• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.197-207
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• 2006

The engineering performance of a high level waste repository is significantly dependent upon the T-H-M behavior in the engineered barrier system. An engineering-scale test facility (KENTEX) was set up to validate the T-H-M behaviors in the buffer of a reference disposal system developed in the 2002. The validation tests started on May 31, 2005 and is now in progress. The KENTEX facility and validation test programme are introduced, and pre-operation calculations are also presented to give information on the sensitive location of sensors and operational conditions. This test will provide information (e.g., large-scale apparatus, sensors, monitoring system etc.) needed for 'in-situ' tests, make the validation of a T-H-M model for the T-H-M performance assessment of the reference disposal system, and demonstrate the engineering feasibility of fabricating and emplacing the buffer of a repository.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.206-207
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• 2007

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2010.10a
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• pp.203-204
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• 2010

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.464-474
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• 2007

An enhancement in the performance and safety of a high-level waste repository requires a validation of its engineered barrier. An engineering-scale test (named "KENTEX") has been conducted to investigate the thermal-hydro-mechanical behaviors in the engineered barrier of the Korean reference disposal system The validation test started on May 31, 2005 and is still under operation. The experimental data obtained allowed a preliminary and qualitative interpretation of the thermal-hydro-mechanical behaviors in the bentonite blocks. The temperature was higher as it became closer to the heater, while it became lower as it was farther away from the heater. The water content had a higher value in the part close to the hydration surface than that in the heater part. The relative humidity data suggested that a hydration of the bentonite blocks might occur by different drying-wetting processes, depending on their position. The total pressure was continuously increased by the evolution of the saturation front in the bentonite blocks and thereby the swelling pressure. Near the heater region, there was also a significant contribution of the thermal expansion of bentonite and the vapor pressure in the pores of the bentonite blocks.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.23-32
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• 2011

An engineering scale test, which is called KENTEX, was carried out to understand and to analyze the coupled thermal, hydrological and mechanical phenomena in the engineered barrier system(EBS) of Korean reference disposal system. Using the experimental data obtained from KENTEX, the water saturation processes in bentonite could be analyzed. From the comparison between the model calculation using ABAQUS and the experimental results, the difference of the water content between them in the unsaturating part was large because the drying phenomena due to moisture redistribution by the temperature gradient could not be included in the model. In the saturating part, the difference of the water content between them was decreased gradually and showed to be small in the full saturation. And the time of about 95% saturation could be estimated about 500 days from the model calculation and experimental results. Also it could be known that the moisture redistribution in the unsaturated part could not be affected on the saturation time of bentonite in the repository. Therefore, it is considered that this model could be used to quantitatively predict the water saturation time in bentonite as EBS for the disposal system.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.101-107
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• 2009

Investigation of resaturation and thermal-hydro-mechanical behavior for the buffer of a repository requires measuring the water content of compacted bentonite. This study investigated the relative humidity of compacted bentonites using a humidity sensor (Vaisala HMT 334) applicable under high temperature and pressure, and then conducted a multi-regression analysis based on the measured results to determine relationships among the water content, relative humidity, and temperature. The relationships for the compacted bentonites with the dry densities of 1,500 $kg/m^3$ and 1,600 $kg/m^3$ were expressed as ${\omega}=0.196RH-0.029T+1.391({r^2=0.96)}$ and ${\omega}=0.199RH-0.029T+2.596({r^2=0.98)}$, respectively. These were then used to interpret the resaturation of bentonite blocks in the KENTEX test.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.117-131
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• 2006

A coupled T-H-M(Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical) analysis was carried out for KENTEX (KAERI Engineering-scale T-H-M Experiment for Engineered Barrier System), which is a facility for validating the coupled T-H-M behavior in the engineered barrier system of the Korean reference HLW(high-level waste) disposal system. The changes of temperature, water saturation, and stress were estimated based on the coupled T-H-M analysis, and the influence of the types of mechanical constitutive material laws was investigated by using elastic model, poroelastic model, and poroelastic-plastic model. The analysis was done using ABAQUS, which is a commercial finite element code for general purposes. From the analysis, it was observed that the temperature in the bentonite increased sharply for a couple of days after heating the heater and then slowly increased to a constant value. The temperatures at all locations were nearly at a steady state after about 37.5 days. In the steady state, the temperature was maintained at $90^{\circ}C$ at the interface between the heater and the bentonite and at about $70^{\circ}C$ at the interface between the bentonite and the confining cylinder. The variation of the water saturation with time in bentonite was almost same independent of the material laws used in the coupled T-H-M processes. By comparing the saturation change of T-H-M and that of H-M(Hydro-Mechanical) processes using elastic and poroelastic material mod31 respectively, it was found that the degree of saturation near the heater from T-H-M calculation was higher than that from the coupled H-M calculation mainly because of the thermal flux, which seemed to speed up the saturation. The stresses in three cases with different material laws were increased with time. By comparing the stress change in H-M calculation using poroelasetic and poroelasetic-plastic model, it was possible to conclude that the influence of saturation on the stress change is higher than the influence of temperature. It is, therefore, recommended to use a material law, which can model the elastic-plastic behavior of buffer, since the coupled T-H-M processes in buffer is affected by the variation of void ratio, thermal expansion, as well as swelling pressure.