Carlos Barbosa é um município abastecido exclusivamente por recursos hídricos subterrâneos captados do Sistema Aquífero Serra Geral, sendo o abastecimento de responsabilidade da Companhia Riograndense de Saneamento – CORSAN. Devido a este panorama, o município foi selecionado para instalação do SIGAS que é um sistema de monitoramento totalmente automatizado e com envio de dados por telemetria. O SIGAS foi instalado em 12 dos 15 poços atualmente utilizados para o abastecimento do munícipio e monitora volume e corrente de 15 em 15 minutos e nível de água de 1 em 1 minuto. Este trabalho se propôs a avaliar as condições de explotação em 8 dos 12 poços monitorados por este sistema, os quais abastecem, juntamente com outros 4 poços 3 dos 4 reservatórios existentes no município. Logo, foram comparados os dados diários de volume, vazão e tempo de bombeamento coletados pelo SIGAS com os valores definidos quando da elaboração dos projetos de bombeamento. Para verificação dos dados coletados pelo SIGAS foi realizada uma comparação com os dados coletados pela CORSAN e com os dados obtidos em levantamentos de campo. Os poços CBA 3A, 5A, 9, 11 e 12, na maior parte do tempo, operaram com vazão inferior a projetada, sendo que o oposto ocorreu nos poços CBA 18, 26 e 34. O tempo de bombeamento operado se manteve acima do projetado, na maior parte do tempo, nos poços CBA 3A, 9, 12 e 18, sendo que o inverso ocorreu nos poços CBA 5A, 11, 26 e 34. O volume médio de água explotado ficou acima do previsto em projeto, na maior parte do tempo, apenas nos poços CBA 18 e 26. Os resultados demostraram que há falhas na gestão e no planejamento da operação dos poços, sendo que há poços explotando volumes de água acima do permitido, enquanto em outros o volume explotado está abaixo do projetado. Foi identificado também a influência da demanda na operação dos poços, as quais tornam o tempo de descanso descontínuo dificultando a recuperação do nível de água no poço. Os dados coletados pelo SIGAS se demostraram confiáveis e coerentes com os valores operados nos poços, sendo assim os mesmos poderão ser utilizados na gestão e planejamento da operação dos poços no município de Carlos Barbosa. / Carlos Barbosa is a city supplied exclusively by groundwater resources obtained from the Serra Geral Aquifer System, and the supplying responsibility is from the Companhia Riograndense de Saneamento - CORSAN. Because of this panorama, the city was selected for the installation of SIGAS, which is a fully automated monitoring system and sending data by telemetry. The SIGAS was installed in 12 of the 15 wells currently used to supply the city and it monitors volume and current 15 in 15 minutes and water level 1 in 1 minute. This study aimed to evaluate the exploitation conditions in 8 of the 12 wells that the system has, which supply, along with other 4 wells, 3 of the 4 existing reservoirs in the city. Then, were compared the daily volume of data, flow and pumping time collected by SIGAS with the values defined during the preparation of pumping projects. For verification of the data collected by SIGAS a comparison with the data collected by CORSAN and with data from field surveys were fulfilled. The wells CBA 3A, 5A, 9, 11 and 12, at the most part of the time, operated at a flow below of projected, being that the opposite was observed in the wells CBA 18, 26 and 34. The operated pumping time is kept above the projected, at the most part of the time, in the wells CBA 3A, 9, 12 and 18, being that the converse occurred in the wells CBA 5A, 11, 26 and 34. The average volume of exploited water was above the provided in project, at the most part of the time, only in the wells CBA 18 and 26. The results showed that there are flaws in the management and planning of the operation of the wells, being that there are wells exploring volumes above the allowed, while in others the exploited volume is below the projected. It was also identified the influence demand in the operation of wells, which make the discontinuous rest time hindering the recovery of the water level in the well. The data collected by SIGAS been shown reliable and coherent with the values operated in the wells, so the same might be used in the management and planning of the operation of the wells in the city of Carlos Barbosa.

Coupled Thermal-Hydrological-Mechanical-Chemical (THMC) processes that exist in the development of different geo-resources (e.g. deep geothermal and shale gas) affect the fracture response (i.e. aperture and permeability), which in turn influences the reservoir production. The main goal of this study was to experimentally evaluate the impact of THMC processes on the response of rock specimens relevant for deep geothermal and shale gas formations. The effects of THMC processes were investigated on: (i) success of the hydraulic fracturing/hydro-shearing mechanism during stimulation stage, and (ii) closure of the created network of fractures during production stage. The elastic, cyclic, creep, and failure characteristics of different intact reservoir rocks in both short- and long-term were investigated to evaluate their response in stimulation stage. In addition, a series of flow tests on fractured reservoir cores were conducted to evaluate how THMC processes affect fracture response subjected to different stress levels, temperatures, composition of injected fluid, and injection rate. Moreover, the sensitivity of ultrasonic signatures (i.e. velocity, amplitude, attenuation, and time-frequency content) to (i) microstructural changes in the intact rocks, and (ii) flow-induced alterations of aperture/permeability in the fractured rocks were investigated. Analysis of hydraulic data, chemical composition of the effluent, ultrasonic signatures, and X-Ray micro-CT and SEM images, provided invaluable information that facilitated interpretation of the effects of coupled THMC processes on fracture response.

<p><font face="TimesNewRoman"> <p align="left">Research findings in current study provide a new insight into the fractured rock aquifers in the TMG area. Some of the results will have wide implications on the groundwater management and forms a solid basis the further study of the TMG aquifers.</p> </font></p>

Radio magnetotellurics (RMT), crosshole ground penetrating radar (GPR), and crosshole electrical resistance tomography (ERT) were applied in a range of hydrogeological applications where geophysical data could improve hydrogeological characterization. A profile of RMT data collected over highly resistive granite was used to map subhorizontal fracture zones below 300m depth, as well as a steeply dipping fracture zone, which was also observed on a coinciding seismic reflection profile. One-dimensional inverse modelling and 3D forward modelling with displacement currents included were necessary to test the reliability of features found in the 2D models, where the forward models did not include displacement currents and only lower frequencies were considered. An inversion code for RMT data was developed and applied to RMT data with azimuthal electrical anisotropy signature collected over a limestone formation. The results indicated that RMT is a faster and more reliable technique for studying electrical anisotropy than are azimuthal resistivity surveys. A new sequential inversion method to estimate hydraulic conductivity fields using crosshole GPR and tracer test data was applied to 2D synthetic examples. Given careful surveying, the results indicated that regularization of hydrogeological inverse problems using geophysical tomograms might improve models of hydraulic conductivity. A method to regularize geophysical inverse problems using geostatistical models was developed and applied to crosshole ERT and GPR data collected in unsaturated sandstone. The resulting models were geologically more reasonable than models where the regularization was based on traditional smoothness constraints. Electromagnetic geophysical techniques provide an inexpensive data source in estimating qualitative hydrogeological models, but hydrogeological data must be incorporated to make quantitative estimation of hydrogeological systems feasible.

Understanding groundwater flow systems and how these control transport is an essential part in assessing the suitability of subsurface environments as hosts for storage of toxic waste. Therefore it is important to be able to integrate knowledge obtained from field characterisation of the subsurface with methods which can be used to evaluate and predict possible impact on surrounding environments.In this thesis I investigate the characteristics of flow and transport in discrete fracture networks by analysing Eulerian and Lagrangian descriptions within a stochastic framework. The analysis is conducted through numerical flow and transport simulations configured according to available field data, combined with independent theoretical analytic and semi-analytic methods which are able to reveal insight to relevant constitutive properties. It is shown that numerical simulations conducted with the discrete fracture network approach can be both conditioned and confirmed against field measurable quantities, and the developed theoretical methods are evaluated against results obtained from simulation. Thereby, a methodology which can provide links between field measurable quantities and tracer discharge is presented, developed and evaluated. It is shown to be robust with respect to underlying assumptions used for flow configurations.In particular, a specific sampling algorithm for obtaining a Lagrangian description of transport based on a Eulerian description of flow is proposed, evaluated and shown to be robust for the cases considered, providing accurate replications. Also a generalisation of both the advection-dispersion solution and the one-sided stable distribution is shown to be able to evaluate advective transport quantities, and combined with a Lagrangian retention model it is shown to be a fairly accurate and robust method for upscaling distributions, enabling predictions of transport in terms of tracer discharge. Evaluation of transport is also conducted against the advective-dispersion assumption, where results indicate advective transport is generally non-Fickian for the fracture networks and domain scales considered, but not necessarily anomalous. Additionally, the impact certain model assumptions have on tracer discharge are analysed. For example, transport is evaluated for assumptions regarding injection mode, fracture network heterogeneity, relationship between aperture and transmissivity, relationship between transmissivity and size, as well as scale and modelling dimension. In relation to hydraulic testing and flow analysis, a method for conditioning fracture transmissivity from field measurements of flow by simulation is developed and evaluated against homogenisation assumptions commonly used in field applications. Results indicate the homogenisation assumption generally fails for current interpretations of field data. / Miljökonsekvensbedömningar av toxiskt avfall i djupt bergförvar kräver engrundläggande förståelse av grundvattenströmning samt hur detta påverkartransportfenomet. Därför är det viktigt att kunna integrerafältundersökningsdata från berggrundsmätningar med metoder som kan användas föratt utvärdera och förutsäga potentiella konsekvenser på omgivningen.I denna avhandling undersöker jag flödes- och transportegenskaper i diskretaspricknätverk genom stokastisk analys av eulerska och lagrangeskafältbeskrivningar. Analysen sker genom en kombination av dels numeriska flödes-och transportsimuleringar som är konfigurerade enligt tillgänglig fältdata, samtdels med oberoende teoretiska analytiska och semi-analytiska metoder som gerdjupare insyn i relevanta konstitutiva egenskaper. Resultat visar att dennumeriska simuleringsmetoden för diskreta spricknätverk kan både konditionerastill fältdata och bestyrkas gentemot mätbara kvantiter. Detta är av betydelse dåde teoretiska metoderna i sin tur är främst evaluerade gentemotsimuleringsresultat. Därmed utvecklas en bestyrkt metodik som kansammanlänka och i viss mån omvandla fältdata till uppskattningar av mängdenspårämnen i ett utflöde. Resultat indikerar att denna metodik är robust avseendeflera antaganden som har används i simuleringskonfigurationen.En särskild urvalsalgoritm introduceras som kan erhålla en lagrangesktransportbeskrivning utifrån ett eulerskt strömningsfält. även denna utvärderasavseende vissa simuleringsantaganden och resultat tyder på att den är robust förde undersökta fallen. Vidare föreslås en viss generalisering av lösningen tillden advektiva-dispersionsekvationen samt av ensidigt stabila (one-sided stable)sannolikhetsfördelningar som metod för att prediktera advektiva kvantitetergenom upskalning av transportfördelningar i rummet. Denna modell kombineras meden tidigare utvecklad metod för transportretention för att uppskatta reaktivagenombrottsfördelningar. Således blir det möjligt att prediktera reaktivtransport d v s rumslig upskalning av genombrottstider för spårämnestransport.Metoden används också för att evaluera ett linärt dispersionsantagande, därresultat indikerar att även advektiv transport kan påvisa icke-linärt beteende.Transport i spricknätverk utvärderas bland annat för modellantaganden avseendeinjektionsmetod, heterogenitet i spricknätverk, konstitutiva relationer mellanapertur och transmissivitet samt mellan transmissivitet och spricklängd, ochmodelleringsskala samt dimension. Beträffande hydrauliska testmetoder ochflödesanalys introduceras en simuleringsmetod för att konditioneraspricktransmissivitet från flödesmätningar. Detta jämförs med etthomogeniseringsantaganden som inte sällan används i fältundersökningar för atttolka flödesmätningar till spricktransmissivitet, och resultat tyder på attdetta antagande kan betydligt undervärdera transmissivitet.

Multiphase flow and transport in fractured rock is of importance to many practical and engineering applications. In the field of groundwater hydrology an issue of significant environmental concern is the release of dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) which can cause long-term groundwater contamination in fractured aquifers. This study deals with two fundamental processes – fluid displacement and interphase mass transfer – concerning the behavior of the multiphase contaminants in fractured media. The focus of this work has been placed on improving the current understanding of small-scale (single fracture) physics by a combined effort of numerical modeling analysis, laboratory experiments and model development. This thesis contributes to the improved understanding through several aspects. Firstly, the effect of aperture variability, as characterized by geostatistical parameters such as standard deviation and correlation length, on the DNAPL entrapment, dissolution and source-depletion behaviors in single fractures was revealed. Secondly, a novel, generalized approach (adaptive circle fitting approach) to account for the effect of in-plane curvature of fluid-fluid interfaces on immiscible fluid displacement was developed; the new approach has demonstrated good performance when applied to simulate previously published experimental data. Thirdly, the performance of a continuum-based two-phase flow model and an invasion percolation model was compared for modeling fluid displacement in a variable-aperture fracture and the dependence of fracture-scale capillary pressure – saturation relationships on aperture variability was studied. Lastly, through experimental studies and mechanistic numerical modeling of DNAPL dissolution, kinetic mass transfer characteristics of two different entrapment configurations (residual blobs and dead-end pools) were investigated. The obtained understanding from this thesis will be useful for predictive modeling of multiphase contaminant behavior at a larger (fracture network) scale. / Flerfasflöde och ämnestransport i sprickigt berg är av betydelse för många praktiska och tekniska problem. Tunga, svårlösliga organiska vätskor (engelska: dense non-aqueous phase liquids: DNAPLs; t.ex. klorerade lösningsmedel) kan orsaka långvarig förorening av vattenresurser, inklusive akviferer i sprickigt berg, och utgör ett viktigt miljöproblem inom grundvattenhydrologin. Denna studie behandlar två fundamentala processer för spridning av flerfasföroreningar i sprickiga medier – utbredning av den organiska vätskan och massöverföring mellan organisk vätska och vatten. Arbetet har fokuserat på att förbättra nuvarande kunskap om de fysikaliska processerna på liten skala (enskilda sprickor) genom en kombination av numerisk modellering, laboratorieexperiment och modellutveckling. Avhandlingen har bidragit till utökad processförståelse i flera avseenden. För det första har arbetet belyst effekterna av sprickaperturens variabilitet, uttryckt med geostatistiska parametrar som standardavvikelse och rumslig korrelationslängd, på fastläggning och lösning av organiska vätskor i enskilda sprickor, samt utmattningsbeteendet hos dessa källor till grundvattenförorening. För det andra har en ny, generell metod (adaptiva cirkelpassningsmetoden) för att ta hänsyn till effekten av krökningen av gränsytan mellan organisk vätska och vatten i sprickplanet utvecklats; denna metod har visats fungera väl i simuleringar av tidigare publicerade experimentella data. För det tredje, har en jämförelse gjorts mellan en kontinuumbaserad tvåfasflödesmodell och en invasions-perkolationsmodell med avseende på hur väl de kan simulera tvåfasflöde i en spricka med varierande apertur. Här studerades även hur relationen mellan kapillärtryck och mättnadsgrad på sprickplansskala beror av variabiliteten i sprickapertur. Till sist undersöktes lösning av den organiska vätskan i grundvatten för två fastläggningsscenarier (fastläggning i immobila droppar och ansamling i fällor – ”återvändssprickor”) både genom experiment och mekanistisk numerisk modellering. Kunskapen som tagits fram i denna avhandling bedöms vara användbar även för att modellera spridningen av flerfasföroreningar på större (spricknätverks-) skalor.

The transport of components and phases plays a fundamental role in the success of an EOR process. Because many reservoirs have harsh conditions of salinity, temperature and rock heterogeneity, which limit process options, a robust system with flexibility is required. Systematic experimental study of formulations capable to transport surfactant as foam at 94°C, formulated in sea water, is presented. It includes methodology to conduct core floods in sand packs using foaming surfactants and to develop “surfactant blend ratio- salinity ratio maps” using equilibrium phase behavior to determine favorable conditions for oil recovery in such floods. Mathematical model able to reproduce the foam strength behavior observed in sand packs with the formulations studied is presented. Visualization of oil recovery mechanism from matrix is realized using a model system of micro-channels surrounded by glass beads to mimic matrix and fractures respectively. The observations illustrate how components may distribute within the matrix, thereby releasing oil into the fractures. The use of chemicals to minimize adsorption is required when surfactant adsorption is important. The presence of anhydrite may limit the use of sodium carbonate to reduce adsorption of carbonates. A methodology is presented to estimate the amount, if any, of anhydrite present in the reservoir. The method is based on brine software analysis of produced water compositions and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analysis of core samples. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) was used to verify the mineralogy of the rock. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to obtain surface composition for comparison with bulk composition of the rock. Adsorption of surfactants was measured using dynamic and static adsorption experiments. Determining the flow properties of the rock samples via tracer analysis permitted the simulation of the dynamic adsorption process using a mathematical model that considers the distribution of adsorbed materials in the three different regions of pore space. Using this method allows one to predict adsorption in a reservoir via simulation.

This work investigates the performance of CO₂ soluble surfactants used for CO₂ foam flooding in fractured carbonate reservoirs. Oil recovery associated with the reduction of CO₂ mobility in fractures is assessed by monitoring oil saturation and pressure drops during injection of CO₂ with aqueous surfactant solution in artificially fractured carbonate cores. Distinct novel CO₂ soluble surfactants are evaluated as well as a conventional surfactant. Water flooding and pure CO₂ injection are conducted as baseline. Characterization of fluids and rock are also reported which include Amott test, oil phase behavior and slim tube test. Transport and thermodynamic properties of surfactant and supercritical CO₂ are used to evaluate the process on a core scale using a commercial reservoir simulator. / text

The primary objective of this study is to improve understanding of the mechanics of hydraulic fracturing in naturally-fractured reservoirs. The study focuses on enhancing the interpretation of hydraulic fracture-induced microseismic data using an S-wave Gaussian-beam method and numerical modeling techniques for interpretation. The S-wave Gaussian-beam method was comprehensively calibrated by synthetic and real data sets with different recording networks, and this showed the potential to retrieve additional microseismic data from hydraulic fracturing with linear receiver arrays. This approach could enhance current practice because a large number of induced events in these environments have very strong S-waves with P-wave amplitudes similar, or less than, background noise levels. The numerical study using the distinct element methods PFC2D and PFC3D was used to validate the understanding of the hydraulic fracturing mechanisms induced in laboratory and field fluid treatments in naturally-fractured reservoirs. This was achieved through direct comparison with the results of the geometry of hydraulic fractures and seismic source information (locations, magnitudes, and mechanisms) from both laboratory experiments and field observations. A suite of numerical models with fully-dynamic and hydro-mechanical coupling has been used to examine in detail the interaction between natural and induced fractures with the variations of the differential stresses and the orientations of the pre-fractures, and the relationship between the fluid front, the fracture tip, and the induced seismicity. The numerical results qualitatively agreed with the laboratory and field observations of the geometry of hydraulic fractures, confirmed the possible mechanics of new fracture development and their interactions with natural fractures, and illustrated the possible relationship between the fluid front and the fracture tip. The validated model could therefore help track the potential extent of induced fracturing in naturally-fractured reservoirs and the extent to which it can be detected by a microseismic monitoring array in order to assess the effectiveness of a hydraulic fracturing project.

<p><font face="TimesNewRoman"> <p align="left">Research findings in current study provide a new insight into the fractured rock aquifers in the TMG area. Some of the results will have wide implications on the groundwater management and forms a solid basis the further study of the TMG aquifers.</p> </font></p>