Calibration and Reliability in Groundwater Modelling: Credibility of Modelling

(Proceedings of ModelCARE 2007 Conference, held in Denmark, September 2007). IAHS Publ. 320, 2008, 52-57.

Simulation of fractured rock solute transport with a multidimensional dual-porosity model

JIŘÍ HAVLÍČEK & MILAN HOKR

Faculty of Mechatronics and Interdisciplinary Engineering Studies, Technical University of Liberec, Studentská 2,
461 17 Liberec, Czech Republic

jiri.havlicek@tul.cz

Abstract We propose a combined model, where the entities of fractured rock structure are represented by means of corresponding 1-D, 2-D (fractures) or 3-D (rock continuum) elements, each including dual-porosity (mobile and immobile zone). The transport is governed by the advection–diffusion equation in each of the 1-D, 2-D and 3-D domains, coupled with first-order mobile–immobile exchange and solved using a finite-volume numerical scheme. We solve a test problem of contaminant breakthrough through a single fracture surrounded by rock. Then we compare representations by a 1-D coupled mobile and immobile zone geometrically identical to fracture, the 1-D mobile zone as fracture and the 2-D mobile zone as the rock. The results confirm similarity in macroscopic behaviour of both models such that the difference between the results is less then 5% of the ratio of fracture and rock conductivity higher than 100.

Keywords discrete fracture network; dual-porosity; immobile zone; solute retention