Heater experiments in the Climax Stock, Nevada Test Site

The Climax Stock is a composite granitic intrusive at the Nevada Test Site, with an existing shaft and an open drift about 1400 ft. below the surface. In September 1977, the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory plans to operate three in-situ heater experiments in this area. The first experiment consists of a single heater surrounded by thermocouples at distances of from 1/10 to 5 meters. The close spacing will scale down the time required for useful thermal measurements. The heater, which is 3 meters long and capable of about 3 kW, will be energized for a month, turned off for a month, and the cycle repeated. The rock surface temperature in the heater hole is not expected to exceed 500 to 6000C, and the temperature beyond 0.1 m into the rock is not expected to exceed 4000C. Measurements will be taken during all four months. These measurements will be compared with numerical simulations to determine the thermal properties of the medium. The second experiment, also involving only a single heater, will be more completely instrumented to include the measurement of permeability, rock displacement, stress/strain, and possibly acoustic emission measurements. The scale of the experiment will be larger, and the heater will be energized continuously for about 4 months. The third test in the series is envisioned to be a scale-up of the second, except that multiple heaters will be used. These heaters will be energized for about a year. They will be arranged around a pillar structure left in the room to obtain information on mine stability in the presence of multiple heaters