In this thesis a study of the factors affecting virus and virus-sized particle transport in discrete fractured dolomite rocks is presented. Physical and chemical characteristics of two fractured rocks were determined, including fracture aperture distribution, rock matrix porosity, mineral composition, and surface charge. Hydraulic and transport tests were conducted in the fractures with a conservative solute (bromide) and carboxylate-modified latex (CML) microspheres of three sizes (20, 200, and 500 nm in diameter). The earlier arrival of larger microspheres as compared to bromide indicated the effects of pore-size exclusion and preferential flow paths in the fractures. The tailing of the bromide and the smaller microsphere (20 nm) in the breakthrough curves (BTC) indicated the diffusive mass transfer between the mobile water (flowing) and immobile water (stagnant water in the low aperture areas and porous rock matrix). The effects of ionic strength and cation type on the transport of viruses (bacteriophages MS2 and PR772) and virus-sized microspheres (20 and 200 nm) were determined from the transport tests in a fracture at three levels of ionic strength (3, 5, and 12 mM) and composition (containing Na+ and/or Ca2+ ions). Retention of the microspheres and bacteriophages increased with increasing ionic strength. The addition of divalent ions (Ca2+) influenced the retention to a greater extent than monovalent ions (Na+). The effects of the aperture distribution variability, matrix diffusion, and specific discharge on the solute and microsphere transport were determined from the transport tests conducted in two fractures. The higher variability in the aperture distribution contributed to higher solute dispersion, and flow channeling as evident from the breakthrough curves for individual spatially distributed outlets. A three-dimensional model simulation of the bromide transport with varying matrix porosity identified that the porous matrix influenced the solute transport. In the transport tests, retention of the microspheres decreased with increasing specific discharge in both fractures. The results of this research have helped in identifying the important factors and their effects on solute, virus, and virus-sized colloid transport in fractured dolomite rocks, which can be useful in determining the risk of pathogen contamination of water supplies in fractured dolomite rock aquifers.

In this thesis a study of the factors affecting virus and virus-sized particle transport in discrete fractured dolomite rocks is presented. Physical and chemical characteristics of two fractured rocks were determined, including fracture aperture distribution, rock matrix porosity, mineral composition, and surface charge. Hydraulic and transport tests were conducted in the fractures with a conservative solute (bromide) and carboxylate-modified latex (CML) microspheres of three sizes (20, 200, and 500 nm in diameter). The earlier arrival of larger microspheres as compared to bromide indicated the effects of pore-size exclusion and preferential flow paths in the fractures. The tailing of the bromide and the smaller microsphere (20 nm) in the breakthrough curves (BTC) indicated the diffusive mass transfer between the mobile water (flowing) and immobile water (stagnant water in the low aperture areas and porous rock matrix). The effects of ionic strength and cation type on the transport of viruses (bacteriophages MS2 and PR772) and virus-sized microspheres (20 and 200 nm) were determined from the transport tests in a fracture at three levels of ionic strength (3, 5, and 12 mM) and composition (containing Na+ and/or Ca2+ ions). Retention of the microspheres and bacteriophages increased with increasing ionic strength. The addition of divalent ions (Ca2+) influenced the retention to a greater extent than monovalent ions (Na+). The effects of the aperture distribution variability, matrix diffusion, and specific discharge on the solute and microsphere transport were determined from the transport tests conducted in two fractures. The higher variability in the aperture distribution contributed to higher solute dispersion, and flow channeling as evident from the breakthrough curves for individual spatially distributed outlets. A three-dimensional model simulation of the bromide transport with varying matrix porosity identified that the porous matrix influenced the solute transport. In the transport tests, retention of the microspheres decreased with increasing specific discharge in both fractures. The results of this research have helped in identifying the important factors and their effects on solute, virus, and virus-sized colloid transport in fractured dolomite rocks, which can be useful in determining the risk of pathogen contamination of water supplies in fractured dolomite rock aquifers.

A model is developed to describe solute transport and retention in fractured rocks. It accounts for the fact that solutes not only can diffuse directly from the flowing channel into the adjacent rock matrix composed of different geological layers but can also at first diffuse into the stagnant water zone occupied in part of the fracture and then from there into the rock matrix adjacent to it. Moreover, the effect of radioactive decay-chain has also been studied in the presence of matrix comprising different geological layers. In spite of the complexities of the system, the analytical solution obtained for the Laplace-transformed concentration at the outlet of the flowing channel can conveniently be transformed back to the time domainby use of e.g. De Hoog algorithm. This allows one to readily include it into a fracture network modelorachannelnetwork model to predictnuclide transport through channels in heterogeneous fracturedmedia consisting of an arbitrary number of rock units withpiecewise constant properties. Simulations made in this study indicate that, in addition to the intact wall rock adjacent to the flowing channel, the stagnant water zone and the rock matrix adjacent to it may also lead to a considerable retardation of solute in cases with a narrow channel. The results further suggest that it is necessary to account for decay-chain and also rock matrix comprising at least two different geological layers in safety and performance assessment of the repositories for spent nuclear fuel. The altered zone may cause a great decrease of the nuclide concentration at the outlet of the flowing channel. The radionuclide decay, when accounted for, will drastically decrease the concentration of nuclides, while neglecting radioactive ingrowth would underestimate the concentration of daughter nuclides. / <p>QC 20140224</p>