Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2011
Brine flow has been measured to unheated boreholes for periods of a few days and to heated holes for two years in the WIPP facility. It is proposed that Darcy flow may dominate the observed influx of brine. Exact solutions to a linearized model for one-dimensional, radial flow are evaluated for conditions approximating the field experiments. Flow rates of the correct order of magnitude are calculated for permeabilities in the range 10−21–1020 m2 (1–10 nanodarcy) for both the unheated and heated cases.