ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: To predict the plume development in fracture-matrix systems without the detailed knowledge of the fracture network geometries, a double continuum approach is chosen. The complex transport behaviour can be adequately represented by two overlapping and interacting continua. An existing double continuum approach has been further developed for steady-state flow conditions by focusing on mass exchange terms between the fractures and the matrix system. This approach is implemented in the “Double Porosity MT3D” program and has been applied to a transport problem in a fractured sandstone formation. The parameter determination for the fracture continuum is the most important step to calibrate the double continuum model and to predict the plume development. Of particular interest was the determination of parameters by fracture network characteristics. The transverse dispersion coefficient and the hydraulic conductivity are directly dependent on the angles between the fracture directions and the hydraulic gradient. The larger the angle, the higher is the transverse dispersion coefficient and the lower will be the resulting effective hydraulic conductivity.
