Collaborative Research: Coupled Flow Phenomena in Unsaturated Clay Barriers

该项目旨在推进与模拟和评估废物收容系统中耦合不饱和流动有关的最新技术。这种系统对于确保全国各地的核废物、危险废物和城市废物的安全至关重要。如果成功，新模型将解决目前无法解释的行为，并以物理上不准确的简化近似。该合作战略性地利用了每个机构的优势来解决实验和理论目标。本研究的目的是评价非饱和粘土中化学渗透和膜行为的存在及其意义。将采用实验与理论相结合的方法来实现这一目标。总体目标是：(1)开发和评估一种创新的仪器，用于测量非饱和粘土中的膜行为和量化耦合流体和化学输运；(2)阐明控制流体和化学通量的直接驱动力和耦合驱动力；(3)在具有实际问题的条件下测量非饱和土的控制参数；(4)建立一个包含膜行为的非饱和条件下溶质迁移模型；(5)量化耦合作为典型屏障材料土壤中饱和度和溶质浓度函数的重要性。

This project seeks to advance the state of the art as it relates to modeling and evaluating coupled unsaturated flow in waste containment systems. Such systems are vital to securing nuclear, hazardous and municipal waste throughout the country. If successful, the new models will address behavior that is currently unaccounted for and approximated with physically inaccurate simplifications. The collaboration strategically leverages the strengths at each institution to address experimental and theoretical objectives.The goal of this research is to evaluate the existence and significance of chemico-osmosis and membrane behavior in unsaturated clays. A collaborative experimental and theoretical approach will be employed to achieve this goal. The overall objectives are: (1) to develop and evaluate an innovative apparatus for measuring membrane behavior and quantifying coupled fluid and chemical transport in unsaturated clays; (2) to clarify the direct and coupled driving forces governing fluid and chemical fluxes; (3) to measure governing parameters on unsaturated soils under conditions representing practical problems; (4) to develop a model for solute transport under unsaturated conditions that incorporates membrane behavior, and (5) to quantify the importance of coupling as a function of the degree of saturation and solute concentration in soils typical of barrier materials.