borehole diameter and location are
studied. The simulation results show that vertical abandoned boreholes are most likely to
have an impact when large, sub-horizontal, high-transmissivity features are present in the
network. Low fracture density, aperture variability, relatively high horizontal
transmissivity, and the presence of major features in the fracture network all lead to
abandoned boreholes having a greater overall influence. If an abandoned borehole is
transversely offset from the central flow line passing through the source zone the
contaminant plume can migrate towards the borehole in a direction not predicted by the
average regional hydraulic gradient. In field-scale fracture networks smaller borehole
diameters leads to shorter breakthrough times and higher contaminant concentrations at
the downstream boundary due to the interplay between the fracture network and borehole
void space. The presence of abandoned boreholes can be expected to have important
implications in the design of monitoring networks to detect ground water contamination
when these fracture network and abandoned borehole properties exist.
ii
Table of Contents
Abstract ii
Table of Contents iii
List of Tables v
List of Figures vi
Acknowledgements ix
1.0 Introduction 1
2.0 Review 6
3.0 Methods 13
3.1 Fracture Network Modeling 13
3.2 Overview of the FRACMAN/MAFIC suite 13
3.2.1 FRACWORKS 14
3.2.2 MESHMONSTER 17
3.2.3 EDMESH 18
3.2.4 MAFIC 19
3.3 Solute Transport 20
3.4 Implementation of Abandoned Boreholes 22
3.4.1 Borehole as a Discrete Fracture 23
3.4.2 Borehole-Fracture Intersections 27
3.4.3 Test of Flow through Borehole 28
3.4.4 Test of Particle Tracking through Borehole 29
3.4.5 Effect of Borehole Diameter 31
3.5 Conceptual Model Description 33
4.0 Results 48
4.1 Base Case Fracture Network 48
4.1.1 Fracture Generation Region 50
4.1.2 Base Case Borehole 50
4.1.3 Grid Discretization 52
4.1.4 Case 1 - Base Case Results 54
4.2 Influence of Background Fracture Network 60
4.2.1 Case 2 - Higher Horizontal Transmissivity 60
4.2.2 Case 3 -Higher Vertical Transmissivity 64
4.3 Influence of Major Features 66
4.3.1 Case 4 - Major Feature Transmissivity = lxl0'
3
m
2
/s 67
4.3.2 Case 5 - Threshold Effect 69
4.3.3 Case 6 - Lower Feature Terminates atx = 30 m 70
iii
4.4 Influence of Borehole Location and Diameter 72
4.4.1 Case 7- Borehole atx = 0 m 72
4.4.2 Case 8 - Borehole atx = -35 m 73
4.4.3 Case 9 - Borehole aty = 15 m 75
4.4.4 Case 10- Influence of Borehole Diameter 76
4.5 Case 11 - Variable Network with No Major Features 77
5.0 Discussion 112
5.1 Results Summary 112
5.2 Fracture Network Structure 116
5.3 Implications for Monitoring Network Design 119
5.4 Proper Borehole Decommissioning 124
6.0 Conclusions 126
References 128
iv
List of Tables
Table 3-1: Parameters for analytical problem 32
Table 4-1: Generation parameters for base case fracture network 48
Table 4-2: Flow and transport output parameters for all simulations 55
Table 4-3: Generation parameters for Case 11 fracture network 78
Table 4-4: Borehole parameters for Case 11 80
v
List of Figures
Figure 1-1: Contaminants leaching from a waste rock pile into a fractured rock
aquifer 5
Figure 2-1: Aquifer cross-contamination due to abandoned well in
multiaquifer system 12
Figure 3-1: Definition of orientation convention used in F R A C M A N 36
Figure 3-2: Orthogonal view of the base case fracture network 37
Figure 3-3: Parameters for incorporation of a circular borehole as a
rectangular fracture 38
Figure 3-4: Discretization algorithm around the intersection of a borehole with
a fracture 39
Figure 3-5: Test of flow through a 10 cm diameter borehole 40
Figure 3-6: Fracture network designed to test particle-tracking through the
borehole 41
Figure 3-7: Particle breakthrough at downstream boundary for test fracture
network 42
Figure 3-8: Pathway of a single particle traveling through the test fracture
network 43
Figure 3-9: Analytical model used to test the effect of borehole size on flow
rate and residence times 44
Figure 3-10: Flow behaviour of a large void space within a thin conduit 45
Figure 3-11: Hypothetical mine site used to develop the conceptual model 46
Figure 3-12: Cross-section view through the conceptual model showing
boundaries and dimensions 47
Figure 4-1: Cross-section of base case fracture network showing fracture
traces for background fractures and major features 83
Figure 4-2: Orthogonal view of modeling domain showing flow and transport
boundaries 84
Figure 4-3: Diagram of modeling domain and fracture generation region 85
Figure 4-4: Finite element grid discretization 86
Figure 4-5: Case 1 - Particle breakthrough at downstream exit boundary 87
Figure 4-6: Case 1 - Lateral breakthrough distribution of particles across exit
boundary 88
Figure 4-7: Pathways of selected particles after exiting the borehole 89
Figure 4-8: Snapshots of particles traveling through the fracture network when
no borehole is present 90
Figure 4-9: Case 2 - Particle breakthrough at downstream boundary 91
Figure 4-10: Case 2 - Lateral breakthrough distribution of particles 92
Figure 4-24: Case 10 - Influence of borehole diameter on downstream
breakthrough curves 106
Figure 4-25: Case 10 - Influence of borehole diameter on total system flow
and median particle residence times 107
Figure 4-26: Case 11 - Particle breakthrough at downstream boundary for a
random fracture network with no major features 108
vii
Figure 4-27: Isometric views of borehole locations for Case 14 109
Figure 4-28: Case 11 - Particle breakthrough at downstream boundary for an
entirely random fracture network 110
Figure 4-29: Particle breakthrough at downstream boundary for a constant
aperture fracture network 111
viii
Ac k n o wl e d g e me n t s
I would like to thank my supervisor, Leslie Smith, for his support, advice, guidance and
patience during the preparation of this thesis. I am grateful for the support and advice of
Petros Gaganis, Bob Parney, and the other graduate students in the U B C hydrogeology
group who have given me advice over the past two years.
Golder Associates Ltd. developed the discrete fracture modeling code used in this study,
and special thanks go to the F R A C M A N group in Seattle, including Tom Doe, Bi l l
Dershowitz, Paul La Pointe and Glori Lee, who made the source code available, without
which I could not have made the necessary modifications.
I would like to give a very special thank you to my parents, Gail and Ray Burns, who
have been incredibly supportive over my university career, and who have always
encouraged me to follow my dreams. Claire Bradford also deserves special mention for
her emotional support and editing prowess.
Funding from the National Science and Engineering Research Council provided financial
support for this research.
i x
1.0 Introduction
Protecting and maintaining the quality of natural water supplies is necessary for the well
being of all life on earth, including humanity. As the population of the world expands the
demand for material goods will increase, and new sources of raw minerals wil l need to be
uncovered and developed. In the past, poor and ill-advised mining practices have
resulted in catastrophic pollution to water supplies and long-term environmental damage.
While mining practices and accountability have improved significantly in recent years,
environmental damage continues to occur at active sites and there is still room for
improvement.
Ground water is the most vulnerable fresh water source to long-term pollution from
mining waste, as residence times in the subsurface can be on the order of tens to hundreds
of years. Once a ground water resource has been contaminated it is technically difficult
and very expensive to remediate, i f it can be done at all. It is more cost-effective to
engage in practices that prevent ground water contamination from occurring in the first
place, than to attempt to clean up the problem afterwards. If proper care is taken a
balance can be met between meeting the resource requirements of society while
sustaining the quality of the ground water for the long term.
Mining typically requires the extraction of a small amount of valuable ore minerals from
large volumes of sub-economical gangue material. Open-pit mining can result in waste
rock piles and tailings dams that need to be managed for decades or even centuries.
Waste rock is the material removed to gain access to the ore body, and usually contains
1
metallic minerals such as pyrite, which have no economical value. Figure 1-1 depicts a
situation in which a waste rock pile is situated in an elevated area overlying a fractured
rock mass. Over long time periods exposure to rainfall and atmospheric oxygen can
result in acidic water leaching out of the waste rock piles and mobilizing toxic heavy
metals. This process is commonly referred to as acid rock drainage ( ARD) . If no
impervious barrier is present to impede migration the metals will travel vertically through
the unsaturated zone and reach the water table, contaminating the underlying ground
water.
Under the Environmental Assessment Act in British Columbia a potential mine site must
be rigorously studied to assess any potential for ground water contamination ( RSBC
1996). A compliance boundary for a site is established to delineate the maximum extent
at which some degradation to the local ground water quality is deemed acceptable by the
regulatory agency. A network of compliance monitoring wells is installed at the
compliance boundary and ground water is regularly sampled. If contamination above a
threshold value is detected at the compliance boundary then the site owner wil l face
financial penalties on top of the cost of containing and remediating the contamination.
The processes governing A R D are still an active area of research, and there is a great deal
of uncertainty when predicting contaminant fluxes to the subsurface. Once contaminants
have reached the water table there is the potential for off-site migration in the direction of
ground water flow. Numerical models are useful to help predict contaminant fluxes from
potential sources at a site and assess the risk of exceeding the threshold concentration at
2
the compliance boundary. Ground water modeling for a fractured rock terrain is more
complicated than in porous media due to the heterogeneous nature of a fractured rock
mass. Flow is often concentrated in a small subset of the total number of fractures and
contaminant transport occurs along complicated, tortuous pathways. Gathering
hydrogeological characterization data in crystalline rock is very expensive, so the amount
of information available to the modeler is usually quite limited. The higher uncertainty in
characterizing fractured rock leads to additional engineering effort and expense.
One source of uncertainty at a mine site overlying fractured rock is the presence of any
abandoned exploration boreholes around the ore body. Before a mine can be developed
the ore body must be delineated, so a developed mine site may have tens to hundreds of
exploration boreholes. If previous phases of exploration at a site failed to detect
economic mineralization then all drilling records for a site could be lost. If the boreholes
were not properly grouted before being abandoned they can act as conduits between
stratigraphic layers, or form preferential pathways in the fracture network. The potential
for cross-contamination of layered aquifers that are perforated by boreholes is well
understood. It is hypothesized that in a fractured rock the boreholes could connect
fractures creating a preferential pathway and allowing contamination to travel faster to
the compliance boundary, or contaminating a previously protected zone. Connections
can be formed that cannot be anticipated based solely on knowledge of the statistical
fracture geometry and the contaminant plume may move in a direction not anticipated
based on conventional porous medium approximations.
3
This thesis investigates the potential impacts that these abandoned boreholes could have
at a mine site underlain by a fractured rock mass. The conceptual model assumes that
contaminated leachate from a waste rock pile has reached the water table. A three-
dimensional discrete fracture code is used to model the flow and contaminant transport
through the fracture network and to assess the impacts the boreholes have on the system.
The objective of this thesis is to gain an understanding of the types of subsurface
conditions where abandoned exploration boreholes have the potential to exacerbate a
contamination problem, or reduce the effectiveness of a monitoring network design.
The first two chapters present the motivation for the work and a review of related work
on fracture network modeling and the effects of abandoned wells and boreholes. In the
third chapter the modeling methodology is presented along with the modifications that
were necessary for the purposes of this study. The fourth chapter presents the results of
the set of simulations used to demonstrate the effects of boreholes in different fracture
networks. The final two chapters explain the implications of the simulation results and
summarize the conclusions that can be drawn from this study.
4
5
2.0 Review
Numerical models for simulating flow and transport in porous media have been available
for several decades (e.g. Freeze, 1971; McDonald and Ffarbaugh, 1988; Zheng, 1990).
Recently, the potential for siting high-level radioactive waste in deep crystalline rock has
prompted interest in modeling flow and transport through fractures (e.g. Dverstorp et al.,
1992; Chan et al., 1993; Bodvarsson et al., 1997).
Fracture modeling has been applied on a variety of length scales from a single fracture to
field-scale networks. The simplest model for fracture flow is that of two parallel plates of
constant aperture (e.g. Snow, 1965; Witherspoon et al., 1980). Several studies have been
conducted on flow and transport through a single fracture with various complicating
factors including spatial variability in the aperture (Brown, 1987; Raven et al., 1988;
Moreno et al., 1988), diffusion into the porous rock matrix (e.g. Sudicky and Frind, 1982;
Neretnieks, 1980) and surface sorption (e.g. Burkholder, 1976; Freeze and Cherry, 1979;
Wels and Smith, 1994). Laboratory experiments on flow through a single fracture have
suggested that the cubic law is not valid for most naturally occurring rough-walled
fractures (e.g. Raven et al., 1988) but most discrete fracture models make this assumption
due to limitations on the complexity that can be modeled over large domains.
Field scale models for flow and transport through fracture networks fall under one of
three broad categories: (National Research Council, 1996) (1) equivalent continuum
models which model the fracture network using average properties (e.g. Neuman, 1987;
Carrera et al., 1990), (2) discrete network simulation models which account for each
fracture individually (e.g. Smith et al., 1985; Dershowitz et al, 1995), and (3) hybrid
6
techniques which apply some combination of the previous two approaches (e.g. Schwartz
and Smith, 1988; La Pointe et al., 1995).
Equivalent continuum models do not attempt to model each fracture pathway
individually, but use an average representation of the hydraulic conductivity field. The
main advantage of these models is that they can be less computationally intensive than
discrete fracture models so a larger domain can be modeled. This approach is most
appropriate when modeling a rock with many fracture connections or significant matrix
permeability. When the network is heterogeneous with large contrasts in hydraulic
conductivity, equivalent continuum models require a fine grid discretization and can
become as computationally intensive as discrete fracture methods (Naff et al., 1998a,b).
In sparse fracture networks the individual fracture connections and tortuous pathways
may need to be incorporated to realistically model solute transport.
Discrete fracture network models attempt to include every important fracture in the rock
mass as an individual feature in the model. The models can be either two-dimensional
where the fractures are represented by interconnected line elements, or three-dimensional
where the fractures are planar features. There are three-dimensional models available,
based on finite difference (e.g. Therrien and Sudicky, 1996) or finite element (e.g.
Dershowitz et al., 1995) discretization schemes, that allow for secondary flow through
the porous matrix. Nordqvist et al. (1992) presented a three-dimensional model that
could simulate aperture variability within individual fractures. The more complex the
model, the smaller the size of the domain that can be modeled, due to computational
7
limitations. The main advantage of discrete network models is that they include the
physical structure of the fracture network and can account for fracture connections and
preferential flow paths that may be of primary importance, especially in sparse networks.
The disadvantage to these models is that they are more computationally intensive, and
require extensive site characterization data to be any more meaningful than an equivalent
continuum approximation.
Hybrid models have evolved from an attempt to combine the benefits of both equivalent
continuum and discrete fracture models. There are a variety of approaches used to
combine the physical accuracy of discrete networks with the computational advantages of
a statistical continuum. One approach has been to analyze the fracture network and only
include the major conducting conduits (e.g. La Pointe et al , 1995). This approach is
valuable only i f it can be assumed that the smaller fractures are not important to the flow
and transport. Another method uses small-scale discrete fracture networks to generate
statistics for flow and transport that are subsequently applied to a field-scale continuum
model (Schwartz and Smith, 1988; Parney and Smith, 1995). This modeling approach is
a subject of ongoing research to try and determine appropriate links between small and
large-scale simulations.
One common purpose for modeling subsurface flow from a potential contamination
source is to aid in the design of monitoring networks. A significant amount of research
has been done on optimizing the design of monitoring networks in porous media.
Massmann and Freeze (1987) present a framework for the design of monitoring networks
8
which incorporates uncertainty in the selection of a best network alternative. Meyer et al.
(1994) provide a comprehensive method for optimizing monitoring network design by
minimizing network cost, maximizing the probability of detection, and minimizing the
size of the plume at the time of detection. Storck et al. (1997) expanded this work to a
fully three-dimensional analysis for porous media. Jardine et al. (1996) expand upon the
method of Massmann and Freeze (1987) to provide a decision-analysis framework for the
design of monitoring networks in fractured rock, using a two-dimensional discrete
fracture model to evaluate the best alternative from a number of alternate monitoring
strategies. A comprehensive presentation of monitoring network design in a three-
dimensional fractured rock mass has yet to be provided.
The potential environmental hazards from abandoned drinking water wells are widely
known. Most of these wells contain a steel casing but through time the casing can
corrode exposing the contacting sediments to the well bore water. If the well crosses a
low permeability unit, such as a clay aquitard, there is the potential for cross
contamination into previously protected aquifers. Figure 2-1 shows a typical situation
where the potential for cross contamination exists. Pumping from the lower confined
aquifer can cause contaminants to migrate downwards from the upper unconfined aquifer
through the abandoned well. The ground water resource in the lower aquifer is polluted
and the potential exists for contaminants to reach the water supply well. Many
jurisdictions have legislation requiring landowners to properly grout and decommission
abandoned wells on their property. If the landowner does not comply they can be held
liable for any contamination problems brought about from their wells.
9
Numerous studies have been done on the potential for abandoned wells or unplugged
boreholes to lead to subsurface contamination of ground water. The potential for water
supply wells that connect previously isolated water-bearing zones to facilitate
contaminant migration has been well documented (e.g. Gass et al., 1977; Lacombe et al.,
1995). Drilling for oil and gas has left a legacy of abandoned wells and exploration
boreholes that present a similar risk (e.g. Wait and McCollum, 1963; Warner and
McConnell, 1993; Langhus and Snider, 1999). Studies into deep-well injection of
hazardous waste have assessed the potential for fast contaminant migration to shallow
aquifers through leaky boreholes (Javandel et al., 1988; Raven et al., 1990). In 1972 the
Atomic Energy Commission was forced to abandon a potential high-level radioactive
waste repository site near Lyons, Kansas, when it was discovered that the site was riddled
with old oil and gas exploration wells (Zeller, 1973).
Some researchers have developed analytical models to describe the steady-state fluid
flow across an aquitard that has been penetrated by a circular well (e.g. Avc i , 1992;
Brikowski, 1993). Transient flow through a borehole has also been studied when
hydraulic gradients exist due to injection wells (Javandel et al., 1988; Avc i , 1994).
Lacombe et al. (1995) developed a numerical model to study flow and advective-
dispersive contaminant transport through a borehole that connected an upper unconfined
aquifer with a lower confined aquifer. They showed that the abandoned borehole could
cause significant cross-contamination when hydraulic gradients existed across the
borehole due to pumping in the lower aquifer.
10
A l l of the above studies deal with the environmental impacts of abandoned boreholes in a
porous medium or an equivalent continuum. No attempt has yet been made to assess the
impact of abandoned exploration boreholes in a fractured rock environment using a
discrete fracture model. The heterogeneous nature of contaminant transport through
fractured rock means that equivalent continuum models are not sufficient to properly
address the influence of leaky boreholes. The present study uses a discrete fracture
model to investigate the impact of abandoned exploration boreholes on contaminant
transport from a surface waste rock pile through a fractured rock mass.
11
12
3.0 Methods
3.1 Fracture Network Modeling
In this study a three-dimensional discrete fracture model was used to model flow and
transport through the fracture network. It was necessary to take account of the fracture
scale heterogeneity to properly model the influence of an abandoned borehole in a
fractured rock mass. The influence of individual fractures and connected pathways
through the rock matrix are an important physical process that needed to be included in
the chosen model. For this reason, using an averaging method such as the statistical
continuum method would not be appropriate. The F R A C MA N / MA F I C suite of programs
developed by Golder Associates (Dershowitz et al. 1995) was chosen as it provides
nearly all of the required tools, from fracture network generation to flow and contaminant
transport modeling. The main modification required was the addition of a routine to
incorporate abandoned boreholes. F R A C MA N / MA F I C provides the advantage of
allowing complex fracture geometry to be included in the analysis. This could allow for
a wide variety of fracture networks to be investigated by following the method described
in this thesis.
3.2 Overviewof the FRACMAN/MAFIC suite
Four applications from the F R A C M A N suite were used to model the discrete fracture
network and solve the flow and transport problem: F R AC WOR KS , ME S HMONS T E R,
E DME S H, and MAF I C. F R AC WOR KS is used to generate the three-dimensional
fracture networks, ME S HMONS T E R is used to create a basic finite-element mesh,
E DME S H is used to make appropriate refinements to the mesh, and MAF I C is used to
solve flow and contaminant transport through the fracture network.
3.2.1 FRACWORKS
F R AC WOR KS allows a wide variety of discrete features to be generated from
deterministic or stochastic descriptions. The base case fracture geometry for the
simulations presented in the following chapter was generated using a combination of
deterministic fractures to model two major features and two stochastic fracture sets for
the background network. The first stage of generating a three-dimensional fracture set is
to choose a generation model. The random networks used in this study were generated
using the Poisson Rectangle model. This is a simplified version of the Enhanced Baecher
model (Dershowitz et al., 1989), with fracture dimensions specified using length and
width instead of an effective radius.
The Poisson model assumes that the fracture centers are randomly distributed in space.
Once the fracture center has been chosen, the fracture geometry is determined by
specifying the dimensions and orientation of the fracture. Fracture mechanics suggest
that the general shape of a fracture in homogeneous rock wil l be elliptical (Baecher et al.
1977). The base case geometry assumed square planar fractures for simplicity, although
polygonal approximations to elliptical fractures are incorporated in the final simulations
with minimal additional computational effort.
14
The fracture density is determined by specifying the number of fractures to generate, and
the size of the generation region. In the base case the background network consisted of
two sets of 750 fractures, generated in the following region:
-62.5 m < x < 62.5 m,
-37.5 m<y < 37.5 m,
-25 m < z < 25 m.
The generation region described above was chosen to be larger than the modeling region
to avoid edge effects in the fracture network, as explained in Chapter 4. This results in
1500 fractures in a volume of 148000 m
3
, or 0.003 fractures/m
3
. The fracture density can
be specified using a number of alternate density intensity measures. According to
Dershowitz et al. (1995) the preferred measure for fracture intensity is the areal intensity,
P32
P3 2 = A
f
/ V
t
(1)
where:
Af = Total area of fractures, and
V
t
= Total volume.
For the base case, the length and width of background fractures are both a constant 10 m,
so the areal intensity P
3 2
= [(10 m x 10 m) x 1500] / 148000 m
3
= 1.01 m"
1
. It is
recognised that an individual fracture length of 10 m is larger than is typical for a natural
15
fractured rock mass, but large fractures were necessary to form connected networks due
to computational limits in the large fracture volume modeled.
The fracture orientations are specified by distributions for the trend and plunge of the
fracture pole. The fracture pole is defined as a line normal to the fracture plane. Figure
3-1 defines the trend as the clockwise angle between the negative x direction and the
projection of the fracture pole onto the x-y plane. The plunge is the angle between the x-
y plane and the pole. For both fracture sets in the base case a constant orientation was
adopted for simplicity. When variation in the fracture orientation was incorporated in
later simulations a bivariate-normal distribution was used. In the base case fracture
network, the fractures in Set 1 were horizontal with a constant pole trend of 180 and a
plunge of 90. Set 2 were vertical and oriented parallel to the y-axis with a trend of 90
and a plunge of 0.
The transmissivity of fractures was specified directly in the fracture generation model,
and the corresponding aperture calculated according to the cubic law for flow through
parallel plates: (Snow, 1965)
Q =
_pgb^.dh
( 2 )
12/i dl
where Q is the volumetric flow per unit thickness
p is the density of fluid (in this case water)
g is the gravitational constant
16
b is the hydraulic aperture of the fracture
JJ. is the viscosity of the fluid
dh/dl is the hydraulic gradient.
The term pgb
3
/12 p is the transmissivity, T, of the fracture. For water at constant density
and viscosity the transmissivity is proportional to the cube of the aperture. In this model
3 2
the density of water used is 1000 kg/m , the gravitational constant is 9.81 m/s , and the
3 2
absolute viscosity of water is 1x10" Ns/ m , resulting in the following relationship:
T = k
x
b
3
(3)
where k\ is a constant equal to 8. 175xl0
5
(ms)"
1
.
Along with the two stochastic sets described above, two large horizontal fractures were
generated to provide a fast pathway when an abandoned borehole was present. The large
features were generated using a deterministic rectangular model in F R AC WOR KS . The
fracture centers were specified at Xo(x, y, z) = (0 m, 0 m, 10 m) and (0 m, 0 m, -8 m).
Both fractures had a length of 100 m and a width of 50 m so that they spanned the entire
modeling domain. Figure 3-2 shows an orthogonal view of the base case fracture
network generated using F R AC WOR KS .
3.2.2 MESHMONSTER
This program generates a triangular finite-element mesh from the fracture network data
files created by F R AC WOR KS . The algorithm first finds the intersections between all of
17
the fractures, then creates triangular elements to fill in the area of the fracture planes.
Triangular elements are then further subdivided until all elements are below a maximum
element area specified by the user. The aspect ratio, being the ratio of the longest
element side to the shortest side, is also checked to eliminate long, thin fractures, which
can cause solution difficulties in the numerical model. The version of the program used
is not capable of automatically generating tetrahedral elements for the rock matrix, so i f
matrix flow is desired these must be specified manually. A l l simulations in this thesis
assumed that the matrix is impermeable. For many types of geologic environments, such
as fractured sandstone, this is not a realistic assumption, but for the purposes of assessing
the influence of abandoned boreholes matrix diffusion was not considered to be a key
physical process.
3.2.3 EDMESH
The meshing algorithm used in ME S HMONS T E R is complicated and imperfect, so the
resulting mesh must be edited to remove problems that wil l interfere with the calculation
of a flow solution (Parney, 1999 p. 142). E DME S H automatically takes the mesh output
from ME S HMONS T E R and removes or merges nodes that are likely to cause problems.
Nodes that are not connected to any boundary through the fracture network (i.e. isolated
fractures) are removed. E DME S H can also be used to refine the finite-element mesh in
regions where, for example, higher hydraulic gradients exist. E D ME S H was used in this
thesis to refine the mesh at fracture intersections, and around the location of abandoned
boreholes. The specific details of the mesh generating and editing algorithms are
proprietary to Golder Associates.
18
3.2.4 MAFIC
MAF I C provides the numerical solution to flow and solute transport through the discrete
fracture networks generated with F R A C MA N . The details of the flow and transport
solution can be found in Miller et al. (1995). The diffusivity equation describing flow
can be written as (Bear, 1972):
d_
dx,
f
dP dz^
+ PS
Sx, dx
dP
= p(a+(j)f5) + q
dt
(4)
where: xi = coordinate directions
P
= fluid density
= fluid viscosity
= permeability (absolute)
P = fluid pressure
g
= gravitational constant
z = vertical direction (upward)
a = pore compressibility
= porosity
P
= fluid compressibility
q
= source/sink term
t = time
19
The approximation of an incompressible fluid is applied to fracture flow in two
dimensions to simplify equation 4 to a simple volume-conservation equation:
S -TV
2
h = q (5)
dt
where: S = fracture storativity
h = hydraulic head
T = fracture transmissivity
q = source/sink term
t = time
V
2
= two-dimensional Laplace operator
MAF I C uses a Galerkin finite-element solution scheme to approximate the solution for
this equation. An Incomplete Cholesky Conjugate Gradient (ICCG) algorithm is used to
solve the flow problem (Meijerink and van der Vorst, 1977). Once the flow solution is
found and the hydraulic head at each node is known, the groundwater velocity in each
element can be calculated for use in the particle-tracking algorithm. In this thesis only
steady-state flow is modeled, but the analysis could easily be extended to include
transient flow with an associated increase in the required computational effort.
3.3 Solute Transport
MAF I C simulates transport through the finite-element mesh with a particle-tracking
algorithm based on similar approaches in two dimensions (Smith and Schwartz, 1984;
Hull et al., 1987). The longitudinal distance traveled by an individual particle in any
20
given time-step contains a deterministic convective component and a stochastic
dispersive component. A second transverse dispersive component, orthogonal to the first
dispersive component, is included to determine the total travel distance and direction.
If a particle reaches an element edge during a time-step it is placed in the adjacent
element and allowed to continue traveling through the fracture network. A particle is
removed i f it reaches a sink node, or becomes stuck in the system.
For the purpose of this study, i f a particle becomes stuck at any time during its journey
through the fracture network it is removed from the calculation of the total number of
particles released. When the breakthrough of particles at the downstream boundary is
compared to the initial number of particles released, any particles that become stuck are
removed from the equation. This was done because the behaviour of stuck particles was
not thought to be indicative of any real physical phenomenon, but rather a result of
idiosyncrasies in the particle tracking algorithm.
Dershowitz et al. (1991) indicate the problems presented by applying the particle tracking
algorithm to a finite-element grid. Prediction of nodal flux and head distributions do not
depend on accurate small-scale (1-10 cm) heads and fluxes. However, particle tracking
solute transport modeling requires that small-scale heads and fluxes be accurate since the
local particle motion is controlled by head differences within single elements. The
Galerkin approximation applied in the MAF I C code does not ensure a locally consistent
flux field, but only global conservation of mass and a consistent head field. Dershowitz
21
et al (1991) indicated the necessity to refine meshes and condition the particle tracking
algorithm to develop accurate transport solutions.
In this thesis fracture networks that resulted in large amounts of stuck particles were
eliminated from the study to avoid introducing bias through the error in the particle-
tracking model. Fracture density and individual fracture properties were chosen from a
range that produced acceptable model behaviour and minimized the amount of particles
becoming stuck while traversing the fracture network. This limited the scope of the
fracture networks that could be simulated, but ensured that the results presented in
Chapter 4 were not influenced by this problem.
3.4 Implementation of Abandoned Boreholes
To accurately model both flow and transport through a borehole in a fracture network, it
is necessary to include the borehole as a discrete feature. MAF I C includes a technique
for incorporating a well or borehole as a series of nodes with a specified group flux. If
the group flux is set to zero (no pumping or injection) then any inflow to the borehole
through a node is compensated by an equivalent outflow through the other nodes. This
technique works well for the flow system but does not allow particle tracking through the
borehole. Any particle reaching a group-flux node is removed from the transport
calculations and is assumed to exit at the borehole. Particles cannot enter at one fracture
intersection along the borehole and exit at a different intersection.
22
For this reason it was decided to include the borehole as an equivalent discrete fracture,
which would allow for flow and transport without any modifications to the numerical
model. Instead of modifying the MAF I C code, which could result in the introduction of
programming errors in the code, a separate program was written which takes the finite
element mesh output from E DME S H and adds a borehole as a discrete fracture.
3.4.1 Borehole as a Discrete Fracture
The parameters needed to specify a single rectangular fracture are aperture,
transmissivity, storativity, width, length, and location. The aperture and the
transmissivity are essentially only a single parameter as they are directly related in the
numerical model by the cubic law. The numerical code checks to make sure that the
aperture and transmissivity are consistent. The desired location and length of the
borehole govern the location and length of the corresponding discrete fracture. The
storativity is not important as all simulations in this study incorporated a steady-state
flow field. We are left with two parameters, aperture and width, which must be
mathematically related to the diameter of the borehole to ensure an accurate
implementation.
The scenario investigated assumes a crystalline fractured rock, so the borehole was
assumed to be an open conduit with reasonably smooth sides. If the borehole is assumed
to be filled with geologic debris, its effective area and aperture would be less than used
here. Figure 3-3 shows the parameters needed to simulate a borehole with an equivalent
23
discrete fracture. The appropriate aperture, b, and fracture width, w, are found by
matching the volume and flow rate of a borehole with diameter, D.
The volume of a fracture of width, w, aperture, b, and length, 1 is simply:
V
f
= wbl (6)
The volume of a borehole of diameter, D, and length, 1 is:
K - ^ - l (7)
Matching the two equations and solving for the fracture width gives:
w = (8)
4b
Daugherty et al. (1985) gives the equation for the mean velocity in a circular conduit with
smooth walls:
-
=
P8_
D
**L
(9
)
32ju dl
24
thus the flow rate through the circular conduit is:
128 \x dl
Equation 9 is based on the assumption that flow is laminar through the conduit and that
the void space is fully saturated.
It is practically impossible for turbulent flow to exist when Reynolds number, R, is less
than 2000, because any turbulence that is set up will be damped out by viscous friction
(Daugherty et al. 1985). Reynolds number is a dimensionless number with the following
form:
R = ^P (11)
Rearranging and substituting the values for density and viscosity used in equation 2
gives:
(12)
D
where diameter is in meters and velocity is in meters per second. For a typical borehole
diameter of 10cm (0.1m) the critical velocity is 0.02 m/s. The highest velocities modeled
25
in this study were 0.0273 m/s and were possibly in the turbulent range with a Reynolds
number of 2730. However, the exact critical R is really indeterminate and Daugherty et
al (1985) suggest that its value is normally around 4000. Care must be taken when
applying this model to check that flow through the borehole is not likely to be turbulent,
which would invalidate the underlying conceptual model.
Setting the equation for flow through a fracture (equation 2) equal to the equation for
flow through a circular conduit (equation 10) gives:
(13)
Solving for the aperture, b, gives:
b
3
=
3K D*
(14)
32 w
Combining equations 8 and 14 gives:
(15)
Tt
D1. 28Z) (16)
w
4
26
So we have a direct relationship that provides the width and aperture of a discrete fracture
to correspond to a borehole of specified diameter, D . This relationship ensures
consistency in the void space volume, volumetric flow rate, velocity, and contaminant
residence times. A small error may be introduced around the borehole entrance by the
fact that the shape of the conduit is rectangular instead of circular. However, due to the
fine discretization around the borehole, this error is likely to be insignificant compared
with other systematic error intrinsic in the finite element model approximation.
3.4.2 Borehole Fracture Intersections
The borehole is added to the finite element model after the mesh is generated and refined.
The code for adding the boreholes requires the following parameters for each borehole:
Xo(x,y,z), the borehole start location,
Xi(x. y. z), the borehole end location, and
D , the borehole diameter.
The program is capable of including any number of boreholes with any orientation. The
boreholes can extend all the way across the domain or terminate at any point, but must be
linear.
The program takes the input parameters and calculates the three-dimensional equation for
the line along which the borehole lies. Each fracture within the modeling domain is
checked to see if it intersects with the borehole. If a fracture and a borehole intersect, the
27
fracture's elements are checked to find the element center that lies closest to the
intersection point. The intersection point is then relocated to the center of this element.
This eliminates problems that occur when a borehole intersects a fracture close to the
boundary of two elements. Specifying a reasonable mesh refinement around the borehole
location reduces any errors caused by adjusting the true intersection point, and ensures a
good mesh design by the borehole-meshing algorithm.
For every intersection found the borehole program refines the discretization within the
intersected element. Positioning the intersection at the nearest element center reduces the
likelihood of having elements with high aspect ratios, which can cause problems in the
numerical solver. Figure 3-4 demonstrates the algorithm used to discretize a fracture-
borehole intersection. The borehole is discretized as a fracture and the intersection nodes
are calculated. The length of the intersection is the fracture width, w. The discretization
algorithm ensures a consistent set of nodes and triangular elements are input into the flow
solver. The number of elements used to discretize the borehole is governed by the
maximum borehole element aspect ratio, which can be specified in the program.
3.43 Test of Flow through Borehole
A simple scenario with an analytical solution is used to test the implementation of the
borehole in the finite element model. The scenario is shown in the bottom-right corner of
Figure 3-5. A single borehole is connected on each end by a constant head boundary.
The hydraulic gradient across the borehole is varied for ten runs of the numerical model
and the circles show the resulting flow rates. The solid line shows the analytical solution
28
for flow through a filled circular conduit. As expected, the numerical model corresponds
almost exactly to the analytical solution, except for some insignificant numerical error.
The value of the solution when Reynolds number is equal to 2000 is also plotted.
Gradients above this value of ~ 0.00065 m / 100 m = 6.5x10"
6
could possibly result in
turbulent flow through the 10 cm diameter borehole.
3.4.4 Test of Particle Tracking through Borehole
Another simple scenario was set up to test particle transport through the borehole. A
simple fracture network was generated, and although no analytical solution exists for
comparison, the network is simple enough to yield intuitive behaviour. The fracture
network for this test scenario and the borehole location are shown in Figure 3-6. The left
side of the uppermost fracture intersects a constant-head boundary with hi = 100 m, while
the right side of the lowermost fracture intersects a boundary with h
2
= 0 m. A l l other
boundaries are impermeable. The borehole is a vertical line located at the center of the
domain and intersects all three horizontal fractures. A vertical fracture on the right hand
side connects the upper and middle fractures and another vertical fracture on the left-hand
side connects the middle and lower features. The contaminant source zone is on the
upper-left constant-head boundary. The horizontal square fractures are 20 meters on each
side. The borehole is 10 centimeters in diameter.
When the borehole is not present contaminants must follow a tortuous path through the
fracture network. The pathway travels to the right across the domain in the upper
fracture, back to the left in the middle fracture, then back towards the exit boundary at the
29
right-hand side of the lower fracture. When the borehole is present it creates a direct
connection from the upper fracture to the lower fracture and particles only have to travel
once across the domain to reach the downstream boundary. It is expected that the
borehole wil l increase ground water flow and significantly reduce particle residence
times in the network. The upper and lower fractures have a transmissivity of l xl 0"
4
m
2
/s
6 2
while all of the other fractures have a transmissivity of 1x10" m /s.
Figure 3-7 shows the normalized breakthrough of particles at the downstream boundary,
both with and without the borehole. It can be seen from this plot that the borehole
reduces particle residence times significantly. The peak of the breakthrough curve is also
higher with the borehole, which corresponds to higher contaminant concentrations. The
median travel time for particles is 7150 s without the borehole and 131s with the
borehole. The velocity in the borehole is 0.299 m/s and its length between the fractures is
10 m, so the borehole residence time is close to 33 s, or about VA of the median residence
time in the system.
Figure 3-8 shows the pathway a single particle takes through the fracture network when
the borehole is present. It can be seen from this plot that particles are indeed traveling
through the borehole as expected. When the borehole is present it creates a shortcut
through the network, as well as increasing the overall conductivity. The flow rate
through the system increases from 4.93xl0"
5
m
3
/s to 2.37xl0"
3
m
3
/s with the addition of
the borehole. The flow pattern in the lower fracture is analogous to that of an injection
30
well in a confined aquifer under a regional gradient. Particle paths are radial away from
the borehole but bend in the direction of the downstream boundary.
3.4.5 Effect of Borehole Size
It was found that i f a larger diameter borehole is used in the above scenario, the overall
hydraulic conductivity of the fracture network is not increased significantly, as the thin
fractures account for most of the resistance in the network. However, larger boreholes
increase the volume of the void space in the fracture network, and therefore increase
residence times. Intuitively one might think that a larger borehole connecting the fracture
network wil l increase both the flow rate and the particle velocities, but the latter is not
always the case.
The aperture of the high transmissivity fractures in the above example is calculated using
Equation 3 to be 5.0xl0"
4
m. Likewise the aperture of the lower-transmissivity fractures
is l . l x l 0"
4
m. Using these values, the total volume of the fracture void space is
calculated as 0.49 m . The volume of the 10 cm diameter borehole is 0.016 m , which is
small in comparison. The volume of a 25 cm diameter borehole would be 0.08 m which
is starting to become significant in comparison to the fracture volume. Smaller boreholes
which increase the hydraulic conductivity of the network by creating a new, fast pathway
without significantly increasing the system volume wil l have the greatest impact in
decreasing contaminant residence times.
31
Figure 3-9 shows a scenario that is used to demonstrate how a large void-space, such as a
borehole, can behave when connected to constant head boundaries through relatively thin
fractures. A fracture consisting of three parts has a total length of L. The outer, thin
sections both have an aperture of bo and a length of lo. The middle section has a larger
aperture of bi and length of \\ = L - 21o- The length of the middle section is varied but the
total length remains constant.
The analytical solution for this problem was solved and the flow rate and hydraulic
residence time calculated for different lengths of the middle section, l i . Figure 3-10
shows a plot of the residence time and flow rate as the length of the middle, large
aperture fracture is varied. The parameters for this plot are given in Table 3-1.
Description Parameter Value Units
Thin fracture aperture bo
lxlO"
4
m
Thick fracture aperture bi lxlO"
1
m
Upstream head Ho 100 m
Downstream head Hi 0 m
Total Length L 100 m
Table 3-1. Parameters for analytical problem
It can be seen from Figure 3-10 that the total flow rate through the system increases
exponentially as the relative length of the thick portion is increased. The residence time
32
increases with the thick fracture length up to a maximum, then decreases again. On the
left-hand side of this plot, when the thick fracture is small, the thin fracture dominates the
flow. In this scenario the hydraulic conductivity of the total system is governed by the
thin fracture, and the thick fracture acts as a 'reservoir', slowing down flow. On the
right-hand side of the plot the thick fracture is dominating the flow, as the thin low-
conductivity portion of the system is small. In this scenario the thick fracture acts as a
'pipeline', and increasing its length will significantly increase the conductivity (reducing
the
(
length of the resistive thin fracture) and residence times wil l decrease.
In most of the scenarios investigated in this study the behaviour more closely reflects the
left side of Figure 3-10. The borehole is not connected directly to the constant head
boundaries, so flow and transport must take place through the lower-conductivity
fractures. Increasing the size of the borehole does not increase the hydraulic conductivity
of the system significantly as the system is dominated by the background fractures. Of
course, i f the borehole were directly connected to the constant-head boundaries the
behaviour would more closely resemble the right-hand side of Figure 3-10.
3.5 Conceptual Model Description
The simulations presented in the following section all use the same basic conceptual
model. A schematic view of a hypothetical mine site is shown in Figure 3-11. A waste
rock pile sits above a flow divide at the top of a hill and acts as a source of contaminants
to the ground water system. The underlying fractured rock unit is 25 m thick at the left
side of the domain, and 20 m thick at the right side of the domain. The simulation
33
domain is 100 m long by 50 m wide. The total volume of the simulation domain is
112500 m
3
. A layer of low-permeability surficial deposits overlies the fractured rock unit
downstream of the recharge area.
Figure 3-12 is a cross section through the center of the conceptual model that shows the
boundaries and the source zone. The domain is surrounded by impermeable boundaries
except for the two constant head boundaries on the top-left and right sides of the domain.
The constant head boundary at the top-left acts as the source of water for the flow system,
and corresponds to recharge at the top of the hill. The boundary on the left is
impermeable because it is assumed to be on a groundwater divide. The constant head
boundary on the right hand side of the domain acts as the exit boundary for flow and
contaminant transport, and is meant to represent a vertical equipotential.
A contaminant source zone is situated at the upstream constant head boundary where the
waste rock pile contacts the fractured-rock mass. The size of the source zone is
representative of a 'hot-spot' in the waste rock pile where a higher than normal flux of
contaminants are released, due to preferential pathways through the pile. Contaminants
released at the source zone will percolate down through the open fractures and then move
horizontally across the fractured crystalline unit to the downstream boundary. The lower
boundary corresponds to impermeable bedrock, while the boundary on the top right along
the slope is due to low-permeability overburden.
34
It is recognized that the conceptual model presented here is somewhat idealized
compared to a real field situation. This conceptual model was chosen to include the key
processes that were thought to be important, while minimizing the influence of other,
secondary effects. The low-permeability boundary that covers most of the upper surface
of the fractured rock unit was necessary to confine the aquifer. When a specified head
boundary was used to represent an unconfined aquifer the majority of the particles exited
at the water table. The downstream boundary could represent a compliance surface
where contaminant concentrations are of the most concern. If the boreholes were allowed
to intersect a specified head boundary at the upper surface then they would no longer be
acting simply as connections through the network, but as a source of recharge to the
fracture network. In this case no particles would travel into the borehole, as the head in
the borehole would be higher than that in the surrounding fractures. In many field
situations the top of the borehole would be capped or caved in preventing water from
entering at the surface so it is realistic to assume that the boreholes do not intersect a
constant head boundary.
35
Up
Figure 3-1: Definition of orientation convention used in F R A C M A N
36
B
100% of fractures displayed
X -
s
V -
z -
25% of fractures displayed
V -
Figure 3-2: Isometric view of the base case fracture network
37
Borehole Fracture
D i a m e t e r , D W i d t h , w
I N I N
A p e r t u r e , b
Figure 3-3: Parameters for incorporation of a circular borehole as a rectangular fracture
38
Figure 3-4: Discretization algorithm around the intersection of a borehole with a fracture
39
Figure 3-6: Fracture network designed to test particle-tracking through the borehole
41
o
a;
o
_c
CD
O
m
o
m
CO
o
+
LU
o
co
o
+
LU
O
00
V
CO
o
+
LU
O
CO
O
+
LU
o
CO
CO
o
+
LU
O
CO
o
+
LU
O
CO
o
+
LU
O
CO
cu
E
o
c
<D
-t->
s-t
a3
T 3
O
co
o
+
LU
o
Csi
CO
O
+
LU
O
o
O
CM
O
CO
O
CD
d
CM CO
O
CO
o
o
CN
O
O
O
+
LU
O

S
bxi
42
Figure 3- 9: Schematic of analytical model used to test the effect of borehole size on flow rate and residence times
44
( s / c i u ) a j e y w v o y
47
4.0 Results
4.1 Base Case Fracture Network
The base case fracture network consists of two orthogonal fracture sets and two large
horizontal fractures. The large fractures represent major features of high conductivity in
the horizontal plane, such as sedimentary bedding planes or large fissures caused by
erosional unloading. The smaller fractures are randomly sampled from two sets of
statistical parameters, and represent the background fracture network. Figure 4-1 shows
the fracture traces on a cross-section through the center of the modeling domain. The
major features are connected through the background fracture network, but no single
background fracture is large enough to directly connect the two major features.
Therefore, all flow and transport must take place along some indirect pathway through
the network. A single, transmissive fracture that connected the two major features would
create a preferential pathway through the network, and produce similar results to
including a borehole in the network. The generation parameters for all of the fractures in
the base case network are provided in Table 4-1.
Parameter Fracture set one Fracture set two
Generation Region 125 m x 65 m x 40 m 125 m x 65 m x 40 m
Number of Fractures 750 750
Fracture Model Poisson Rectangle Poisson Rectangle
Generation Mode Centers Centers
Truncation Mode Off Off
Number of Sides 4 4
Pole (trace, plunge) 0, 90 0, 0
Pole distribution Constant Constant
Fracture dimension l O mx 10m l O mx 10m
Transmissivity l xl 0"
6
m
2
/ s l xl 0"
6
m
2
/ s
Aperture l xl 0"
4
m l xl 0"
4
m
Table 4-1: Generation parameters for base case fracture network
48
The statistics for both sets of background fractures are identical, except for orientation.
The base case network is meant to represent the simplest possible situation, therefore all
fractures in a given set have the same orientation, aperture, and size. The center of each
fracture is randomly positioned within the fracture generation region. It is possible to
sample any of these parameters from probability distributions, but constant values are
used in the base case simulation for simplicity and to ease comparisons with later
simulations.
In the base case scenario, both of the large fractures have a transmissivity of l x l 0"
4
m
2
/s
and extend laterally across the entire modeling domain. The transmissivity of the major
features is two orders of magnitude higher than that of the background fractures which,
combined with their large areal extent, causes them to dominate the flow system. The
uppermost feature located at z = 10 m is bounded on all sides by impermeable
boundaries, while the lower feature located at z = -8 m intersects a constant head
boundary on the right-hand side. The contaminant source zone is located at the top of the
domain on the left-hand side as shown in Figure 4-2. For contaminants to reach the exit
boundary on the right-hand side they must travel at least partly through the background
fracture network to reach the major features. Most of the particles representing the
contaminant release will travel partly along the major features and partly along the
background fractures to reach the exit boundary, although a small percentage will bypass
the major features and travel only in the background network.
4 9
4.1.1 Fracture Generation Region
The generation region for the background fractures is larger than the modeling domain to
avoid 'boundary effects' within the modeling domain. The generation algorithm
randomly positions a fracture center within the generation region. Because fracture
centers will not be positioned outside the boundaries, a certain amount of fractures that
overlap the boundaries will be missing, resulting in a sparser fracture network near the
generation region boundaries. If the generation region is larger than the modeling by the
Vi width of the largest fracture generated this error will be eliminated. For this reason the
fractures were generated in a 125 x 65 x 40 meter region for the 100 x 50 x 25 meter
modeling domain as shown in Figure 4-3.
4.1.2 Base Case Borehole
For all of the different fracture networks investigated in this study, the flow and transport
model is first solved without any boreholes present, and then the same model is solved
with a borehole in a specified location. The results from the two simulations are then
compared to determine the effects of the borehole on the fracture network flow and
contaminant transport. The vertical borehole for the base case fracture network is located
at x = -25 m and y = 0 m.
As can be seen in Figure 4-1, the borehole intersects the two major conductive zones at z
= 8 m and -10 m respectively and any background fractures in between. Flow can enter
or leave the borehole at any intersection, depending on the local hydraulic head
distribution. In the base case simulation the flow down the borehole varies only by a
50
small percentage between the major features, representing the limited hydraulic
interaction of the borehole with the background network. If the flow through the
borehole decreases by 1% after a fracture intersection then there is a 1% chance that
particles will leave the borehole at that intersection and enter the background fracture
network. There is a 99% chance they will continue traveling down the borehole.
The borehole diameter for this simulation was 10 cm. The mathematical algorithm
allows for boreholes of any size and orientation to be included in the finite-element
model, as long as the finite element grid is designed to ensure an appropriate refinement
around any borehole-fracture intersections.
As explained in Chapter 3, i f a borehole's diameter is large it may not act as a fast-
pathway, but rather can increase contaminant residence times. The large radius borehole
will contain a significant volume of water compared to the rest of the fracture network,
and will act like a reservoir or holding-tank in the system. This wil l be the case i f the
volume of void space in the borehole is large in comparison to the volume of void space
in the rest of the fracture network, and the borehole is only connected to the constant
head boundaries through the thin background fractures. While a larger borehole radius
will raise the overall hydraulic conductivity of the fracture network and therefore the total
flow through the fracture network, the volume of water will be much larger and the
residence times wil l increase significantly. Small diameter boreholes may form
previously unavailable pathways, while not significantly increasing the volume of void
space in the system, thereby decreasing contaminant residence times and increasing
51
maximum concentrations at the downstream boundary. The effect of using different
borehole diameters in the base case fracture network is investigated later in this chapter.
Figure 4-1 shows that there will be numerous possible paths that wil l lead from the
source to the exit boundary. However, no individual fracture is long enough to connect
the major features, and particles must travel along both of the background fracture sets.
It should be noted that a two-dimensional trace plot such as this wil l always appear less
connected than the corresponding three-dimensional network as there is another
dimension for connections to be made in. This base case fracture network is well
connected with many possible paths for particles to travel along to reach the exit
boundary.
4.1.3 Grid Discretization
Figure 4-4 shows the finite-element grid discretization of the lower large high-
conductivity fracture. Note the further grid refinement around the borehole location and
the fracture intersections. This refinement was done to reduce model errors where the
hydraulic gradients were likely to be large. The grid refinement shown was chosen as the
point at which further grid refinement did not lead to significant changes in the flow or
particle transport results. This level of discretization resulted in approximately 20000
nodes and 35000 elements for the base-case scenario. Some subsequent simulations with
more complicated fracture networks required close to 100000 elements. Available
computer memory allowed simulations of up to 300000 elements, but this level of
discretization was not found to be necessary for the fracture networks considered here.
52
An increase in the fracture densities over those used here would be approaching the limits
of a Pentium II, 450 MHz machine with 196 MB of R A M . A single base-case simulation
including fracture generation, discretizing, editing and solving the finite element model
takes approximately 15 minutes on the above machine. Some of the more complex
simulations took several hours to complete.
It was found that approximately 1000 particles were needed to provide a reliable
breakthrough curve at the exit boundary for a single realization of the fracture geometry.
Certain simulations required significantly more than 1000 particles to be injected at the
source due to some particles becoming stuck in the system. Using a constant
concentration at the source zone for all simulations would result in a higher number of
particles entering the system for fracture networks with high flow rates. For the purposes
of this study the amount of mass entering the system for different fracture networks is not
as important as the behaviour of the mass once it has entered the network. For this reason
the number of particles traveling through the system was kept constant rather than the
source concentration, so concentration values shown on breakthrough curves should be
interpreted in a relative sense. The longitudinal and transverse dispersivities were set at
1.0 m and 0.707 m respectively. Test simulations found that most of the plume spreading
was due to tortuous pathways in the fracture network and not due to the dispersivity.
Setting the dispersivities several orders of magnitude lower yielded similar results.
53
4.1.4 Case 1 - Base Case Results
Table 4-2 shows a summary of the results of all simulations described in this chapter,
including the base case scenario. Q
s y s
is the total system flow, representing the flow
entering through the upstream constant head boundary and leaving through the
downstream boundary. Vb
0 r
is the downward ground water velocity in the borehole, and
Qbor is the volumetric flow rate through the borehole. The parameter % Qb
0 r
is equal to
Qbor / Qsys x 100% and represents the percentage of the total system flow that travels
through the borehole. The T parameters are as defined in Chapter 3.
It can be seen from Table 4-2 that the total flow through the fracture network increases by
a factor of 3.3 from 3.07x10"
5
m
3
/s to 1.02xl0"
4
m
3
/s when the borehole is included, while
the mean contaminant breakthrough time decreases by a factor of 7.8. When the borehole
is present in the base case scenario it controls the flow system, channeling 87% of the
network flow and 98.5% of the particles released at the source.
Figure 4-5 shows the breakthrough of particles at the exit boundary for the base case
simulation with and without a borehole. Both plots are normalized by dividing the
number of particles exiting during a specific time period by the total number of particles
travelling through the network. For instance, the spike in the breakthrough curve for the
case with a borehole means that 9% of the particles exited during that particular time
period. Each time period is 2000 s long. The curve is smoothed using a moving average
of the three closest time periods.
54
T3
ii
u

o
a
a
Q
CS
S
3
Vi
u
u
CN
CN
0
S
.
55
The effects of adding a borehole in this scenario can be quite clearly seen on this plot.
The simulation with the borehole has a much higher spike of particles exiting in a short
time period, which represents a higher concentration of contaminant than the case
without the borehole. Furthermore, contaminants reach the downstream boundary earlier
in time for the case with the borehole. In fact, most of the particles have already exited
by t = l xl 0
5
s in the case with the borehole, whereas in the case without the borehole the
first few particles are just beginning to reach the downstream boundary at this time. The
parameters used to quantify the shape of the breakthrough curve are Tio, T
5
o and T
9
o. Tio
is the time when 10% of the particles have exited at the downstream end of the modeling
domain, and represents the nose of the breakthrough curve. T 5 0 is the time when half of
the particles have exited and is identical to the median of the particle breakthrough times.
T90 is the time when 90% of the particles have exited and represents the tail of the
breakthrough curve. The difference between T90 and Tio quantifies the spread of the
breakthrough curve. A lower spread would correspond to a more tightly contained
plume, and higher contaminant concentrations at the downstream boundary, as is seen in
the base case scenario with the borehole. The parameters T 25 , T
7 5
, and T 95 are also
included to give a complete description of the breakthrough curve. Table 4-2 gives the
values of the parameters described above for all simulations, including the base case.
Figure 4-6 is a plot of the exit location of each particle against its exit time. The vast
majority of the particles reach the downstream boundary while travelling along the lower
major conduit, and exit at the same longitudinal and vertical location (x = 50m, z = -10
m). For this reason the plot shows the transverse, or y-component of the exit location vs.
56
time. The time axis is logarithmic. This plot shows the temporal and transverse spread
of the particles at breakthrough, and where along the y-axis particles show up first.
The most apparent difference between the two scenarios is the order-of-magnitude longer
time for particles to travel through the fracture network when no borehole is present.
Another interesting feature that could not be seen on the breakthrough plots is the
structure of the contaminant plume when a borehole is present. It can be seen from this
plot that the borehole controls the flow system in the large fracture, and that the flow
lines in the fracture are similar to those that occur in a confined aquifer with an injection
well. Particles close to the center of the domain tend to exit first as they follow the most
direct pathway from the borehole to the exit boundary. Particles that exit further from the
center of the domain take longer to reach the boundary, as they have to travel along a
longer arc, even backwards for part of the journey. The particles spread laterally almost
across the entire domain. The impermeable boundaries at either side of the domain
interfere with the flow system and limit the spread of particles. These boundaries
represent undisturbed flow lines in the regional flow system, and while it would be
desirable to have the boundaries as far away as possible, computational requirements
limit the size of the domain.
One interesting feature to note for the case with the borehole is that the temporal spread
of the plume is even less than depicted on the breakthrough curve. The breakthrough
curve for any given lateral location will encompass a smaller time spread than when the
breakthrough is averaged across the entire y-axis. This means that the breakthrough
57
curve is underestimating the maximum concentrations through averaging along the lateral
direction, and concentrations for the case with the borehole wil l be even higher than
already shown.
Figure 4-7 shows the pathway a single particle takes from the source zone to the exit
boundary. After the particle exits the borehole it travels backwards along the x-axis to
the upstream impermeable boundary. As it approaches the boundary the ground water
velocity carries it outwards in the negative y direction. Near the lateral boundaries the
velocity is in the positive x direction which carries the particle towards the exit boundary
again. The particle exists at y = -24.1 m. Particles exiting towards the outskirts of the
domain must travel along a much longer path resulting in a later exit-time for both the
first and last particles to reach the boundary. Particles that leave the borehole on the
downstream side travel directly to the downstream boundary under a strong gradient, and
exit the system at the earliest time. When a particle leaves an element at any intersection,
the probability of it entering any other intersecting element is based on the proportion of
flow to that element. Stream-tube routing is not incorporated in the MAF I C flow and
transport code.
Some clustering can be observed in the lateral exit-location of particles for the case
without the borehole. This is due to heterogeneity in the discrete fracture network caused
by the random distribution of fractures in the domain. Although all fractures have the
same equivalent radius and transmissivity, areas with greater than average fracture
densities will result in higher local permeability and preferential flow paths.
58
Figure 4-8 shows a frame-by-frame cross-section of particle transport through the
fracture network when no borehole is present. It can be seen from this plot that there are
two major pathways through the network along with many secondary ones. One
concentrated packet of particles travels almost straight down through the background
network until it meets the lower major feature. At this point it moves horizontally
towards the exit boundary. Another concentrated packet of particles travels vertically
until it reaches the upper major feature, and then horizontally across the feature until the
point where the feature intersects the upper impermeable boundary. At this point the
particles again travel downwards through the background fracture network to the lower
major feature and out through the exit boundary. The effect of the two major pathways
can be seen on Figure 4-5. The breakthrough curve contains two peaks corresponding to
the two distinct paths.
When the borehole is present the particles are concentrated along a single preferential
pathway through the fracture network. As mentioned above, 98.5% of the particles travel
along this pathway through the borehole in the base case network. This wil l result in less
of the fracture network being exposed to contaminants and wil l greatly reduce the
fracture surface area contacted by the plume. Although sorption is not included in this
analysis, the implications of this behaviour on the mobility of sorbing contaminants can
be inferred. Reducing the available fracture surface area wil l reduce the amount of
sorption, increasing the mobility of sorbing contaminants and reducing residence times
further when the borehole is present.
59
The following set of simulations investigates the effect of changing the fracture network
transmissivities, while keeping the geometrical properties the same. To facilitate
comparison with the base case scenario the same random-number seed was used to
generate the fracture network, resulting in the exact same locations for the fractures.
4.2 Influence of Background Fracture Network
4.2.1 Case 2 Higher horizontal transmissivity
The next simulation investigates the effect of anisotropy in the background fracture
network. In this case the transmissivity of the horizontal fracture set was raised by two
orders of magnitude to l x l 0"
4
m
2
/s (corresponding to an aperture of 5xl0"
4
m), while the
vertical set was left at 1x10" m /s. The transmissivity of the two large fractures was kept
at l xl 0"
4
m
2
/s. This alteration to the base case scenario represents an introduction of
anisotropy into the system. A typical field scenario that corresponds to this fracture
network is horizontal fractures along consolidated sedimentary bedding planes, connected
by tighter vertical fractures. Other than the above modifications the parameters for this
simulation are the same as provided in Table 4-1.
This alteration to the background fracture network raised the overall permeability of the
geologic unit and causes the flow through the system to increase by 64% over the base
case, to 5.04x10"
5
m
3
/s when no borehole is present. When the borehole is present at x =
-25 m the flow through the system is Ll Oxl O"
4
m
3
/s. The total flow through the system is
higher both with the borehole and without compared to the base case. However, the
60
relative impact of adding the borehole in this scenario is reduced. In the base case the
borehole increased the total system flow by a factor of 3.3, whereas in this scenario the
borehole increased the system flow by a factor of 2.2. The proportion of the total system
flow that channeled through the borehole was also less in this case at 77%.
It is expected that a vertical borehole would have a more significant effect where the
horizontal fracture transmissivities are higher than the vertical. A highly conductive
vertical conduit should be more effective in this situation because with low vertical
fracture transmissivities the competing preferential flow paths through the background
network are at a disadvantage. Any connected flow-path through the background
network must include some vertical low-transmissivity fractures. The reason that the
borehole has less of a relative effect on the system flow than the base case is not the
anisotropy but the overall increase in background network conductivity. The significance
of the borehole relies upon the fact that it connects two relatively high transmissivity
fractures and creates a preferential pathway that did not exist before. The greater the
contrast between the background transmissivity and the major features the greater an
impact the borehole can be expected to have. This relationship is investigated later in this
chapter.
Figure 4-9 shows the breakthrough of particles at the downstream boundary for Case 2.
The breakthrough time parameters are provided in Table 4-2. Generally, the behaviour of
these curves closely resembles the breakthrough curves for the base case. The borehole
has the effect of allowing contaminants to reach the downstream boundary sooner and at
61
much higher concentrations. The breakthrough curve for the simulation without the
borehole shows that the particle breakthrough is dispersed over a much longer time
frame, but with lower concentrations. More specifically, although the borehole was
shown to have less of an effect on the system flow in this simulation vs. the base case, the
borehole has a greater effect on the contaminant breakthrough as measured by the median
residence time, T 5 0 . T 5 0 decreases by a factor of 8.5 in Case 2 with the inclusion of the
borehole, but only by a factor of 7.8 in the base case. This result is more significant
when taken in conjunction with the borehole's decreased effect on the flow in Case 2.
The reason for this increased borehole effect on transport in Case 2 is the longer
residence times for Case 2 without the borehole. It can be seen from Table 4-2 that Q
s y s
and the breakthrough times are similar for Case 2 and the base case when the borehole is
present. This is expected, because the higher transmissivity horizontal fractures will not
have a large effect when the borehole is present. The majority of the system flow will
take place through the borehole, the major features, and through the vertical background
fractures from the source zone to the upper major feature. 97.5% of the particles released
from the source zone travel along this path through the borehole. However, except for
the initial breakthrough, the breakthrough times are longer for Case 2 when no borehole
is present. This is due to the overall volume increase caused by the larger aperture
horizontal fractures being introduced. Increasing the fracture transmissivity by two
orders of magnitude results in an increase in fracture volume of 4.64 according to the
cubic law (Tocb ). The total system conductivity increased by a factor of 1.6 as
62
evidenced by the increase in the flow rate in Case 2, which was not enough to account for
the higher volume of the flow paths, hence the residence times increased.
The fact that Tio and T 25 are smaller for Case 2 indicates that the fastest pathways are
faster in this scenario, although the majority of the pathways are slower.
The lateral breakthrough distribution for Case 2 is shown in Figure 4-10. The lateral
pattern of breakthrough for the case with the borehole is once again similar to the base
case, with the average particle exit time increasing with distance from the center of the
domain. This is due to the borehole being located in the center of the domain. In later
sections the borehole is located off-center and the effect on the lateral breakthrough
distribution is investigated. Without the borehole the lateral breakthrough distribution is
not structured, but rather is spread fairly evenly across the domain and across an extended
time period.
Increasing the transmissivity of the horizontal background fracture set had the effect of
increasing the overall conductivity of the system. The borehole had a smaller effect on
the system flow, but a larger effect on contaminant transport than in the base case. This
is due to the complex interplay between fracture aperture, network conductivity,
preferential pathways and contaminant residence times. The next section expands upon
the concept of anisotropy in the background fracture network.
63
4.2.2 Case 3 - Higher Vertical Transmissivity
In this case the transmissivity of the vertical fracture set was raised by two orders of
magnitude over the base case to l xl 0"
4
m
2
/s, while the horizontal set was left at l xl O"
6
2 * 4 2
m /s. The transmissivity of the two large fractures was maintained at 1x10" m /s.
Increasing the transmissivity of the vertical fracture set had a larger effect on the flow
system than increasing the horizontal transmissivities in Case 2. Without the borehole,
the total flow through the system increased by a factor of 4.8 to 1.47x10"
4
m
3
/s. The
reason for this is that in the base case the vertical background fracture set represents the
longest constriction in the major flow-path. Most of the horizontal distance from the
source zone to the downstream constant-head boundary can be traversed along one of the
major conductive features. To reach the lower feature and the exit boundary, however,
water must travel along the vertical background fractures from the source zone to the
upper feature and again between the upper and lower features. These vertical fractures
act as the bottleneck in the base case, and increasing their transmissivities by two orders
of magnitude opens this bottleneck significantly.
When the vertical borehole was included in the system the total flow was 2.24x10"
4
m
3
/s,
or 2.2 times the base case scenario with the borehole. The overall effect of the borehole
on the flow rate in Case 3 was therefore an increase by a factor of 1.5 (relative to Case 3
with no borehole), which means the borehole had a less significant effect here than in
Case 2 or the base case. The percentage of the flow through the borehole was also less in
this case at 55%. The reason for this is the overall increase in the hydraulic conductivity
64
of the background fracture network, which makes the preferential pathway created by the
borehole less significant.
It can be seen by Figure 4-11 though, that the borehole is still causing a large spike in the
particle breakthrough curve early in time. In fact, in Table 4-2 it can be seen that the
early breakthrough with the borehole is even faster than that of Case 1. However, the
effect of the borehole on contaminant transport, measured by the change in the median
particle residence time, is only a factor of 3.8. This is due to faster particle transport for
Case 3 without the borehole compared to the base case without the borehole. The
proportion of particles travelling through the borehole is reduced to 89%, because in this
situation there are several conductive alternate pathways. This effects the tail of the
breakthrough curve for the case with the borehole, as particles traveling through the
background network pathways still take longer than those traveling through the borehole.
Figure 4-12 shows the lateral breakthrough distribution for Case 3. On this plot it is
evident that the borehole is having a less significant impact on contaminant transport than
in the base case. For the case with the borehole the lateral distribution is less structured
due to the larger percentage of particles that bypass the borehole and travel through the
background fracture network. There is an overlap of particle exit times for the
simulations with and without the borehole that was not seen in the base case simulations.
Even the particles that do travel through the borehole exhibit a greater spread in their
residence times in Case 3.
65
From the previous two simulations a number of observations can be made. It is obvious
that a borehole will have a much more significant effect on the flow system when there is
less choice of alternative fast-pathways for the flow and transport. For a vertical
borehole, the greatest impact will occur when the background network has a lower
vertical hydraulic conductivity, as the borehole will create a fast vertical pathway where
none existed previously. As was observed in Case 2, increasing the transmissivity of a
fracture set does not necessarily result in faster contaminant transport, although it will
result in a greater hydraulic conductivity and hence a greater flow rate. The important
consideration is whether any restrictions along the preferential pathways are increased.
When a borehole was present, increasing the vertical transmissivities resulted in earlier
breakthrough and higher concentrations. The vertical fractures were the bottleneck in the
preferential pathway along the section between the source area and the upper major
feature. Increasing the horizontal transmissivities did not have much of an effect when
the borehole was present because the main pathway through the system does not
extensively sample the horizontal background set.
4.3 Influence of Maj or Features
The next set of simulations investigates the effect of changing the properties of the two
main features located at z = 10 m and z = -8 m for the same background network
considered in the base case. The first two cases look at the effect of increasing and
decreasing the transmissivity of the major fractures, to see how the influence of the
borehole depends on these pathways. The third case investigates the effect of a high
contrast between the major features and the background by raising the transmissivity of
66
the major features while lowering that of the background fractures. The fourth case looks
at the influence of the abandoned borehole on the base case scenario when the lower
major feature does not extend all the way to the downstream constant-head boundary.
3 2
4.3.1 Case 4 - Major feature transmissivity = 1x10'mfs
In Case 4 the fracture network is identical to the base case except that the transmissivity
of the two major features was increased to lxlO"
3
m
2
/s. Increasing the transmissivity by
one order of magnitude corresponds to increasing the fracture aperture, and volume, by a
factor of 2.15. The major features are only connected through the low transmissivity
background fractures, so shorter contaminant residence times wil l only be expected i f the
increase in flow rate is large enough to counteract the increased volume of void space.
Table 4-2 shows the flow rate through the system has increased by 7% over the base case
to 3.29xl0"
5
m
3
/s when no borehole is present. When the borehole is present the system
flow has increased by 214% to 2.18xl0"
4
m
3
/s. Increasing the transmissivity of the major
fractures has a much larger effect when a borehole is present to connect them together.
In this case there is only a short length of flow that must take place through the
background fracture network, and the increased hydraulic conductivity can counteract the
restriction in the flow-path caused by the background network. This behaviour results in
the borehole increasing the flow rate through the system by a factor of 6.6 in Case 4, in
comparison to a factor of 3.3 for the base case.
67
The contaminant breakthrough curves for Case 4 are given in Figure 4-13. The
breakthrough curve for the case with the borehole reaches a higher peak and occurs
earlier in time than in the base case. The time difference can be seen more clearly
looking at the Tio and T
5
o values in Table 4-2. The breakthrough curve without the
borehole occurs later in time than in the base case, leading to an overall greater contrast
between the borehole and no-borehole simulations for Case 4. For the no-borehole case
contaminant residence times are longer because the increased hydraulic conductivity
from the more transmissive major features does not overcome the larger volume of the
void space. The background fractures connecting the major features constrict the flow.
When a borehole is present the conductivity is much greater due to the new pathway it
forms between the major features. This causes contaminant travel-times to be shorter
than in the base case. The borehole controls both the flow and transport through the
system when it is present, channeling 99% of the system flow and 98.6% of the particles.
The lateral breakthrough distribution for Case 4 given in Figure 4-14 shows the extent
that the borehole controls the shape of the plume at breakthrough. The breakthrough
pattern is very structured and reflects the flow-paths coming out of the borehole in the
lower major fracture. Because the borehole contains nearly all of the flow in the system,
there is limited interference in the pattern due to localized flow from background
fractures into the major fracture.
68
4.3.2 Case 5 - Threshold effect
In this case the transmissivity of the major features was lowered from the base case to the
threshold value where they just begin to have an effect on the system. When the major
fracture transmissivity was set at the same value as the background fractures there was no
flow through the borehole and all particles traveled down one of the alternate pathways to
the exit boundary. The transmissivity was subsequently increased until the borehole
began to conduct flow. The threshold value for thus fracture geometry was T = 1.86xl0"
6
m
2
/s.
At this point the total flow through the system was found to be 8.38x10" m Iswithout the
borehole, and 8.63x10"
6
m
3
/s with the borehole; a difference of 3%. The flow through the
borehole accounted for 13% of the total system flow.
It can be seen from Figure 4-15 that there is no appreciable difference in the
breakthrough curve when the borehole is included in the system. No particles travel
through the borehole because it does not create a more preferable pathway to those
already existing in the background fracture network. Even though the major features that
the borehole connects extend across the entire domain and have a transmissivity that is
86% higher than the rest of the fractures, the network is already well-connected and the
pathway created by the borehole is not transmissive enough to channel the particles.
It is interesting to note that, when no borehole is present, the contaminant residence times
were longer than the base case both when the major-features' transmissivity was raised
69
in Case 4 and lowered in Case 5. This implies that, for this realization of the fracture
network geometry, there is a single transmissivity value that wil l maximise the flow
through the fracture network. The flow rate increases with increasing major feature
transmissivity. This is the same behaviour that was demonstrated in the simple analytical
scenario presented in Chapter 3.
4.3.3 Case 6 - Lower feature terminates atx = 30 m
In this case the large feature at z = -8 m no longer extends across the entire modeling
domain but extends longitudinally only from x = -50 m to x = 30 m. This lower feature
no longer intersects the constant head boundary at x = 50 m so that now both major
features are hydraulically connected to the boundaries only through the background
network. The base case background fracture network is used in this simulation, and the
transmissivity of the major features is lxl0"
4
m
3
/ s. There are now restrictions in the flow-
path at both ends when the borehole is present which would be expected to reduce its
effect on the flow and transport. If the upper major feature was connected to the
upstream boundary and the lower major feature was connected to the downstream
boundary then adding the borehole would have the largest effect, creating a direct high T
pathway all the way from the source to the sink. The greater the proportion of the flow
path that is along low T fractures, the less effective the borehole can be in increasing the
overall conductivity, and the more the volume of the borehole is going to act to lengthen
residence times.
70
The flow and transport parameters from this simulation are given in Table 4-2. The flow
through the system is less than the base case both with and without the borehole. The
relative effect of the borehole on the system flow is also less, increasing the flow by 13%
compared with 330% for the base case. The borehole still controls 77% of the flow in
this system. The borehole makes less of an impact in Case 6 than in the base case, but it
still controls the fracture flow when it is present.
The breakthrough of contaminants occurs much later in time when compared to the base
case. T 5 0 for Case 6 is 9.22x10
5
s compared with 2.48x10
5
s for the base case. As can be
seen in Figure 4-16, the borehole still has the effect of shortening the particle residence
times in the fracture network, but the breakthrough is more dispersed in time and the
concentrations are lower. The borehole had the overall effect of accelerating the median
breakthrough by a factor of 1.7 in Case 6, compared with a factor of 7.8 in the base case.
This case is representative of any situation in which two or more relatively large features
are connected by a borehole within the fracture network. When the features do not form
part of any high conductivity pathway to the source or sink the borehole has some effect
on contaminant transport, but it is substantially diminished.
The plot of the lateral breakthrough distribution for Case 6 is given in Figure 4-17. The
particles have to find their way to the exit boundary through the background network
along discrete fractures, making the lateral distribution of particle exit locations more
clustered. In the base case the locations were spread across the entire width of the
domain, making the plume easier to detect. In this case clustering leaves gaps in the
71
plume, which could allow contaminants to travel past a discrete monitoring location
undetected. The particles exit in similar locations for the case with the borehole and
without, but the borehole causes the particles to exit earlier in time.
4.4 Influence of Borehole Diameter and Location
The next group of cases considers the effect of changing the borehole properties for the
base case scenario. The effect of both the borehole's location and its diameter on the
flow and transport through the fracture network are investigated. Because the fracture
network used in this section is identical to the base case, the flow and transport properties
without the borehole are the same as the base case. For this reason only the results with
the borehole are compared to the base case scenario when the borehole was located at x =
- 25 m, y = 0 m with a diameter of 10 cm.
4.4.1 Case 7- Borehole atx = 0m
In the base case scenario the borehole was located at x = -25 m which is only 5 meters
downstream from the upper constant-head boundary and 15 meters downstream of the
contaminant source zone. In this case the borehole was moved 25 meters further
downstream from the flow and contaminant source zones to x = 0 m. The results of the
simulation are summarized in Table 4-2.
Positioning the borehole further downstream had very little effect on the groundwater
flow through the fracture network. The total flow through the system and the flow
through the borehole are essentially the same as the base case.
72
Figure 4-18 shows the breakthrough of contaminants at the downstream boundary for
Case 7 plotted against the base case results. It can be seen from this plot that there is no
significant difference in the temporal breakthrough across the downstream boundary
when the borehole is located farther away from the source zone. The geometry of the
system means that there is no change in the length or conductivity of the main pathway
when the borehole is moved downstream along the centerline. There is a slightly lower
peak concentration with the borehole at x = 0 m and a longer tail to the breakthrough
curve. Even though the proportion of flow through the borehole is the same as the base
case, a higher percentage of particles bypass the borehole and travel through the
background network when it is located further away. In this case 93.9% of the particles
traveled through the borehole compared with 98.5% in the base case.
Figure 4-19 shows the lateral breakthrough distribution for Case 7. The main difference
between this plot and the base case is that the particles are spread out more through time
when the borehole is present. The front of the plume reaches the downstream boundary
at the same time, but the tail is more spread out along the entire width of the domain.
4.4.2 Case 8 - Borehole atx = -35 m
This case investigates the effect of moving the borehole 10m closer to the contaminant
source zone to x = -35 m. The constant head boundary along the top of the domain
extends from x = -50 to -30 m, so in this case the top of the borehole is actually
intersecting the constant-head boundary. Based on the results of moving the borehole
further away in the previous case, simply moving the borehole closer would only be
73
expected to raise peak concentrations somewhat, and not effect breakthrough times.
However, because the high conductivity conduit now intersects a constant head
boundary, the flow system and contaminant transport are significantly altered.
In this simulation 92% of the groundwater flow enters the domain through the borehole.
The borehole connects the upper constant head boundary to the lower major feature,
which in turn is connected to the downstream constant head boundary. This creates a
high conductivity pathway through the system, significantly increasing the total system
flow in this case. The system flow with the borehole is 2.26xl0"
4
m
3
/s for this scenario
compared to 1.02xl0"
4
m
3
/s for the base case.
In previous examples the borehole acted as a connection between two fractures, so that
flow entered the borehole at one fracture intersection and traveled under a constant
gradient to another fracture intersection. In the present scenario, the borehole is
connected to a constant-head boundary, and acts as a source of groundwater to all of the
surrounding intersecting fractures. The hydraulic head in the borehole is higher than that
in the surrounding fracture elements, therefore flow is out of the borehole at all fracture
intersections and no particles can enter the borehole. If the borehole intersected the
contaminant source zone then there would be a large influx of fast moving contaminants
traveling along the major flow path, and reaching the downstream boundary at high
concentrations and at an early time. This would represent a worse case scenario but is
unlikely to occur in practice. Most contaminant source areas, such as a tailings pond at a
74
mine site, would be lined with some form of an impermeable barrier, and any known
boreholes in this area would be properly sealed from groundwater flow.
The contaminant breakthrough curve for Case 8 is provided in Figure 4-20. The borehole
in this case actually slows down contaminant transport, as contaminants are pushed away
from the fast pathway due to the higher hydraulic head in the borehole. Particles must
take a longer and more tortuous route through the background network after they are
forced backwards and to the lateral edges of the domain. The lateral breakthrough
distribution in Figure 4-21 shows evidence of this. When the borehole is present the
majority of particles are still located close to the domain edge, even though the
downstream boundary is 85 meters from the borehole location.
4.4.3 Case 9 - Borehole aty = 15 m
In this case the effect of locating the borehole off of the x-axis is investigated. The
parameters for this simulation are the same as the base case, except for the borehole
location which is now at x = -25 my = 15 m. The borehole still extends vertically across
the entire modeling domain.
Figure 4-22 shows the breakthrough of particles in this scenario averaged across the
entire outflow boundary. Comparing this curve to the breakthrough with the borehole at
y = 0 m shows that the temporal breakthrough is similar for both cases. The main
difference caused by the off-center borehole location is shown in the lateral breakthrough
distribution plot, Figure 4-23. It can be seen in this plot that the borehole's position has
75
caused the plume to deflect laterally towards the positive y direction. The earliest
breakthrough no longer occurs at x = 0 m but approximately at x = 15 m, the lateral
position of the borehole. The impermeable boundary located at y = 25 m is interfering
with the flow system and preventing particles from moving further away from the x-axis,
and preventing the true effect of the borehole location being demonstrated. It is clear
from this plot that the borehole controls the contaminant plume exit location, and in this
scenario an effective monitoring network design would need to take into account the
influence of the borehole. 96.4% of the particles travel through the borehole, which is
less than the base case scenario, but still enough to influence the downstream structure of
the plume. The behaviour described above has implications for the design of detection
monitoring networks, which are discussed in Chapter 5.
4.4.4 Case 10 - Influence of Borehole Diameter
The next set of simulations test the influence of the borehole diameter on the contaminant
transport through the base case network. The borehole is located at x = -25 m, as in the
base case. The diameter was set at 2 cm, 5 cm, 10 cm (base case) and 20 cm, and the
flow and transport modeled. A summary of the results of the individual simulations is
given in Table 4-2.
The contaminant breakthrough curves for the different borehole diameters are given in
Figure 4-24. It can be seen from this plot that the larger the borehole, the longer
contaminants take to reach the downstream boundary. The peak concentration varies
between the different runs, but is likely related more to the random variations between
76
runs due to the random dispersion process, than to any significant physical phenomenon.
The peak concentration and the tail of the breakthrough curve are related to the
proportion of particles that travel through the borehole, whereas the nose of the
breakthrough curve depends more on the borehole properties.
Figure 4-25 shows the total system flow rate and the mean contaminant breakthrough
time plotted against the borehole diameter. The flow rate varies linearly with the
borehole diameter over this range, which means there is a linear increase in the total
hydraulic conductivity of the system. The interesting behaviour shown on this plot is that
the median contaminant residence time also increases with borehole diameter. Intuitively
one would expect that a more conductive system would result in shorter residence times.
However, while the residence time is proportional to the flow rate, it is inversely
proportional to the conducting volume. For the geometry considered here, the increased
volume of a larger borehole outweighs the increased conductivity, resulting in longer
residence times. In effect, when there are constrictions in the main flow path a larger
borehole will slow down contaminant transport and act more like a holding tank than a
fast conduit.
4.5 Case 11 - Variable Network with No Maj or Features
In previous studies of the effect of abandoned boreholes in porous media the borehole
connected two aquifers across a relatively impermeable aquitard (Lacombe et al., 1995;
Avc i , 1994). A hydraulic gradient was established across the aquitard due to either a
pumping or injection well or natural hydraulic head differences between the two aquifers.
77
Cont ami nant s t r avel ed f r om the cont ami nat ed aqui f er , acr oss the bor ehol e, and i nt o the
pr evi ousl y uncont ami nat ed aqui f er due to the hydr aul i c gradi ent . I n the present st udy,
the i nf l uence o f the bor ehol e on cont ami nant t ransport was not cont r ol l ed by an
ext r act i on wel l , but rather was based on the connect i ons and pr ef er ent i al pat hways
creat ed i n the net wor k under a uni f or m r egi onal gradi ent . So far, the cases i nvest i gat ed
i n t hi s st udy have i ncor por at ed l arge det er mi ni st i c features i n the fract ure geomet r y that
create a si ngl e pr ef er ent i al pat hway when a ver t i cal bor ehol e i s present . The present case
demonst rat es that abandoned bor ehol es can i nf l uence f l o w and cont ami nant t ransport i n
an ent i r el y st at i st i cal l y generat ed fract ure net wor k. The r ock mass i s st at i st i cal l y
homogeneous, but wi l l have l ocal areas o f hi gher fract ure densi t y and per meabi l i t y due to
r andom fract ure cl ust er i ng and t r ansmi ssi vi t y di st r i but i on. The st at i st i cal par amet er s
used to generate the fract ure net wor k f or Case 11 are gi ven i n Tabl e 4- 3.
Parameter Fracture set one Fracture set two
Gener at i on Regi on 125 m x 65 m x 40 m 125 m x 65 m x 40 m
Nu mber of Fr act ur es 30 0 5 0 0
Fr act ur e Mo d e l Enhance Baecher Enhanced Baecher
Gener at i on Mo d e Cent er s Cent er s
Tr uncat i on Mo d e Of f Of f
Nu mber o f Si des 6 6
Pol e (trace, pl unge) 0 , 9 0 0 , - 10
P ol e di st r i but i on Bi var i at e No r ma l Bi var i at e No r ma l
Di st : K l , K 2 , K 3 10 , 10 , 0 10 , 10 , 0
Si z e Di st r i but i on Lognor mal Lognor mal
Me a n Radi us 8 m 5 m
St d. Dev. Radi us 5 1
Aspect Rat i o 1 1
Ter mi nat i on % 0 0
Tr ansmi ssi vi t y Di st . Lognor mal Lognor mal
Me a n Tr ansmi ssi vi t y l x l 0 "
5
m
2
/ s l x l 0 "
6
m
2
/ s
St d. dev. Tr ansmi ssi vi t y 5 x l 0 "
5
5 x l 0 "
7
Table 4-3: Gener at i on paramet ers f or Case 11 fract ure net wor k
78
There are two main fracture sets, both of which have a bivariate-normal distribution for
orientation and a lognormal distribution for equivalent radius and transmissivity. Set 1 is
a sub-vertical set consisting of more, smaller fractures with lower transmissivity. Set 2 is
a sub-horizontal set consisting of less, larger fractures with higher transmissivity. Figure
4-26 shows three cross-sections through the fracture network at y = 10 m, 0 m, and -10 m
respectively.
*
The flow and transport through the network was solved for the fracture network alone
and for the case when a total of eight boreholes were present in the domain. The
locations and sizes of the boreholes are given in Table 4-4. The boreholes have various
sizes, locations and orientations representing a range of possible exploration holes. None
of the boreholes penetrate the upper constant head boundary or the source zone. In
previous cases a single borehole had influential behaviour because the major features
extended across the entire domain. As was demonstrated in Case 7 the position of the
borehole was not as important as the fact that it connected the two major features
somewhere within the domain. In the present case the fractures are randomly located
within the domain, so the location of the main conducting features are not know a priori,
i f they exist. The influence of a single borehole in this situation would change
significantly with its position depending on whether or not it happened to form a
dominant hydraulic pathway. For this reason a number of boreholes were used in this
case to sample a wider distribution of the fracture network. Figure 4-27 shows a plot of
the borehole distribution and orientations in an isometric view of the modeling domain.
79
Number X
0
( x, y, z) (m)
x
i (
x
> y>
z
) (
m
)
Orientation (Tr, PI) Diameter (cm)
1 -25, 5, 50 -25, 5, -50 0, 90 5.0
2 -15, 10,50 -15, 10, -50 0, 90 4.0
3 15,-5, 50 15,-5,-50 0, 90 5.0
4 0, 0, 50 0, 0, -50 0, 90 6.0
5 -29, 4, 20
-10, -5,-20 205, 62 5.0
6 -15,-10, 50 -5,-10, -50 180, 87 5.0
7 35, 0, 50 35, 0, -50 0, 90 4.0
8 0,-15, 50 10,-10, -50 153, 84 7.0
able 4-4: Borehole parameters for Case 11
Figure 4-28 shows the particle breakthrough curve at the downstream boundary. It is
obvious from this plot that the boreholes are having an influence, even when the discrete
major features of the previous simulations are not present. The boreholes have increased
the flow rate through the network from 1.16x10" m /s to 1.38x10" m/ s. The median
residence time has decreased from 4. 84xl0
5
s to 3. 53xl0
5
s. The maximum
concentration at the downstream boundary is higher for this fracture network when the
boreholes are present, however in previous cases the influence of the borehole was much
more pronounced. In previous simulations the borehole created a single preferential
pathway through the fracture network that dominated the flow. In the present case,
however, there are a number of alternate pathways through the eight boreholes and the
80
background fracture network, which creates a dispersive effect that lowers the overall
peak concentration.
The variability of both fracture size and transmissivity creates a fracture network with
preferential pathways and flow channeling. The larger, more transmissive horizontal
fractures provide the potential for the sub-vertical boreholes to make preferable
connections. When the same simulation was solved using only a single vertical borehole
at x = -25 m, y = 0 m there was no noticeable change from the case without the borehole.
It is not the number of boreholes in the domain that is important in determining the flow
and transport behaviour, but rather i f any individual borehole forms a significant
preferential pathway. The large number of boreholes increases the probability of a
connection being made.
A second situation was investigated to test whether the fracture sizes and locations were
more important than aperture variability in creating preferential pathways with the
boreholes present. An identical realization of the fracture geometry was used, but the
fracture transmissivity was set as a constant. To ease comparison, the transmissivity
value was adjusted through trial and error until the flow rate through the network without
the boreholes was the same as for the case with a variable transmissivity. The constant
6 2
value of transmissivity to achieve this was found to be 2.85x10" m /s. The network was
solved both without any abandoned boreholes and with the same borehole locations as
given in Table 4-4. In this case the presence of the boreholes increased the flow rate
from 1.16x10" m/ s to 1.70x10" m/ s. Figure 4-29 shows the breakthrough curves at the
8 1
downstream boundary both with and without the abandoned boreholes. It is clear from
this plot that the boreholes are no longer having any effect on the transport of
contaminants through the fracture network. The breakthrough curves are essentially
identical except for small random fluctuations. For the same fracture geometry in the
network, the abandoned boreholes only had an influence when aperture variability was
included. It should be noted that the fracture network in these simulations is well
connected. Abandoned boreholes are expected to have an important influence in sparse
fracture networks based on the fracture geometry alone as they can create connections
through the network where non existed before. In a relatively dense fracture network
aperture variability is important because the network is already well-connected.
This simulation demonstrates the flexibility of the modeling approach, and the fact that
abandoned boreholes can have an influence in random fracture networks when the right
conditions exist. It would be possible to gather probability data on the impact of one or
several boreholes for a given fracture geometry by performing a Monte Carlo simulation
using different realizations of the fracture statistics and systematically varying the
borehole location. This information would be useful when assessing the potential impact
of abandoned boreholes at a real world site where the fracture geometry is known, within
some uncertainty, but the borehole locations are not. Such an analysis would require a
significant computational effort and therefore a large project budget to be feasible, but
would be necessary to analyse the impact of abandoned boreholes in a decision analysis
framework.
82
83
on
CD
'S
c
CD
R
el < u
g c
R CL>
T3
cn
on
CD
on
O s-<
j i
CD &
.2
s-i O
el o
o
'5b
ca
el
o
'3
S-l
CL>
el
CD
CD
CD
CD
a
on
o
ccj
S -l
a
o
'5b
CD
l-i
60
_ ej
O
el
o
'5b
CD
el
o
ta
t-l
CD
el
CD
60
CD
r>-l
T3
3
cS
a
o
- d
&o
el
i
"5
T3
O
B
<+-<
o
60
ccj
CD
I.
3
85
00
o
X
u
s-l
on
eg
o
o
1
on
U
CD
O
00
O o o
ID
o
o
co
o
o o
o
sapi ^JBd # pazjjeujJON
S-
9
87
88
x- axi s
Figure 4-7: Pathway of a particle through a borehole in the base case fracture network
89
;
j i i '
J | | |
]_ _ j ! ,
=
o
I t [ i *
I
j j } [ ?
! i I '
s
p
5 4 ; * a
: ; : j ] -%
i ! i 1 ; J : .
i ! i i j *
j
" 4 ^ fa ^|
: ; i i
!
:
i
:
; .. *
1 | ;! 1 .!
j
i %
' = 2 8 8 i i
c
CD
Vi
CD
UH
P H
Vi
CD
"o
CD
t-i
o
x>
o
c
a
CD
I
M
s-c
o
CD
c
CD
iri
c3
CD
CD
Vi
cd
,>
CD
B
Xi
60
o
Ml
.s
u
1
OH
O
on
-*-
O
Xi
Vi
m
90
i
Tt
CD
S-
3
91
92
93
o
+
o o o o o o o
c
!
CO CM T - T - CM CO 1 -
i i i
(Ul) UOtteOO
-
! |BJ8}B-| U)
94
CD
O
+
LU
O
i -
O
+
LU
O
LO
o
+
LU
o
CO
1
05
O
d
co
o
ci
o
CD
o
LO
o
o
co
o
CM
o
o
ci
LO
o
+
LU
O
LO
o
+
LU
O
CD
ii g
o c
LO H
LO
o
+
LU
O
LO
o
+
LU
O
LO
O
+
LU
O
CM
LO
O
+
LU
O
O
O
+
LU
O
O
Sd|3jued # pazjieuuoN
o
O
a
O
i
t-l
Vi
U
u
S
bl)
95
96
97
98
o
+
LU
99
100
101
102
103
104
$
t

cu
o
cu
SZ
cu
o
1
si
o

CQ
o o

oo
z

o

%
'.44;.
V
It 1
o
o o
c
o
+
LU
o
CD
O
+
LU
O
j o
E
H
( I U ) U011BOO
-
! i BjajB-)
1
o
3
O
is
'H
T3
o
5
<u
i-
11
OS
<u
oo
U
rs

I M
3
105
106
(s/ eui) aj ey M O U
o o o o o o o o
O J u J l i j l J J L L J L L J L L I L L I
I s - C D i n f C O C M T - O
O O O O O O O O
T _
t o
L O O L O O L O O L O O L O O a>
(soooi-) 3UJ | i q6nojm>|E ej a UBipai/y M
to
107
108
Figure 4-27: Isometric views of borehole locations for Case 14
109
110
I l l
5.0 Discussion
5.1 Results Summary
In the previous section the effect of boreholes on flow and transport through a fracture
network with a variety of parameters was studied. The effect of various processes was
presented including the structure of the fracture network, the relative importance of large
individual features, the influence of the location and diameter of the abandoned
boreholes, and aperture variability. The majority of the cases where the borehole had an
important influence had a similar structure, consisting of a background fracture network
of statistically generated fractures, and two discrete features with relatively high
transmissivity which extend across the entire horizontal plane. The final case also
showed that abandoned boreholes could have a significant effect on flow and transport in
a fracture network with homogeneous fracture statistics throughout.
The first case studied, the base case, consisted of two sets of relatively low transmissivity
fractures and two high transmissivity major features. In the base case network a single
borehole at x = - 25 m was found to have a significant effect on both the flow and
contaminant transport. The single borehole increased the total flow through the fracture
network, reduced contaminant residence times and increased contaminant concentrations
at the downstream boundary. The borehole also influenced the shape, spread and exit
location of the contaminant plume resulting in a more structured and less disperse plume
reaching the downstream boundary through the lower major feature.
112
The next set of cases investigated the effect of changing the parameters of the
background fracture networks. It was found that the borehole had a much greater effect
on contaminant transport when the transmissivity of the vertical fracture set was low and
the transmissivity of the horizontal fracture set was high. When the situation was
reversed and the vertical transmissivity was high the borehole was much less significant.
In this case the path created by the vertical borehole was competing with a large number
of conductive pathways created by the high-transmissivity vertical fractures.
Increasing the transmissivity of the major features while the parameters of the
background fracture network were fixed resulted in the borehole having a greater effect
on flow and transport. When the transmissivity of the major features was increased from
l xl 0"
4
m
2
/s to l xl 0"
3
m
2
/s, adding the borehole increased the flow by twice the amount of
the base case. The ratio of contaminant residence time without the borehole to residence
time with the borehole was also twice as large as the base case. When the transmissivity
of the major features was reduced to being only slightly larger than that of the
background fractures, the total flow rate was only increased by 3% with the addition of
the borehole. The contaminant residence time and particle distribution were not
significantly changed as no particles traveled through the borehole.
It was found that the contrast in transmissivity between the background fractures and
major features was the important factor in determining the significance of the borehole.
3 2
When the major feature transmissivity was left at 1x10" m /s as above, but the
8 2
transmissivity of the background fractures was further lowered to 1x10" m /s the effect
113
of the borehole was further increased. This was due to the much lower flow rate and
longer residence times when the borehole was not present. When the borehole was
included the pathway it created was nearly as conductive as before, because the
background fractures only make up a small portion of the path length.
When neither of the major features directly intersected a constant head boundary the
influence of the borehole on the contaminant breakthrough curve was much less
pronounced. Contaminant residence times are still reduced by the borehole, but less so
than in the base case. The breakthrough concentrations are no longer significantly higher
with the borehole. The flow rate is also still effected, but much less significantly than in
the base case. The borehole has the greatest effect when it joins up a highly transmissive
flow path. The more restrictions in the flow path from low transmissivity fractures, the
less of an effect the borehole will have.
Adjusting the longitudinal position of the borehole showed that the distance of the
borehole from the contaminant source was not important. The length and total
conductivity of the major pathway was the same unless the borehole was located close
enough to be directly connected to either a constant head boundary or the contaminant
source zone. When the borehole was connected to the upper constant head boundary the
flow system was significantly altered and contaminant transport followed a completely
different path. Flow rates ended up being much higher, but residence times were longer
due to the flow out of the borehole causing particles to initially travel upstream and
114
around the source area. If a borehole were connected directly to the contaminant source
zone a major flux of contaminants through the system would be expected.
Situating a borehole away from the source zone centerline resulted in the contaminant
plume shifting transversely towards the borehole location. This result shows that
abandoned boreholes in unknown locations could result in maximum contaminant
concentrations at a location that would not be predicted by looking at the average
groundwater flow direction alone. Defining a hydraulic gradient is always a difficult
exercise in a complex heterogeneous flow system such as a fractured aquifer, but
abandoned boreholes may add to the complexity by channeling contamination away from
the flow direction predicted based on the regional water table configuration. For
instance, in Case 8 when the borehole was located at y = 10 m the borehole channeled
96.4% of the released particles, but only 89% of the flow.
The effect of the borehole diameter depends on how directly the borehole is connected to
the constant head source and exit boundaries. If the borehole is well connected through
high-transmissivity fractures then a larger borehole will result in a great increase in the
flow through the system and rapid migration of contaminants to the exit boundary. The
more likely scenario in a fractured rock environment is that an abandoned borehole wil l
be indirectly connected to the flow boundaries through a series of fractures, including
low-transmissivity restrictions in the flow path. In this case a larger borehole diameter
will have a small effect on raising the overall conductivity and wil l result in longer
transport times as contaminants reside in the large void space of the bore. If a borehole is
115
directly connected at the upper end to contamination at the ground surface in a recharge
zone then the borehole has the potential to cause significant contamination of any
underlying intersected fracture zones. In this case the borehole could serve to decrease
travel times to a compliance boundary and increase the ultimate concentrations. Larger
boreholes would be expected to worsen the contamination problem.
The influence of the borehole was also examined for an entirely stochastic fracture
network with the same boundary conditions as the previous simulations. In this case the
influence of the borehole was not as pronounced but similar behaviour was observed.
The base case was designed to isolate and investigate the key interesting processes within
the limitations of the modeling approach. Therefore, the effect of the borehole is
somewhat exaggerated over what would be expected for most field situations. However,
it was shown in the final simulation that the key processes are still present in a
completely random fracture network and that abandoned boreholes can have a significant
influence in more realistic scenarios. This simulation also demonstrated the importance
of aperture variability in forming preferential pathways with the abandoned boreholes.
5.2 Fracture Network Structure
The set of simulations presented in the previous section show the results of adding a
single borehole in a number of different fracture networks. Most of the fracture networks
investigated have a similar structure, with a low transmissivity background network and
two horizontal high transmissivity features. It was found that for a single borehole to
have a significant probability of influencing the flow and transport it was necessary to
116
have the major features present in the fracture network. Part of the cause of this
phenomenon can be attributed to the geometric properties of the domain studied. The
total vertical extent of the fractured-rock unit is only 25 meters at its thickest point. The
horizontal distance from the source zone to the exit boundary is 100 meters. Vertical
boreholes in a relatively dense, homogeneous network will not have a large impact as the
vertical distance traveled is significantly less important that the horizontal distance. The
near-horizontal orientation of the regional hydraulic gradient is the most important factor
in determining this behaviour. In a situation where the hydraulic gradient was in a near-
vertical alignment, vertical boreholes would be expected to have an important influence
on the transport of contaminants in a downward direction.
Previous studies performed on the effect of boreholes or wells in porous media have
concentrated on the case where an upper unconfined aquifer is separated from a lower
confined aquifer by a low permeability aquitard, (e.g. Avc i , 1992; Lacombe et al, 1995).
The borehole is situated vertically so that it crosses the aquitard and creates a preferable
hydraulic connection across the two aquifers. There is a gradient in the hydraulic head
across the two aquifers caused by either pumping or injection so that groundwater wil l
flow from the contaminated to the uncontaminated formation. The effect of a vertical
borehole in a homogeneous porous medium has not been investigated, as in such a case a
borehole would not be expected to have an important impact. This is especially true
when the dominant groundwater direction is horizontal and vertical gradients are
negligible.
117
Similarly, in fractured rock a vertical borehole would not be expected to significantly
influence contaminant transport, except in the case where it creates a connection between
two permeable zones (i.e. horizontal fractures) across a lower permeability zone (i.e.
sparsely fractured bedrock). Certain statistically homogeneous fracture networks can be
treated as porous media approximations i f a representative elementary volume can be
defined (Schwartz and Smith, 1988). It is expected that the same fracture networks that
can be modeled entirely as equivalent porous medium approximations wil l not be
significantly influenced by the presence of abandoned boreholes.
Conversely, some fracture networks contain fractures on a variety of length scales for
which a representative elementary volume cannot be defined. Barton (1995) describes
fracture networks that are fractal in nature. They have the property that the larger the
volume of a fracture network that is sampled, the larger the maximum fracture size is
likely to be. This type of fracture network description results in many small fractures and
a few larger ones. The larger fractures and the connections between them are likely to
govern the flow system. A network of this type would have a much higher likelihood of
being influenced by a vertical borehole creating a discrete highly transmissive pathway.
If two or more large fractures are intersected by the borehole a new dominant pathway
could be created causing an increase in the permeability of the entire network, and
possibly a rerouting and acceleration of contaminant transport through the system.
The base case scenario is also analogous to the case where two highly fractured zones are
vertically separated by a zone of relatively low permeability. More dispersion would take
118
place along the tortuous pathways in a fracture zone relative to the large single fracture
used in the model, but a similar temporal and spatial behaviour would be expected.
Without any boreholes present, flow and transport would take place primarily in the
fracture zones. The sparsely fractured zone separating the two fracture zones would limit
contaminant transport into the lower aquifer. In the presence of one or more vertical
boreholes however, a new conductive pathway would be created allowing contaminants
to reach the previously uncontaminated zone. Furthermore, contaminants may show up
in an area where they were not previously expected to be, which has implications for the
design of detection monitoring networks. Reducing the hydraulic head in the lower
fractured reservoir through pumping would likely cause contaminants to travel vertically
through the borehole, contaminating the lower aquifer and eventually reaching the
pumping well.
5.3 Implications for Monitoring Network Design
A typical problem faced by consulting engineers is choosing the best location for a
limited number of monitoring wells to provide plume detection before contaminants
reach a compliance boundary. If contaminants are shown to reach a compliance
boundary at concentrations above a predetermined level a site owner may face large
penalties on top of the cost of containment and remediation. However, the high cost of
drilling and completing detection wells in hard rock will limit the number of wells that
can be included in any monitoring network design, often to only a few wells. For this
reason it is important for the designer to be able to predict the most likely plume location,
the plume size and the maximum concentrations at the detection well. The results of this
119
study have shown that abandoned boreholes could have a significant impact on all three
of these parameters.
The ideal plume for the purposes of detection has a large footprint at high concentrations
so that it is easy to intersect and detect contaminated water. This conflicts with the
objectives of containment and remediation because a larger plume wil l be much more
expensive to remove from the subsurface. There is a tradeoff therefore between locating
detection wells close to the contaminant source where plumes wil l be difficult to detect
and relatively inexpensive to remediate or locating the detection wells close to the
compliance boundary where less wells will be needed but the cost of remediation wil l be
higher. There is also the possibility that once a plume reaches a monitoring network
close to the compliance boundary it will be below the threshold concentration and
remedial action will not be required.
The best way to handle the conflicting objectives for monitoring network design is
through a decision analysis approach. Massmann et al. (1991) provide a technique for
applying decision analysis to the multi-criterion problem of monitoring network design.
Jardine et al. (1996) apply this technique for siting monitoring networks in fractured rock
aquifers. A decision analysis for monitoring network design could be extended to three
dimensions following the method used in this study, but would require the generation of a
large number of particles to provide useful concentration values in the finite-element
network. In this study the particle tracking algorithm required as much as 15 minutes to
1 2 0
execute for 1000 particles, so increasing the number of particles significantly would
result in large simulation times for the decision analysis approach.
In the base case scenario the abandoned borehole causes the contaminant plume to reach
the downstream boundary faster and at higher concentrations. The plume was also less
spread out temporally and initial breakthrough took place along the centerline of the flow
system, with initial breakthrough time increasing as the distance from the centerline
increased. Some of these effects could be considered positive and some negative from
the frame of reference of the owner of a site with a potential contamination problem. A
positive influence would be any that reduces the total cost, including cost of monitoring,
remediation and any fines levied for compliance failure. The decrease in residence time
would reduce the cost of a monitoring network design simply because groundwater
sampling and testing would occur over a shorter time period before initial detection
occurs at a detection monitoring well. However, the total cost of such a situation will be
high, as the concentrated plume will need to be contained and remediated before it
reaches the compliance boundary.
According to standard economic discounting principles the earlier in time a cost occurs,
the greater its impact. The present value of any future cost can be calculated by the
following equation:
FV
PV = -?- (17)
(1 + 0 "
121
where F V is the future value in real terms, P V is the present value in today's dollars, n is
the number of compound periods and i is the discount rate. For instance, i f a compliance
boundary is breached 100 years from now, and the fine is one million dollars at that time,
then it would be possible to cover that cost by investing $73 today assuming it is possible
to earn an interest rate of 10% over this time period. Obviously this represents an
extreme scenario and the choice of the discount rate is subject to debate. A more
conservative estimate of the discount rate might be 3%, in which case the present cost of
failure 100 years from now would be $52000. Either way it is detrimental to the site
owner when the abandoned borehole decreases residence times.
The higher concentrations present in the plume with the abandoned borehole can be an
advantage because they facilitate detection of the plume and may prevent non-
compliance. However, i f the contaminant concentrations were very low without the
borehole then they may have been below the compliance limit. In this case the borehole
would be severely detrimental as without it the entire cost of remediation could be
avoided.
The smaller temporal spread of the plume can be both a benefit and a detriment, as there
is a tradeoff in monitoring and remediation costs. A smaller plume means that samples
must be taken more frequently to ensure detection. If the plume passes through the
detection monitoring point between two sampling periods then the site owner could be
faced with the high cost of non-compliance. The influence of the borehole means that
more frequent samples must be taken and therefore raises monitoring costs. However,
122
once the plume has been detected, i f containment and remediation must take place then a
smaller plume wil l result in substantially lower cleanup costs. The increased cost of
sampling must be weighed against the decreased cost of remediation to determine
whether or not the abandoned boreholes have increased costs. It is necessary to first
determine probabilities of detection and failure through stochastic simulation to make this
calculation.
When a borehole is located off to the side of the main flow direction from the source
zone it was shown that the plume can be displaced transversely at the exit boundary. If
the abandoned borehole locations are not known then a more complex and expensive
monitoring network wil l be required. Usually the optimal location of a monitoring well
wil l be along the centerline of the flow direction, where the maximum plume
concentrations are most likely to occur. When abandoned boreholes are scattered
throughout a site then the initial breakthrough of the plume could occur in line with a
borehole. A number of monitoring wells would need to be located along the transverse
direction to ensure detection of the front of the plume.
Overall it is clear that abandoned boreholes at unknown locations.will have a negative
impact on the design of a monitoring network. The boreholes increase the complexity
and uncertainty of the flow and transport system and therefore increase the cost of
ensuring compliance. If the geometric properties of the fracture network make it prone to
being influenced by abandoned boreholes, then it may be beneficial to properly abandon
all drill holes at a site to prevent future costs and design difficulties. It may also be cost-
123
effective to locate and seal existing boreholes at potentially contaminated sites, as
reducing uncertainty and complexity will result in lower design and engineering costs.
5.4 Proper Borehole Decommissioning
Boreholes drilled into any subsurface environment with the potential for groundwater
contamination should be properly decommissioned. The easiest way to decommission
the type of small, uncased boreholes that are typically used for subsurface exploration is
to fill the entire borehole with an approved sealing material. The approved method for
choosing fill materials for decommissioning boreholes in British Columbia is given in
A S T M standard D5299-99. A 2" diameter borehole only requires 0.02 cubic feet of
fdling material per foot of length. One bag of bentonite will be enough to fill 35 feet of
well. This is a relatively cheap option and will save substantial costs later in trying to
locate undocumented wells. It is desirable to properly decommission the boreholes at the
time of drilling and core extraction, thereby removing one factor of uncertainty from
future environmental studies at the site.
A more difficult decision needs to be made at a site where abandoned boreholes may
already exist in unspecified locations. If the underlying geological environment is such
that abandoned boreholes are not likely to cause concern then it may be more cost
effective to do nothing at the site and assume the small amount of risk associated with the
boreholes. However, i f the underlying geology is prone to being affected by the
abandoned boreholes, as discussed in the previous section, then it may be cost-effective
to attempt to detect and plug the boreholes at the site.
124
It will likely be difficult to attempt to locate small exploration boreholes once the drilling
records have been lost. The first stage in attempting to detect the boreholes is to
investigate historical data at the site. Interviewing employees who have worked at the
site, especially those who may have been involved with exploration can give important
leads. Old exploration maps and pre-construction reports may delineate the locations of
exploration holes. Total magnetic surveys have proven useful in detecting abandoned
wells in the subsurface, but only when a steel casing exists. This technique wil l not be
useful for exploration boreholes that are typically uncased. Williams and Hecker (1998)
had success using ground-penetrating radar to locate old oil and gas exploration
boreholes. Geophysical methods may be useful for detecting abandoned boreholes but
the associated cost could be prohibitive. It may be necessary to simply evaluate the
increased risk at the site from the abandoned boreholes and incorporate this risk into the
facility and detection monitoring design.
125
6.0 Conclusions
The present modeling study shows the possible impacts of abandoned boreholes for a
specific range of fracture geometry and borehole properties. Abandoned boreholes were
found to have the greatest influence when they connect large, high-transmissivity
fractures and form a preferential pathway through the fracture network. In this situation
the presence of abandoned boreholes had the following impacts:
E arlier arrival of contaminants at a downstream compliance boundary
Higher peak contaminant concentrations at the boundary
More compact plume with a smaller breakthrough period and shorter tail
Less surface area contact in the fracture network therefore earlier arrival for sorbing
contaminants
Transverse displacement of the plume towards the borehole location
Plume transport in a direction other than that which would be predicted based on the
regional hydraulic gradient
Increased cost of detection monitoring network design to account for increased
uncertainty when borehole locations are unknown.
Improperly abandoned vertical boreholes are expected to have an impact in a horizontally
oriented flow domain if there are large horizontal fractures present which dominate the
flow system. The boreholes will only have an effect if the network is such that the
borehole creates a shortcut between two permeable pathways, or creates a new pathway.
A multi-scale or fractal network could be studied stochastically to analyze the
126
probabilistic effects of abandoned boreholes on the flow and transport. The boreholes
would likely have a significant effect on those realizations where the larger fractures
happen to be intersected by the borehole. For other realizations where the boreholes do
not intersect more than one major feature, and essentially are a dead-end, there would be
no noticeable effect. Stochastic simulations require significantly more computational
time and effort, so deterministic simulations were used in this study. A representative set
of realizations was presented which demonstrates the expected range of behaviour but
does not provide probabilities for the output parameters based on a given set of fracture
network statistics.
The results of flow and transport modeling demonstrate that there is a potential for
abandoned boreholes to form connections in a fracture network and create new fast
pathways for solute transport. Sub-vertical boreholes are most likely to have an effect
when the major conducting fractures are sub-horizontal. This is especially true when the
major flow direction is in the horizontal plane.
Perhaps equally important is the fact that in many fracture networks abandoned boreholes
are not expected to have any impact. In dense, uniform networks with a significant
amount of vertical fractures a vertical borehole will not significantly increase the
conductivity. The potential for contamination problems due to abandoned boreholes
must be assessed on a site-specific basis. It is hoped that the information provided in this
thesis will help guide the risk assessment process at any site in fractured rock.
127
References
A S T M D5299-99, Standard guide for decommissioning of ground water wells, vadose
zone monitoring devices, boreholes, and other devices for environmental activities,
American Society for Testing and Materials, West Conshohocken, PA.
Avc i, C. B. , Flow occurrence between confined aquifers through improperly plugged
boreholes, J. Hydrol, 139, 97-114, 1992.
Avc i, C. B. , Evaluation of flow leakage through abandoned wells and boreholes, Water
Resour. Res., 30(9), 2565-2578, 1994.
Baecher, G. B. , N . A. Lanney, and H. Ff. Einstein, Statistical description of rock
properties and sampling, Proc. of 18
th
U.S. Sym. On Rock Mechanics, American Institute
of Mining Engineers, 5C1-8, 1977.
Barton, C. C. , Fractal analysis of the scaling and spatial clustering of fractures in rock: in
Barton, C. C. and La Pointe, P.R., eds., Fractals in the Earth Sciences: Plenum Press,
New York, 141-177, 1995.
Bear, J., Dynamics of Fluids in Porous Media, American Elsevier Publishing Co. , New
York, N Y , 1972.
Brikowski, T., Flow between aquifers through filled cylindrical conduits: Analytical
solution and application to underground nuclear testing sites, J. Hydrol., 146, 115-130,
1993.
Brown, R. Fluid flow through rock joints: the effect of surface roughness, J.G.R., 92(B2),
1337-1347, 1987.
Bodvarsson, G. S., T. M . Bandurraga, and Y . S. Wu (Eds.), The Site-Scale Unsaturated
Zone Model of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, for the Viability Assessment, Rep. L B N L -
40376, Lawrence Berkeley Natl. Lab. Berkeley, Calif, 1997.
Burkholder, H. C , Methods and data for predicting nuclide migration in geologic media,
paper presented at International Symposium on Management of Wastes from the L WR
Fuel Cycle, Denver, Colo. , 1976.
Carrera, J., J. Heredia, S. Vomvoris, and P. Hufschmied, Modeling of flow on a small
fractured monzonitic gneiss block, pp. 115-167 in Hydrogeology of Low Permeability
Environments, International Association of Hydrogeologists, Hydrogeology: Selected
Papers, vol. 2, S. P. Neuman and I. Neretnieks, eds. Hannover: Heise, 1990.
Chan, T., P. Griffith, B. W. Nakka, and K. R. Khair, Finite-element modelling of
geomechanical and hydraulic responses to the Room 209 heading extension excavation
128
response. Experiment II: Post-excavation analysis of experimental results, Atomic
Energy of Canada Limited., Report no. 9566, -4 July, 1993.
Daugherty, R. L. , J. B. Franzini, and E. J. Finnemore, Fluid Mechanics with Engineering
Applications, eighth edition, McGraw-Hill Inc., 1985.
Dershowitz, W. S., J. Geier, and K. Lee, Field validation of conceptual models for
fracture geometry, submitted to Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, 1989
Dershowitz, W. S., P. Wallman, J. E. Geier, and G. Lee, Preliminary discrete fracture
network modeling of tracer migration experiment at the S CV site, SKB Technical Report
91-23, Swedish nuclear fuel and waste management co., 1991.
Dershowitz, W. S., G. Lee, J. Geier, T. Foxford, P. LaPointe, and A. Thomas,
F R A C M A N interactive discrete feature data analysis, geometric modeling, and
exploration simulation, User Documentation, Version 2.5, Golder Associates, 1995.
Dverstorp, B. , J. Andersson, and W. Nordqvist, Discrete fracture network interpretation
of field tracer migration in sparsely fractured rock, Water Resour. Res., 28(9), 2327-2343,
1992.
Freeze, R. A. , Three-dimensional, transient, saturated-unsaturatediflow in a groundwater
basin, Water Resour. Res., 7(2), 347-366, 1971.
Freeze, R. A. , and J. A. Cherry, Groundwater, Englewood Cliffs, N. J. , Prentice-Hall,
1979.
Gass, T. E. , J. E. Lehr, and H. W. Heiss Jr., Impact of abandoned jwells on ground water,
Rep. EPA-600/3-77-095, U. S. Environ. Prot. Agency, Washington, D. C , 1977.
Hull, L. C , J. D. Miller, and T. M . Clemo, Laboratory and simulation studies of solute
transport in fracture networks, Water Resour. Res., 23(8), 1505-1513, 1987
Jardine K. , L. Smith, T. Clemo, Monitoring networks in fractured rocks: A decision
analysis approach, Ground Water, 34(3), 504-518, 1996
Javandel I., C. F. Tsang, P. A. Witherspoon, D. Morganwalp, Hydrologic detection of
abandoned wells near proposed injection wells for hazardous waste disposal, Water
Resour. Res., 24(2), 261-270, 1988.
Lacombe, S., E. A. Sudicky, S. K. Frape, and A. J. A. Unger, Influence of leaky
boreholes on cross-formational groundwater flow and contaminant transport, Water
Resour. Res., 31(8), 1871-1882, 1995.
Langhus, B. , and A. Snider, ZOEI , a computer model to calculate the zone of
endangering influence of class II injection wells, AAPG Bulletin, 83(7), 1999.
129
La Pointe, P. R., S. Follin, J. Hermanson, and P. Wallman, A method for identifying and
analyzing conductive pathways in fractured rock masses for performance assessment
transport models, SKB Technical Report 95-28, Swedish nuclear fuel and waste
management co., 1995.
Maloszewski, P., and A. Zuber, Tracer Experiments in Fractured Rocks: Matrix
Diffusion and the Validity of Models, Water Resour. Res., 29(8), 2723-2735, 1993.
Massmann, J., and R. A. Freeze, Groundwater contamination from waste management
sites: The interaction between risk-based engineering design and regulatory policy. 1.
Methodology, Water Resour. Res., 23(2), 351-367, 1987.
Massmann, J, R. A. Freeze, J. L. Smith, T. Sperling, and B. R. James, Hydrogeological
decision analysis: 2. Applications to groundwater contamination, Ground Water, 29(4),
536-548, 1991.
McDonald, M . G. , and A. W. Harbaugh, A modular three-dimensional finite-difference
ground-water flow model: U. S. Geological Survey Techniques of Water Resources
Investigations, Book 6, Chapter A l , 1988.
Meijerink, J. A. , and H. A. van der Vorst, An iterative solution method for linear systems
of which the coefficient matrix is a symmetric M-matrix, Math. Of Comp., 31(137), 148-
168, 1977.
Meyer, P. D. , A. J. Valocchi, and J. W. Eheart, Monitoring network design to provide
initial detection of groundwater contamination, Water Resour. Res., 30(9), 2647-2659,
1994.
Miller, I., G. Lee, W. Dershowitz, and G. Sharp, MAF I C Matrix/fracture Interaction
Code with Solute Transport, User Documentation, Version pi. 5, Golder Associates,
1995.
Moreno, L. , Y. W. Tsang, C. F. Tsang, V. F . Hale, and I, Neretnieks, Flow and tracer
transport in a single fracture: a stochastic model and its relation to some field
observations, Water Resour. Res., 24(12), 2033-2048, 1988.
Naff, R. L. , D. F. Haley, and E. A. Sudicky, High-resolution Monte Carlo simulation of
flow and conservative transport in heterogeneous porous media, 1. Methodology and
flow results, Water Resour. Res., 34(4), 663-667, 1998a.
Naff, R. L. , D. F. Haley, and E. A. Sudicky, High-resolution Monte Carlo simulation of
flow and conservative transport in heterogeneous porous media, 2. Transport Results,
Water Resour. Res., 34(4), 669-697, 1998b.
130
Neretnieks, I., Diffusion in the rock matrix: An important factor in radionuclide
retardation?, J.G.R., 85,4379,1980.
Neuman, S., Stochastic continuum representation of fractured rock permeability as an
alternative to the R E V and fracture network concepts, Rock Mechanics: Proc. Of the 28
th
U.S. Symposium, 533-561, Balkema, Rotterdam, 1987.
Nordqvist, A. W. , T. W. Tsang, C. F. Tsang, B. Dverstorp, and J. Andersson, A variable
aperture fracture network model for flow and transport in fractured rock, Water Resour.
Res., 28(6), 1704-1714, 1992.
Parney, R. W. , Statistical continuum modeling of mass transport through fractured media,
in two and three dimensions, Ph.D. Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1999.
Parney, R., and L. Smith, Fluid velocity and path length in fractured media, Geophysical
Research Letters, 22(11), 1437-1440, 1995.
Raven, K. G. , K. S. Novakowski, and P. A. Lapcevic, Interpretation of field tests of a
single fracture using a transient solute storage model, Water Resour. Res., 24(12), 2019-
2032, 1988.
Raven K. G. , D. W. Lafleur, and R. A. Sweezey, Monitoring well into abandoned deep-
well disposal formations at Sarnia, Ontario, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 27(1), 105-
118, 1990.
Schwartz, F. W. , and L . Smith, A continuum approach for modeling mass transport in
fractured media, Water Resour. Res., 24(8), 1360-1372, 1988.
Smith, L. and F. W. Schwartz, An analysis of the influence of fracture geometry on mass
transport in fractured media, Water Resour. Res., 20(9), 1241-1252, 1984.
Smith, L. , C. W. Mase, F. W. Schwartz, and D. Chorely, A numerical model for transport
in networks of planar fractures, Sym. On Hydrogeology of Rocks of Low Permeability,
666-675, Tucson, Ariz. , International Association of Hydrogeologists, 1985.
Snow, D. T., A parallel plate model of fractured permeable media, Ph. D. Thesis,
University of California, 1965.
Storck, P., J. W. Eheart, and A. J. Valocchi, A method for the optimal location of
monitoring wells for detection of groundwater contamination in three-dimensional
heterogeneous aquifers, Water Resour. Res., 33(9), 2081-2088, 1997.
Sudicky, E. A. , and E. O. Frind, Contaminant transport in fractured porous media:
Analytical solutions for a system of parallel fractures, Water Resour. Res., 18(6), 1634-
1642, 1982.
131
Therrien, R., and E. A. Sudicky, Three-dimensional analysis of variably-saturated flow
and transport in discretely-fractured porous media: Model development and illustrative
examples, Jour. Contam. Hydrol., 23(1-2), 1-44, 1996.
Wait, R. L. , and M . J. McCollum, Contamination of fresh water aquifers through an
unplugged oil-test well in Glynn County, Georgia, Ga. Geol. Surv. Mineral Newsletter,
16(3-4), 74-80. 1963.
Warner, D. L. , and C. L. McConnell, Assessment of environmental implications of
abandoned oil and gas wells, Journal of Petroleum Technology, 45(9), 874-880, 1993.
Wels, C , and L. Smith, Retardation of sorbing solutes in fractured media, Water Resour.
Res., 30(9), 2547-2563, 1994.
Williams, E. G. , and B. Hecker, Use of ground penetrating radar to locate old oil &gas
wells; a case study, AAPG Bulletin, 82(9), 1998.
Witherspoon, P. A. , J. S. Y. Wang, K. Iwai, and J.E. Gale, Validity of cubic law for fluid
flow in a deformable rock fracture, Water Resour. Res., 16(6), 1016-1024, 1980.
Zeller, E. J., The disposal of nuclear waste, California Geology, 24(4), 79-87, 1973.
Zheng, C , MT3D, A modular three-dimensional transport model for simulation of
advection, dispersion, and chemical reactions of contaminants in groundwater systems,
Report to the Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory, US Environmental Protection
Agency, Ada, OK. , 1990.
Zimmerman, R., and I. W. Yeo, Fluid flow in rock fractures: cubic law, lubrication
equation, and stokes equation, paper presented at International Symposium on Dynamics
of Fluids in Fractured Rocks: Concepts and Recent Advances, Ernest Orlando Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory, 1999.
132

Ubc 2000-0351

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Оригинальное название

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Ubc 2000-0351

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

CONT AMI NANT TRANS P ORT

Вам также может понравиться