Bore II - Advanced Wellbore Technology Characterizes Groundwater Flow and Contamination

CR-1256, 1673

APPLICATION OF TECHNOLOGY:

• Contaminated site and remedial investigation studies
• Municipal water supply studies
• EPA wellhead protection area and groundwater management/protection studies
• Geotechnical pretesting for construction and design

ADVANTAGES:

• Identifies water-bearing zones and obtains the associated flow rates in real time, facilitating on-site evaluation
• Especially suited for fractured or highly heterogeneous porous rock
• Tests the entire wellbore and/or formation as a single, complete, interactive unit, limiting inaccuracies associated with aquifer "cross contamination"
• Provides simultaneous hydraulic and hydrochemical evaluation
• Identifies fluid inflow and outflow locations with greater resolution, quantifies a larger range of flow rates, and is much quicker to implement than other existing techniques
• Can be used to estimate regional groundwater flow within a rock formation
• Multirate analysis enables investigation of hydraulic heads and transmissivities of water-bearing zones
• Convenient graphic user interface enables results to be plotted directly within the program or exported to standard visualization programs

ABSTRACT:

Bore II, co-developed by Berkeley Lab researchers Frank Hale, Chin-Fu Tsang, and Christine Doughty, provides vital information for solving water quality and supply problems and for improving remediation of contaminated sites. Termed "hydrophysical logging," this technology is based on a new concept for measuring fluid flow that enables characterization of groundwater problems more quickly, more cost effectively, and with higher resolution than ever before.

Combining the unique interpretation software Bore II with advanced downhole instrumentation (the hydrophysical logging tool), the method quantifies inflow and outflow locations, their associated flow rates, and the basic water quality parameters of the associated formation waters (e.g., pH, oxidation-reduction potential, temperature). In addition, when applied in conjunction with downhole fluid sampling, Bore II makes possible a complete assessment of contaminant concentration within groundwater.

STATUS: Copyrighted. Available for licensing

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Doughty, C., C.-F. Tsang, K. Hatanaka, S. Yabuuchi, and H. Kurikami, Application of direct-fitting, mass-integral, and multi-rate methods to analysis of flowing fluid electric conductivity logs from Horonobe, Japan, Water Resour. Res., 44, W08403, doi:10.1029/2007WR006441, 2008.

Doughty, C. and C.-F. Tsang, Signatures in flowing fluid electric conductivity logs, Journal of Hydrology, 310, 1-4, 157-180, 2005.

Doughty, C., S. Takeuchi, K. Amano, M. Shimo, and C.-F. Tsang, Application of multi-rate flowing fluid electric conductivity logging method to Well DH-2, Tono Site, Japan, Water Resour. Res., 41, W1041, doi:10.1029/2004WR003708, 2005.

Tsang, C.-F. and C. Doughty, Multirate flowing fluid electric conductivity logging method, Water Resour. Res., 39, 12, 1354, doi:10.1029/2003WR002308, 2003.

Doughty, C. and C.-F. Tsang, BORE II - A code to compute dynamic wellbore electrical conductivity logs with multiple inflow/outflow points including the effects of horizontal flow across the well, Rep. LBL-46833, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 2000.

Tsang, C.-F., P. Hufschmied, and F.V. Hale, Determination of fracture inflow parameters with a borehole fluid conductivity logging method, Water Resources Res., 26(4), pp. 561-578, 1990.

Hale, F.V. and C.-F. Tsang, A code to compute borehole conductivity profiles from multiple feed points, Rep. LBL-24928, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 1988.

REFERENCE NUMBER: CR-1256, 1673

SEE THESE OTHER BERKELEY LAB TECHNOLOGIES IN THIS FIELD:

• Accurate Identification, Imaging and Monitoring of Fluid-Saturated Underground Reservoirs, IB-1663
• Bioremediation System for Separating Nanoparticle Waste, IB-2374
• Ferrofluids for Subsurface Flow Control and Imaging, IB-1331
• Software-Integrated System of Waterflood Surveillance and Control, IB-1588