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Effect of Channelling in a Porous Medium on Radionuclide Migration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

Asit K. Ray
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40506–0046, USA
Shyam Nair
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40506–0046, USA
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Abstract

A mathematical model has been developed to study the effect of channelling in a porous medium surrounding a repository on the migration of radionuclides. The porous medium is treated as an infinite medium containing parallel, unconnected channels; each channel is surrounded by a rock matrix. The migration in the channel is controlled by convection and diffusion processes in the direction of the flow, whereas in the rock matrix it is dominated by anisotropic diffusion in the longitudinal and transverse directions. Unsteady state convective-diffusion equations for this system have been solved. At the channel-rock matrix interface the concentration and flux were watched to obtain concentration profiles and discharge rates at downstream locations. By means of a parametric study the effects of channel thickness, diffusion coefficients, and flow velocity on the migration rate are elucidated.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1983

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References

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