Effect of mineral reactions on the hydraulic properties of unsaturated soils: Model development and application

The selective radius shift model was used to relate changes in mineral volume due to precipitation/dissolution reactions to changes in hydraulic properties affecting flow in porous media. The model accounts for (i) precipitation/dissolution taking place only in the water-filled part of the pore space and further that (ii) the amount of mineral precipitation/dissolution within a pore depends on the local pore volume. The pore bundle concept was used to connect pore-scale changes to macroscopic soil hydraulic properties. Precipitation/dissolution induces changes in the pore radii of water-filled pores and, consequently, in the effective porosity. In a time step of the numerical model, mineral reactions lead to a discontinuous pore-size distribution because only the water-filled pores are affected. The pore-size distribution is converted back to a soil moisture characteristic function to which a new water retention curve is fitted under physically plausible constraints. The model equations were derived for the commonly used van Genuchten/Mualem hydraulic properties. Together with a mixed-form solution of Richards’ equation for aqueous phase flow, the model was implemented into the geochemical modelling framework PHREEQC, thereby making available PHREEQC’s comprehensive geochemical reactions. Example applications include kinetic halite dissolution and calcite precipitation as a consequence of cation exchange. These applications showed marked changes in the soil’s hydraulic properties due to mineral precipitation/dissolution and the dependency of these changes on water contents. The simulations also revealed the strong influence of the degree of saturation on the development of the saturated hydraulic conductivity through its quadratic dependency on the van Genuchten parameter α. Furthermore, it was shown that the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity at fixed reduced water content can even increase during precipitation due to changes in the pore-size distribution.     

From the pore scale to the lab scale: 3-D lab experiment and numerical simulation of drainage in heterogeneous porous media

A well-controlled 3-D experiment with pre-defined block heterogeneities is conducted, where neutron tomography is used to map 3-D water distribution after two successive drainage steps. The material and hydraulic properties of the two sands are first measured in the laboratory with multistep outflow experiments. Additionally, the pore structure of the sands is acquired by means of image analysis of synchrotron tomography data and the structure is used for pore-scale simulation of one- and two-phase flow with Lattice-Boltzmann methods. This gives us another set of material and hydraulic parameters of the sands. The two sets of hydraulic properties (from the lab scale and from the pore scale) are then used in numerical simulations of the 3-D experiment.     

Using a pore‐scale model to quantify the effect of particle re‐arrangement on pore structure and hydraulic properties

A pore‐scale model based on measured particle size distributions has been used to quantify the changes in pore space geometry of packed soil columns resulting from a dilution in electrolyte concentration from 500 to 1 mmol l^?1 NaCl during leaching. This was applied to examine the effects of particle release and re‐deposition on pore structure and hydraulic properties. Two different soils, an agricultural soil and a mining residue, were investigated with respect to the change in hydraulic properties. The mining residue was much more affected by this process with the water saturated hydraulic conductivity decreasing to 0·4% of the initial value and the air‐entry value changing from 20 to 50 cm. For agricultural soil, there was little detectable shift in the water retention curve but the saturated hydraulic conductivity decreased to 8·5% of the initial value. This was attributed to localized pore clogging (similar to a surface seal) affecting hydraulic conductivity, but not the microscopically measured pore‐size distribution or water retention. We modelled the soil structure at the pore scale to explain the different responses of the two soils to the experimental conditions. The size of the pores was determined as a function of deposited clay particles. The modal pore size of the agricultural soil as indicated by the constant water retention curve was 45 µm and was not affected by the leaching process. In the case of the mining residue, the mode changed from 75 to 45 µm. This reduction of pore size corresponds to an increase of capillary forces that is related to the measured shift of the water retention curve. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Unsaturated water flow across soil aggregate contacts

Unsaturated water flow through soil aggregates is controlled by the contacts between aggregates. The contacts are highly conductive when wet and become bottle-necks for flow when drained. We postulate that the hydraulic conductivity of the contacts is in first place determined by the water-filled contact area. The objective of this study was to measure and model the water-filled contact area and to relate it to the conductivity of a series of aggregates. We performed microscopic tomography of an aggregate pair equilibrated at different water potentials. By means of image analysis and a morphological pore network model, the water-filled contact area was calculated. We found that the aggregate surface is rough and the contact region contains macropores which are rapidly drained. As a consequence the water-filled contact area dramatically decreases as the water potential is diminished. We modeled this process by describing the aggregates as spheres covered by much smaller spheres representing the roughness. The water-filled contact was analytically calculated from this model. Knowing the water-filled contact area we up-scale the hydraulic conductivity of a series of aggregates. This is calculated as the harmonic mean of the contact and aggregate conductivities. The contact conductivity is calculated from the water-filled contact area. Near saturation the conductivity of a series of aggregates is close to the conductivity of a single aggregate, and, when further drained, it rapidly decreases as the water-filled contact area. The model matches the experimental data well.     

Influence of pore size and geometry on peat unsaturated hydraulic conductivity computed from 3D computed tomography image analysis

In organic soils, hydraulic conductivity is related to the degree of decomposition and soil compression, which reduce the effective pore diameter and consequently restrict water flow. This study investigates how the size distribution and geometry of air‐filled pores control the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of peat soils using high‐resolution (45 µm) three‐dimensional (3D) X‐ray computed tomography (CT) and digital image processing of four peat sub‐samples from varying depths under a constant soil water pressure head. Pore structure and configuration in peat were found to be irregular, with volume and cross‐sectional area showing fractal behaviour that suggests pores having smaller values of the fractal dimension in deeper, more decomposed peat, have higher tortuosity and lower connectivity, which influences hydraulic conductivity. The image analysis showed that the large reduction of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity with depth is essentially controlled by air‐filled pore hydraulic radius, tortuosity, air‐filled pore density and the fractal dimension due to degree of decomposition and compression of the organic matter. The comparisons between unsaturated hydraulic conductivity computed from the air‐filled pore size and geometric distribution showed satisfactory agreement with direct measurements using the permeameter method. This understanding is important in characterizing peat properties and its heterogeneity for monitoring the progress of complex flow processes at the field scale in peatlands. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of non divergence-free velocity fields on field scale ground water solute transport

Solute plume subjected to field scale hydraulic conductivity heterogeneity shows a large dispersion/macrodispersion, which is the manifestation of existing fields scale heterogeneity on the solute plume. On the other hand, due to the scarcity of hydraulic conductivity measurements at field scale, hydraulic conductivity heterogeneity can only be defined statistically, which makes the hydraulic conductivity a random variable/function. Random hydraulic conductivity as a parameter in flow equation makes the pore flow velocity also random and the ground water solute transport equation is a stochastic differential equation now. In this study, the ensemble average of stochastic ground water solute transport equation is taken by the cumulant expansion method in order to upscale the laboratory scale transport equation to field scale by assuming pore flow velocity is a non stationary, non divergence-free and unsteady random function of space and time. Besides the stochastic explanation of macrodispersion and the velocity correction term obtained by Kavvas and Karakas (J Hydrol 179:321–351, 1996) before a new velocity correction term, which is a function of mean pore flow velocity divergence, is obtained in this study due to strict second order cumulant expansion (without omitting any term after the expansion) performed. The significance of the new velocity correction term is investigated on a one dimensional transport problem driven by a density dependent flow field.     

Pedotransfer functions estimating soil hydraulic properties using different soil parameters

Estimates of soil hydraulic properties using pedotransfer functions (PTF) are useful in many studies such as hydrochemical modelling and soil mapping. The objective of this study was to calibrate and test parametric PTFs that predict soil water retention and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity parameters. The PTFs are based on neural networks and the Bootstrap method using different sets of predictors and predict the van Genuchten/Mualem parameters. A Danish soil data set (152 horizons) dominated by sandy and sandy loamy soils was used in the development of PTFs to predict the Mualem hydraulic conductivity parameters. A larger data set (1618 horizons) with a broader textural range was used in the development of PTFs to predict the van Genuchten parameters. The PTFs using either three or seven textural classes combined with soil organic mater and bulk density gave the most reliable predictions of the hydraulic properties of the studied soils. We found that introducing measured water content as a predictor generally gave lower errors for water retention predictions and higher errors for conductivity predictions. The best of the developed PTFs for predicting hydraulic conductivity was tested against PTFs from the literature using a subdata set of the data used in the calibration. The test showed that the developed PTFs gave better predictions (lower errors) than the PTFs from the literature. This is not surprising since the developed PTFs are based mainly on hydraulic conductivity data near saturation and sandier soils than the PTFs from the literature. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Inverse upscaling of hydraulic parameters during constant flux infiltration using borehole radar

Modeling unsaturated flow in porous media requires constitutive relations that describe the soil water retention and soil hydraulic conductivity as a function of either potential or water content. Often, the hydraulic parameters that describe these relations are directly measured on small soil cores, and many cores are needed to upscale to the entire heterogeneous flow field. An alternative to the forward upscaling method using small samples are inverse upscaling methods that incorporate soft data from geophysical measurements observed directly on the larger flow field. In this paper, we demonstrate that the hydraulic parameters can be obtained from cross borehole ground penetrating radar by measuring the first arrival travel time of electromagnetic waves (represented by raypaths) from stationary antennae during a constant flux infiltration experiment. The formulation and coupling of the hydrological and geophysical models rely on a constant velocity wetting front that causes critical refraction at the edge of the front as it passes by the antennae. During this critical refraction period, the slope of the first arrival data can be used to calculate (1) the wetting velocity and (2) the hydraulic conductivity of the wet (or saturated) soil. If the soil is undersaturated during infiltration, then an estimate of the saturated water content is needed before calculating the saturated hydraulic conductivity. The hydraulic conductivity value is then used in a nonlinear global optimization scheme to estimate the remaining two parameters of a Broadbridge and White soil.     

Petrophysical characterization of porous media starting from micro-tomographic images

A quasi-static scheme based on pore space spatial statistics is presented to simulate pore-scale two-phase capillary-dominant displacement processes. The algorithm is coupled with computational fluid dynamics in order to evaluate saturation functions. Wettability heterogeneity in partial and fractional/mixed-wet media is implemented using a contact angle map. The simulation process is pixel-wised and performed directly on binary images. Bypassing and snap-off are tackled as non-wetting phase trapping mechanisms. Post-processing results include residual saturations, effective permeability and capillary pressure curves for drainage and imbibition scenarios. The primary advantages of the proposed workflow are eliminating pore space skeletisation/ discretization, superior time efficiency and minimal numerical drawbacks when compared to other direct or network-based simulation techniques.     

Evaluating the effect of using artificial pore water on the quality of laboratory hydraulic conductivity measurements of peat

Pore dilation, the compaction of humic acids on peat fibres due to the process of flocculation, causes the hydraulic conductivity of peat to increase with increasing pore water electrical conductivity. This is a reversible process and a reduction in the pore water conductivity produces a decrease in the hydraulic conductivity due to the constriction of pores. We verify how this dilation and constriction of pores, resulting from the application of artificial pore water (primarily deionized water), affects laboratory measurements of the hydraulic conductivity of peat. Repeat measurements of the hydraulic conductivity were performed on samples of Sphagnum peat. It is shown that the application of deionized water during constant head permeameter tests causes a significant decrease in the hydraulic conductivity. Between tests, the hydraulic conductivity of the peat continues to decline without an associate decrease in the pore water electrical conductivity because of a lagged pore constriction effect. We suggest that the use of artificially high or low pore water electrical conductivities, during laboratory hydraulic conductivity measurements, is likely to lead to significant errors. Experimental protocols must, therefore, be revised to take better account of the pore water chemistry. The ionic concentrations of the natural pore fluid should be replicated during hydraulic conductivity tests, either by using pore fluid extracted from the study site or by artificially replicating the major ionic composition of the natural pore fluid. In addition, prior to the hydraulic conductivity measurements, peat samples should be flushed with this solution until the hydraulic conductivity stabilizes and the samples subsequently allowed to equilibrate. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of conservation practices in sloped croplands on soil hydraulic properties and root‐zone moisture dynamics

Rain‐induced erosion and short‐term drought are the two factors that limit the productivity of croplands in the red soil region of subtropical China. The objective of this study was to estimate the effects of conservation practices on hydraulic properties and root‐zone water dynamics of the soil. A 3‐year experiment was performed on a slope at Xianning. Four treatments were evaluated for their ability to reduce soil erosion and improve soil water conditions. Compared with no practices (CK) and living grass strips (GS), the application of polyacrylamide (PAM) significantly reduced soil crust formation during intense rainfall, whereas rice straw mulching (SM) completely abolished soil crust formation. The SM and PAM treatments improved soil water‐stable aggregates, with a redistribution of micro‐aggregates into macro‐aggregates. PAM and SM significantly increased the soil water‐holding capacity. These practices mitigated the degradation of the soil saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) during intense rainfalls. These methods increased soil water storage but with limited effects during heavy rainfalls in the wet period. In contrast, during the dry period, SM had the highest soil water storage, followed by PAM and CK. Grass strips had the lowest soil water storage because of the water uptake during the vigorous grass growth. A slight decline in the soil moisture resulted in a significant decrease in the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity (Ku) of the topsoil. Therefore, the hydraulic conductivity in the field is governed by soil moisture, and the remaining soil moisture is more important than improving soil properties to resist short‐term droughts. As a result, SM is the most effective management practice when compared with PAM and GS, although they all protect the soil hydraulic properties during wet periods. These results suggest that mulching is the best strategy for water management in erosion‐threatened and drought‐threatened red soils. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An experimental investigation of nitrogen gas produced during denitrification

In situ denitrification relies on indigenous microorganisms to reduce nitrate to N(2) gas. However, when initial nitrate concentrations are large, produced gas volumes also can be very large, potentially resulting in reduced water saturation and hydraulic conductivity in the treatment zone. In this study, we investigated the fate of N(2) and other gases produced during denitrification in a laboratory flow cell containing packed sediment. Denitrifying activity was stimulated by additions of nitrate and ethanol. Microbial activity was monitored by measuring nitrate, nitrite, and ethanol concentrations; gas saturations were measured during the experiment using a gamma imaging system. Biomass was measured using phospholipid fatty acid analysis of sediment samples. Bioenergetic calculations calibrated to measured nitrate consumed and biomass produced predicted that 1.2 L N(2) gas/L water should have been produced following the addition of 100 mM nitrate. However, the maximum measured gas saturation was only 23%, indicating substantial gas loss from the sediment pack. Temporal gamma images and visual observations confirm that small gas bubbles formed in the sediment pack coalesced into larger bubbles and migrated upward through gas-filled channels to the sediment pack surface. Although gas saturations increased, there was no significant change in sediment pack hydraulic conductivity. These results suggest that in permeable reactive barriers used for in situ denitrification, gas production will not necessarily lead to unlimited gas accumulation in the pore space and that the effects of gas production on water saturation and hydraulic conductivity may be relatively minor.     

A partial explanation of the dependency of hydraulic conductivity on positive pore water pressure in peat soils

Part of the relationship between positive pore water pressures and hydraulic conductivity in peat soils may be explained by accumulations of methane bubbles. We show how compression and expansion of gas bubbles with changes in pore water pressure could cause changes in hydraulic conductivity and thus help to explain some observations of dependency of hydraulic conductivity in peats on pore water pressure. Consideration is also given to the effect on hydraulic conductivities of methane gas going into solution with increase in pore water pressure.     

Seismic passive resistance with vertical seepage and surcharge

Present paper focuses on the computation of the seismic passive earth pressure acting on a vertical rigid retaining wall by a soil mass subjected to vertical steady-state seepage and a uniform surcharge load. Based on the basic assumptions of Coulomb's theory and a pseudo-static method of analysis, a general solution for the passive earth pressure containing two coefficients is presented. In the solution, many parameters, such as unit weight of saturated soil, soil effective internal friction angle, soil/wall friction angle, water/soil unit weight ratio, surcharge intensity coefficient, horizontal and vertical seismic acceleration coefficients, Poisson's ratio of soil mass, hydraulic gradient, and coefficients of pore water pressure, are considered. The effects of hydraulic gradient and seismic forces on passive earth pressure coefficient and passive earth pressure distribution are investigated. The results indicate that passive earth pressure increases with increasing hydraulic gradient for downward water flow case, but decreases for upward water flow case, and that the presence of seismic forces induces a reduction in passive earth pressure.     

Dynamics of deformation and water flow in heterogeneous porous media and its impact on soil properties

The interaction of geomechanics and flow within a soil body induces deformation and pore pressure change. Deformation may change hydrogeological and elastic properties, which alters the mechanical behaviour and results in non‐linearity. To investigate this interaction effect in a heterogeneous porous medium, a stochastic poroelastic model is proposed. Monte Carlo simulations are performed to determine the mean and uncertainty of the parameter changes, displacement, and change in pore water pressure. Hydraulic conductivity is treated as the only random variable in the coupled geomechanics‐flow system due to its large variation compared to other mechanical and hydrogeological properties in natural environments. The three considered non‐linear models for the interaction between parameters and deformation are those that consider (1) porosity and hydraulic conductivity; (2) porosity and Young's modulus; and (3) a combined effect that includes porosity, hydraulic conductivity, and Young's modulus. Boundary effects on the coupled system are also explored. The relationships between changes of porosity, hydraulic conductivity, and Young's modulus are analytically shown to be non‐linear. Among the considered parameters, the deformation effect induces the largest reduction in hydraulic conductivity. The deformation‐induced change in hydraulic conductivity shows the most significant effect on the mean and variance of the change in pore water pressure and displacement, while changes in Young's modulus have the least effect. When the deformation effect is considered, the superposition relationship does not exist in the mean displacement and mean change in pore water pressure for the three scenarios considered; it exists for the case without deformation effects. Deformation also causes a reduction in the effective hydraulic conductivity for the whole domain. The scenario that considers both loading and discharge boundaries has larger changes in hydrogeological and geo‐mechanical parameters than those in scenarios that consider loading and discharge boundaries separately. The results indicate that the interaction between deformation and changes in parameters has a profound effect on the poroelastic system. The effect of deformation should thus be considered in modelling and practice. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Salinity‐induced increase of the hydraulic conductivity in the hyporheic zone of coastal wetlands

In coastal zones globally, salinization is rapidly taking place due to the combined effects of sea level rise, land subsidence, altered hydrology, and climate change. Although increased salinity levels are known to have a great impact on both biogeochemical and hydrological processes in aquatic sediments, only few studies have included both types of processes and their potential interactions. In the present paper, we used a controlled 3‐year experimental mesocosm approach to test salinity induced interactions and discuss mechanisms explaining the observed hydrological changes. Surface water salinity was experimentally increased from 14 to 140 mmol Cl per L (0.9 and 9 PSU) by adding sea salt which increased pore water salinity but also increased sulfate reduction rates, leading to higher sulfide, and lower methane concentrations. By analyzing slug test data with different slug test analysis methods, we were able to show that hydraulic conductivity of the hyporheic zone increased 2.8 times by salinization. Based on our hydrological and biogeochemical measurements, we conclude that the combination of pore dilation and decreased methane production rates were major controls on the observed increase in hydraulic conductivity. The slug test analysis method comparison allowed to conclude that the adjusted Bouwer and Rice method results in the most reliable estimate of the hydraulic conductivity for hyporheic zones. Our work shows that both physical and biogeochemical processes are vital to explain and predict hydrological changes related to the salinization of hyporheic zones in coastal wetlands and provides a robust methodological approach for doing so.     

Simulation of infiltration from porous clay pipe in subsurface irrigation

Abstract

Advances in the traditional method of subsurface porous clay pipe irrigation rely on knowledge of the distribution of water in the soil. Knowing the relationships among the hydraulic and physical parameters in the system is important for both the design and management of the system. To simulate the infiltration from the porous clay pipe and predict the wetted zone geometry in the soil, a computer model is developed herein. Laboratory experiments were conducted on soil samples representing two different soil textures in a specially designed bin to understand the flow phenomenon and to validate the developed model. In a given soil texture, the installation depth of the pipe and the volume of water applied in the soil are the major factors affecting the wetted zone. The relationships among various parameters, namely lateral spacing, installation depth, irrigation run time, hydraulic conductivity of the body of the pipe, and hydraulic head in the system, were established using the developed model.     

Intercomparison of 3D pore-scale flow and solute transport simulation methods

Multiple numerical approaches have been developed to simulate porous media fluid flow and solute transport at the pore scale. These include 1) methods that explicitly model the three-dimensional geometry of pore spaces and 2) methods that conceptualize the pore space as a topologically consistent set of stylized pore bodies and pore throats. In previous work we validated a model of the first type, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes employing a standard finite volume method (FVM), against magnetic resonance velocimetry (MRV) measurements of pore-scale velocities. Here we expand that validation to include additional models of the first type based on the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) and smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), as well as a model of the second type, a pore-network model (PNM). The PNM approach used in the current study was recently improved and demonstrated to accurately simulate solute transport in a two-dimensional experiment. While the PNM approach is computationally much less demanding than direct numerical simulation methods, the effect of conceptualizing complex three-dimensional pore geometries on solute transport in the manner of PNMs has not been fully determined. We apply all four approaches (FVM-based CFD, LBM, SPH and PNM) to simulate pore-scale velocity distributions and (for capable codes) nonreactive solute transport, and intercompare the model results. Comparisons are drawn both in terms of macroscopic variables (e.g., permeability, solute breakthrough curves) and microscopic variables (e.g., local velocities and concentrations). Generally good agreement was achieved among the various approaches, but some differences were observed depending on the model context. The intercomparison work was challenging because of variable capabilities of the codes, and inspired some code enhancements to allow consistent comparison of flow and transport simulations across the full suite of methods. This study provides support for confidence in a variety of pore-scale modeling methods and motivates further development and application of pore-scale simulation methods.