Reactive Transport Modelling (RTM) entails the integration of hydrogeology and geo-chemistry and the prediction of chemical reactions along transport pathways in space and time. It is extensively used for the evaluation of various energy-related subsurface applications (e.g., for geothermal energy extraction, CO2 sequestration, or hydrogen storage) and in particular in the context of deep geological disposal of radioactive wastes.
However, for rigorous comparative analyses of long-term safety aspects of geological repository systems and sites, as required in the German site selection procedure, an in-depth understanding and close-to-reality description of the strongly coupled thermo-hydraulical-mechanical-chemical-biological (THMCB) processes that affect the repository evolution and radionuclide migration at different time and length scales is required – a so far largely unresolved scientific challenge.
In this context, scientist at IFN-2 develop cross-scale experimental and computational approaches to develop improved constitutive equations for RTM and to include pore-scale processes into large scale repository system analyses to enhance process system understanding across scales (upscaling) and to reduce uncertainties and conservatisms in safety assessments.
