Winner AGS NSW Research Award 2016: Establishing a practical framework to predict heat and contaminant transfer in fractured geological media

This paper investigates the mechanisms that govern the transfer of heat or spread of contaminants through fractured geological media. The focus is on understanding the influence of the rock and soil microstructure on the transfer dynamics. Based on the results of recent numerical and analytical findings, a general framework to predict the rate of transfers in fractured geological media is introduced. This framework may potentially aid the assessment of groundwater contamination risks as well as inform the design of improved processes such as geothermal heat recovery techniques.