Slug test in confined aquifers, the over-damped case: quasi-steady flow analysis

In the great majority of slug tests performed in wells fully penetrating confined geologic formations, and for over-damped conditions, the response data are evaluated with the transient-flow model of Cooper et al. (1967) when the radial hydraulic conductivity K(r) and the coefficient of specific storage S(s) are to be estimated. That particular analytical solution, however, is computationally involved and awkward to use. Thus, groundwater professionals often use a few pre-prepared type-curves to fit the data by a rough matching procedure, visually or computationally. On the other hand, the method of Hvorslev (1951), which assumes the flow to be quasi-steady, is much simpler but yields only K(r) estimates. In this work, we develop a complete quasi-steady flow model that includes a storage balance inside the aquifer and allows estimating K(r) and S(s) simultaneously, through matching of the well response data to a type-curve. The new model approximates the model of Cooper et al. closely and has the practical advantage that its solution type-curves are generated easily using an electronic spreadsheet, so that the optimal fit of data by a type-curve can be readily automated.     

Three-dimensional semi-analytical solution to groundwater flow in confined and unconfined wedge-shaped aquifers

The Laplace domain solutions have been obtained for three-dimensional groundwater flow to a well in confined and unconfined wedge-shaped aquifers. The solutions take into account partial penetration effects, instantaneous drainage or delayed yield, vertical anisotropy and the water table boundary condition. As a basis, the Laplace domain solutions for drawdown created by a point source in uniform, anisotropic confined and unconfined wedge-shaped aquifers are first derived. Then, by the principle of superposition the point source solutions are extended to the cases of partially and fully penetrating wells. Unlike the previous solution for the confined aquifer that contains improper integrals arising from the Hankel transform [Yeh HD, Chang YC. New analytical solutions for groundwater flow in wedge-shaped aquifers with various topographic boundary conditions. Adv Water Resour 2006;26:471–80], numerical evaluation of our solution is relatively easy using well known numerical Laplace inversion methods. The effects of wedge angle, pumping well location and observation point location on drawdown and the effects of partial penetration, screen location and delay index on the wedge boundary hydraulic gradient in unconfined aquifers have also been investigated. The results are presented in the form of dimensionless drawdown-time and boundary gradient-time type curves. The curves are useful for parameter identification, calculation of stream depletion rates and the assessment of water budgets in river basins.     

Optimizing separate phase light hydrocarbon recovery from contaminated unconfined aquifers

A modeling approach is presented that optimizes separate phase recovery of light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPL) for a single dual-extraction well in a homogeneous, isotropic unconfined aquifer. A simulation/regression/optimization (S/R/O) model is developed to predict, analyze, and optimize the oil recovery process. The approach combines detailed simulation, nonlinear regression, and optimization. The S/R/O model utilizes nonlinear regression equations describing system response to time-varying water pumping and oil skimming. Regression equations are developed for residual oil volume and free oil volume. The S/R/O model determines optimized time-varying (stepwise) pumping rates which minimize residual oil volume and maximize free oil recovery while causing free oil volume to decrease a specified amount. This S/R/O modeling approach implicitly immobilizes the free product plume by reversing the water table gradient while achieving containment. Application to a simple representative problem illustrates the S/R/O model utility for problem analysis and remediation design. When compared with the best steady pumping strategies, the optimal stepwise pumping strategy improves free oil recovery by 11.5% and reduces the amount of residual oil left in the system due to pumping by 15%. The S/R/O model approach offers promise for enhancing the design of free phase LNAPL recovery systems and to help in making cost-effective operation and management decisions for hydrogeologists, engineers, and regulators.     

Wellbore flow‐rate solution for a constant‐head test in two‐zone finite confined aquifers

The solution describing the wellbore flow rate in a constant‐head test integrated with an optimization approach is commonly used to analyze observed wellbore flow‐rate data for estimating the hydrogeological parameters of low‐permeability aquifers. To our knowledge, the wellbore flow‐rate solution for the constant‐head test in a two‐zone finite‐extent confined aquifer has never been reported so far in the literature. This article is first to develop a mathematical model for describing the head distribution in the two‐zone aquifer. The Laplace domain solutions for the head distributions and wellbore flow rate in a two‐zone finite confined aquifer are derived using the Laplace transform, and their corresponding time domain solutions are then obtained using the Bromwich integral method and residue theorem. These new solutions are expressed in terms of an infinite series with Bessel functions and not straightforward to calculate numerically. A large‐time solution for the wellbore flow rate is therefore developed by employing the relationship of small Laplace variable versus large time variable and L'Hospital's rule. The result shows that the large‐time solution is identical to the steady‐state solution obtained after applying the Tauberian theorem into the Laplace domain solution. This large‐time solution can reduce to the Thiem equation in the case of no skin. Finally, the newly developed solution is used to investigate the effects of outer boundary distance and conductivity ratio on the wellbore flow rate. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tracer mass recovery in fractured aquifers estimated from multiple well tests

Forced-gradient tracer tests in fractured aquifers often report low mass recoveries. In fractured aquifers, fractures intersected by one borehole may not be intersected by another. As a result (1) injected tracer can follow pathways away from the withdrawal well causing low mass recovery and (2) recovered water can follow pathways not connected to the injection well causing significant tracer dilution. These two effects occur along with other forms of apparent mass loss. If the strength of the connection between wells and the amount of dilution can be predicted ahead of time, tracer tests can be designed to optimize mass recovery and dilution. A technique is developed to use hydraulic tests in fractured aquifers to calculate the conductance (strength of connection) between well pairs and to predict mass recovery and amount of dilution during forced gradient tracer tests. Flow is considered to take place through conduits, which connect the wells to each other and to distant sources or sinks. Mass recovery is related to the proportion of flow leaving the injection well and arriving at the withdrawal well, and dilution is related to the proportion of the flow from the withdrawal well that is derived from the injection well. The technique can be used to choose well pairs for tracer tests, what injection and withdrawal rates to use, and which direction to establish the hydraulic gradient to maximize mass recovery and/or minimize dilution. The method is applied to several tracer tests in fractured aquifers in the Clare Valley, South Australia.     

Two-dimensional stochastic analysis of flow in leaky confined aquifers subject to spatial and periodic leakage

This paper addresses the issue of flow in heterogeneous leaky confined aquifers subject to leakage. The leakage into the confined aquifer is driven by spatial and periodic fluctuations of water table in an overlying phreatic aquifer. The introduction of leakage leads to non-uniformity in the mean head gradient and results in nonstationarity in hydraulic head and velocity fields. Therefore, a nonstationary spectral approach based on Fourier–Stieltjes representations for the perturbed quantities is adopted to account for the spatial variability of nonstationary head fields. Closed-form expressions for the variances of hydraulic head and specific discharge are developed in terms of statistical properties of hydraulic parameters. The results indicate that the spatiotemporal variations in leakage leads to enhanced variability of the hydraulic head and of the specific discharge, which increase with distance from any arbitrary reference point. The coefficient of leakage and the spatial structure of log transmissivity field and of the amplitude of water table fluctuation are critical in quantifying the variability of the hydraulic head and of the specific discharge.     

Multitracer test approach to characterize reactive transport in karst aquifers

A method to estimate reactive transport parameters as well as geometric conduit parameters from a multitracer test in a karst aquifer is provided. For this purpose, a calibration strategy was developed applying the two-region nonequilibrium model CXTFIT. The ambiguity of the model calibration was reduced by first calibrating the model with respect to conservative tracer breakthrough and later transferring conservative transport parameters to the reactive model calibration. The reactive transport parameters were only allowed to be within a defined sensible range to get reasonable calibration values. This calibration strategy was applied to breakthrough curves obtained from a large-scale multitracer test, which was performed in a karst aquifer of the Swabian Alb, Germany. The multitracer test was conducted by the simultaneous injection of uranine, sulforhodamine G, and tinopal CBS-X. The model succeeds to represent the tracer breakthrough curves (TBCs) of uranine and sulforhodamine G and verifies that tracer-rock interactions preferably occur in the immobile fluid region, although the fraction of this region amounts to only 3.5% of the total water. However, the model failed to account for the long tailing observed in the TBC of tinopal CBS-X. Sensitivity analyses reveal that model results for the conservative tracer transport are most sensitive to average velocity and volume fraction of the mobile fluid region, while dispersion and mass transfer coefficients are least influential. Consequently, reactive tracer calibration allows the determination of sorption sites in the mobile and immobile fluid region at small retardation coefficients.     

Two-dimensional physical-based inversion of confined and unconfined aquifers under unknown boundary conditions

An inverse method is developed to simultaneously estimate multiple hydraulic conductivities, source/sink strengths, and boundary conditions, for two-dimensional confined and unconfined aquifers under non-pumping or pumping conditions. The method incorporates noisy observed data (hydraulic heads, groundwater fluxes, or well rates) at measurement locations. With a set of hybrid formulations, given sufficient measurement data, the method yields well-posed systems of equations that can be solved efficiently via nonlinear optimization. The solution is stable when measurement errors are increased. The method is successfully tested on problems with regular and irregular geometries, different heterogeneity patterns and variances (maximum K_max/K_min tested is 10,000), and error magnitudes. Under non-pumping conditions, when error-free observed data are used, the estimated conductivities and recharge rates are accurate within 8% of the true values. When data contain increasing errors, the estimated parameters become less accurate, as expected. For problems where the underlying parameter variation is unknown, equivalent conductivities and average recharge rates can be estimated. Under pumping (and/or injection) conditions, a hybrid formulation is developed to address these local source/sink effects, while different types of boundary conditions can also exert significant influences on drawdowns. Local grid refinement near wells is not needed to obtain accurate results, thus inversion is successful with coarse inverse grids, leading to high computation efficiency. Furthermore, flux measurements are not needed for the inversion to succeed; data requirement of the method is thus not much different from that of interpreting classic well tests. Finally, inversion accuracy is not sensitive to the degree of nonlinearity of the flow equations. Performance of the inverse method for confined and unconfined aquifer problems is similar in terms of the accuracy of the estimated parameters, the recovered head fields, and the solver speed.     

Pumping test in a confined aquifer under tidal influence

In a coastal environment, tide-induced head fluctuations can complicate the interpretation of drawdown data from pumping tests. For confined aquifers and sinusoidal tides, the superposition principle can be used to obtain a closed-form solution. After subtracting the net tidal effects, the drawdown data become amenable to the standard analyses. Numerical simulations have shown that the method is reliable when the distance of the monitoring well to the well does not exceed 10% of the distance between the well and the tidal boundary.     

地应力测量的非弹性应变恢复法及应用实例

岩芯非弹性应变恢复法是近年来发展起来的比较经济有效的深部地应力测量方法,汶川5.12地震后,我国大陆首次将该方法应用于汶川地震断裂带科学钻的地应力测量.本文简述了该方法的原理、计算方法和汶川地震科学钻一号孔的典型结果.给出了一号孔在所测深度之处的三个主应力的大小和方向.三个主应力中,最大主应力和中间主应力近于水平,最小主应力近于直立.最大主应力方向为北西.在746 m深度,三个主应力的大小为25.2 MPa,21.5 MPa,18.5 MPa.这种应力状态可使龙门山断层产生逆冲兼右行走滑运动,与汶川5.12地震的断层运动一致.该方法得到的结果与震源机制解及其他地应力测量方法得到的结果吻合.测量结果表明,非弹性应变恢复法具有较大的实用价值.特别是在较大深度的钻孔和地层较破碎的复杂地质条件下,应力解除法、水压致裂法等难以实施时,此方法仍有可能获得较可靠的地应力数据,适应性更强.     

High-resolution Electrical Resistivity Tomography monitoring of a tracer test in a confined aquifer

A permanent geoelectrical subsurface imaging system has been installed at a contaminated land site to monitor changes in groundwater quality after the completion of a remediation programme. Since the resistivities of earth materials are sensitive to the presence of contaminants and their break-down products, 4-dimensional resistivity imaging can act as a surrogate monitoring technology for tracking and visualising changes in contaminant concentrations at much higher spatial and temporal resolution than manual intrusive investigations. The test site, a municipal car park built on a former gasworks, had been polluted by a range of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and dissolved phase contaminants. It was designated statutory contaminated land under Part IIA of the UK Environmental Protection Act due to the risk of polluting an underlying minor aquifer. Resistivity monitoring zones were established on the boundaries of the site by installing vertical electrode arrays in purpose-drilled boreholes. After a year of monitoring data had been collected, a tracer test was performed to investigate groundwater flow velocity and to demonstrate rapid volumetric monitoring of natural attenuation processes. A saline tracer was injected into the confined aquifer, and its motion and evolution were visualised directly in high-resolution tomographic images in near real-time. Breakthrough curves were calculated from independent resistivity measurements, and the estimated seepage velocities from the monitoring images and the breakthrough curves were found to be in good agreement with each other and with estimates based on the piezometric gradient and assumed material parameters.     

Estimation of seawater retreat timescales in homogeneous and confined coastal aquifers based on dimensional analysis

Reliable estimation of the timescales of seawater retreat (SWR) in coastal aquifers has significant implications for sustainable groundwater management in coastal areas. Due to the complexity of coastal dynamics, analytical estimates of SWR timescales are limited in number, and numerical models are mainly utilized. Although numerical models allow for accurate analysis of the coastal systems, they concern particular aquifer cases, thus their results are not generally applicable. Here, we perform a dimensional analysis for the depth-integrated freshwater/seawater continuity equations and identify the dimensionless parameters that affect SWR in confined, homogeneous and flux-controlled aquifers. Based on numerical simulations, we gain insight into how these parameters affect SWR, and produce type curves which can be used as a simple tool for estimating SWR timescales in idealized coastal systems, independent of the hydraulic and geometric characteristics of the aquifer. The reliability of our estimates in real-world applications is also discussed.     

Performance of the steady-state dipole flow test in layered aquifers

Steady-state numerical simulations of the dipole flow test in layered aquifers demonstrate that the test produces a good estimate of the equivalent hydraulic conductivity anisotropy ratio for the part of the aquifer spanned by the well chambers. The effects of chamber size, different conductivity of layers and layer location on the estimated anisotropy ratios are presented. The steady-state dipole flow test, when performed at different levels in the well, can yield estimates of the down-hole anisotropy ratio distribution. Numerical simulations also illustrate that the skin effect can significantly distort the anisotropy estimates produced by the dipole flow test. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Some analytical solutions for sensitivity of well tests to variations in storativity and transmissivity

The theory of a pumping test or a slug test to measure aquifer transmissivity or storativity assumes that the aquifer properties are uniform around the well. The response of the drawdown to small spatial variations in aquifer properties in the volume of influence is determined by spatial weighting functions or Fréchet kernels, which in general are functions of space and time. The Fréchet kernels determine the effective “volume of influence” of the measurements at any time. Under the assumption that the well is a line sink we derive explicit analytical expressions for the Fréchet kernels for storativity and for transmissivity for both pumping and slug tests. We also derive the total sensitivity functions for uniform variations in storativity and transmissivity and show that they are the spatial integrals of the Fréchet kernels. We consider both the case of separate pumping and observation wells and also the radially symmetric case of observations made at the pumped or slugged well. The “volume of influence” is symmetric with respect to the pumping or slugged well and the observation well, and far from the well the contours of equal spatial sensitivity approach the shapes of ellipses with a well at each focus, rather than circles centered on the pumping well. We use the analytical solutions to investigate the nature of the singularities in the spatial sensitivity functions around the wells, which govern the importance of inhomogeneities close to the well or observation point.     

Time–space fractional governing equations of transient groundwater flow in confined aquifers: Numerical investigation

In order to model non‐Fickian transport behaviour in groundwater aquifers, various forms of the time–space fractional advection–dispersion equation have been developed and used by several researchers in the last decade. The solute transport in groundwater aquifers in fractional time–space takes place by means of an underlying groundwater flow field. However, the governing equations for such groundwater flow in fractional time–space are yet to be developed in a comprehensive framework. In this study, a finite difference numerical scheme based on Caputo fractional derivative is proposed to investigate the properties of a newly developed time–space fractional governing equations of transient groundwater flow in confined aquifers in terms of the time–space fractional mass conservation equation and the time–space fractional water flux equation. Here, we apply these time–space fractional governing equations numerically to transient groundwater flow in a confined aquifer for different boundary conditions to explore their behaviour in modelling groundwater flow in fractional time–space. The numerical results demonstrate that the proposed time–space fractional governing equation for groundwater flow in confined aquifers may provide a new perspective on modelling groundwater flow and on interpreting the dynamics of groundwater level fluctuations. Additionally, the numerical results may imply that the newly derived fractional groundwater governing equation may help explain the observed heavy‐tailed solute transport behaviour in groundwater flow by incorporating nonlocal or long‐range dependence of the underlying groundwater flow field.     

用于弹性波方程数值模拟的有限差分系数确定方法

有限差分方法是波场数值模拟的一个重要方法,交错网格差分格式比规则网格差分格式稳定性更好,但方法本身都存在因网格化而形成的数值频散效应,这会降低波场模拟的精度与分辨率.为了缓解有限差分算子的数值频散效应,精确求解空间偏导数,本文把求解波动方程的线性化方法推广到用于求解弹性波方程交错网格有限差分系数;同时应用最大最小准则作为模拟退火(SA)优化算法求解差分系数的数值频散误差判定标准来求解有限差分系数.通过上述两种方法,分别利用均匀各向同性介质和复杂构造模型进行了数值正演模拟和数值频散分析,并与传统泰勒展开算法、最小二乘算法进行比较,验证了线性化方法和模拟退火方法都能有效压制数值频散,并比较了各个算法的特点.     

Joint simulation of transmissivity and storativity fields conditional to steady-state and transient hydraulic head data

The self-calibrated method has been extended for the generation of equally likely realizations of transmissivity and storativity conditional to transmissivity and storativity data and to steady-state and transient hydraulic head data. Conditioning to transmissivity and storativity data is achieved by means of standard geostatistical co-simulation algorithms, whereas conditioning to hydraulic head data, given its non-linear relation to transmissivity and storativity, is achieved through non-linear optimization, similar to standard inverse algorithms. The algorithm is demonstrated in a synthetic study based on data from the WIPP site in New Mexico. Seven alternative scenarios are investigated, generating 100 realizations for each of them. The differences among the scenarios range from the number of conditioning data, to their spatial configuration, to the pumping strategies at the pumping wells. In all scenarios, the self-calibrated algorithm is able to generate transmissivity–storativity realization couples conditional to all the sample data. For the specific case studied here the results are not surprising. Of the piezometric head data, the steady-state values are the most consequential for transmissivity characterization. Conditioning to transient head data only introduces local adjustments on the transmissivity fields and serves to improve the characterization of the storativity fields.     

An analytical solution for the head distribution in a tidal leaky confined aquifer extending an infinite distance under the sea

A mathematical model is developed to investigate the effects of tidal fluctuations and leakage on the groundwater head of leaky confined aquifer extending an infinite distance under the sea. The leakages of the offshore and inland aquitards are two dominant factors controlling the groundwater fluctuation. The tidal influence distance from the coast decreases significantly with the dimensionless leakage of the inland aquitard (u_i). The fluctuation of groundwater level in the inland part of the leaky confined aquifer increases significantly with the dimensionless leakage of the offshore aquitard (u_o). The influence of the tidal propagation parameter of an unconfined aquifer on the head fluctuation of the leaky confined aquifer is comparatively conspicuous when u_i is large and u_o is small. In other words, ignoring water table fluctuation of the unconfined aquifer will give large errors in predicting the fluctuation, time lag, and tidal influence distance of the leaky confined aquifer for large u_i and small u_o. On the contrary, the influence of the tidal propagation parameter of a leaky confined aquifer on the head fluctuation of the leaky confined aquifer is large for large u_o and small u_i.