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Thermal Expansion Coefficient Of Water

Hello Forum,

 

New poster here so please let me know if I should be looking elsewhere.

 

I'm attempting to verify TOUGH2 against an analytical solution for 2D convective flow and one of the terms is a thermal expansion coefficient of water. Does TOUGH use a fixed thermal expansion coefficient and, if so, what would that value be?

 

From looking at the documentation I suspect that there might be a different representation of the thermal expansion of water depending on the equation of state that's being used. I'm trying to use EOS to approximate the system in the analytical solution.

 

If anyone is curious, the solution I'm working from is "Free Convection From A Dyke" by Cheng and Minkowycz.

 

Thanks in advance!

Richard

2 replies

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    • Finsterle GeoConsulting
    • Stefan_Finsterle
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Richard,

    You are correct: TOUGH2 calculates water density as a function of temperature (and pressure) using accurate EOS equations, i.e., the thermal expansion coefficient is NOT a constant, but a non-linear function, which includes the sign reversal around 4 deg C.

    By coincidence, somebody asked me the very same question just a couple of days ago. I created the attached figure, showing thermal expansion coefficients for a range of temperatures and pressures, as implemented in TOUGH2.

    Best,

    Stefan

      • Richard_Simms
      • 6 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Stefan Finsterle 

      Stefan,

      Thank you for the explanation! It's very much appreciated.

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