Device and method for measuring fluid fluxes, solute fluxes and fracture parameters in fracture flow systems
US7334486B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 24, 2006 |
| Grant date | Feb 26, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 10, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01F1/86
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An improved method and apparatus for simultaneously monitoring the magnitudes and directions of fluid fluxes and dissolved contaminants fluxes of a general flow system in both simply and multiply screened monitoring wells as well as unscreened boreholes is provided. Also, parameters such as fracture locations, separations, inclinations, orientations of inclination and apertures in a fracture flow system can be estimated. The invention comprises the use of a sorbent layer containing an insoluble sorbent matrix that retains dissolved contaminants, which is attached to an impermeable flexible liner. The matrix may also contain visible or invisible tracers that can be displaced by the fluid flow. The monitoring comprises placing devices in contact with the contaminated flow over certain intervals, thereby allowing contaminants to be sorbed to the sorbing matrix of the layer. Sufficient time is allowed for the contaminant concentrations in the flow field to reach equilibrium. The sorptive layer is then removed from contact with the flow field and analyzed to determine cumulative contaminant fluxes and cumulative fluid fluxes. Dye tracer marks on the sorptive layer allow for identifying …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.