Evaporation from a Seepage Face

Stefan Finsterle, Teamrat A. Ghezzehei, Rob C. Trautz, C.F. (Rick) Ahlers, and Paul J. Cook

Contact: Stefan Finsterle, 510/486-5205, SAFinsterle@lbl.gov

Research Objectives
Dripping of water into waste emplacement drifts may critically affect the integrity of waste packages and the mobilization of radionuclides. To characterize seepage from fractured rocks, we release water from boreholes drilled above an underground opening, and collect it as it drips into the cavity. These seepage data are often influenced by evaporation effects caused by drift ventilation.

The objectives of this research are (1) to understand the evaporation mechanism at a rock surface, (2) to study the coupling between near-surface flow in fractured rock and evaporation, (3) to examine the effect of evaporation on seepage, (4) to develop effective simulation capabilities for unsaturated flow and seepage under evaporative conditions, (5) to analyze evaporation and liquid-release experiments, and (6) to predict seepage into ventilated waste emplacement drifts.

To continue reading more about this project, view the 1-page pdf here.