Evaluation of brine inflow at a Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is a mined, geologic repository oper ated for the U.S. Department of Energy in New Mexico. Ongoing technical pro grams at the facility support requirements regarding continued demonstratio n of compliance with regulations and improvements to operational efficiency . One factor that can be important to performance measurements at WIPP is t he volume of fluid flowing into the repository. The objective of the analys is presented in this paper is to address those processes that influence liq uid inflow to the waste disposal areas. Simulations focus on the coupling b etween brine inflow and properties of the proximal damaged zone in the host rock. Calculations show that significant reduction in predicted brine infl ow results when two-phase flow properties of the damaged zone are modified relative to baseline values. Results warrant further investigation regardin g these properties. The study also indicates that only nominal improvement to predictive capabilities would result from using a fully coupled transien t approach to simulate development of damage in the host rock.