Analytical and Numerical Modeling of Flow in a Fractured Gneiss Aquifer

Investigating and modeling fluid flow in fractured aquifers is a challenge. This study presents the results of a series of packer tests conducted in a fractured aquifer in Freiberg, Germany, where gneiss is the dominant rock type. Two methods were applied to acquire hydraulic properties from the packer tests: analytical and numerical modeling. MLU (Multi-Layer Unsteady state) for Windows is the analytical model that was applied. ANSYS-FLOTRAN was used to build a two-dimensional numerical model of the geometry of the layered aquifer. A reasonable match between experimental data and simulated data was achieved with the 2D numerical model while the solution from the analytical model revealed significant deviations with respect to direction.