An analytical model for chemical diffusion in layered contaminated sediment systems with bioreactive caps

An analytical model for contaminant transport in multilayered capped contaminated sediments including the degradation of organic contaminant is presented. The effect of benthic boundary layer was treated as a Robin-type boundary condition. The results of the proposed analytical model agree well with experimental data. The biodegradation of contaminant in bioturbation layer shows a significant influence on the flux at the surface of system. The maximum flux for the case with t_1/2,bio = 0.07 year can be 4.5 times less than that of the case without considering the effect of biodegradation. The thickness of bioturbation layer has a significant effect on the performance of the capped contaminated sediment. The maximum flux for the case with l_bio = 15 cm can be 17 times larger than that of the case without bioturbation layer. This may be because the effective diffusion coefficient of sand cap can be 28 times lower than D_bio. The mass transfer coefficient should be considered for the design of the capping system as the contaminant concentration at the top of system for the case with k_bl = 2.5 × 10⁻⁵ cm/s can be 13 times greater than that of the case with k_bl = 10⁻⁴ cm/s. The proposed analytical model can be used for verification of complicated numerical methods, evaluation of experimental data, and design of the capping contaminated sediment systems with reactive cap layers.     

一种用于突发性场地污染模拟的解析模型

为了及时有效地应对各种突发性环境污染事故,有必要开发一种简单实用、适于各类型污染物的场地污染数学模型。通过污染事故发生后污染物在包气带、饱和带迁移转化的概化,建立了污染物运移的自由入渗模型以及降雨入渗模型并给出各自相应的解析解。无降雨时,考虑污染物在重力作用下随包气带向下渗透的作用,建立一维垂直入渗模型。有降雨时,考虑污染场地（包气带）中污染物迁移和转化的对流作用、扩散作用及挥发、生物降解、吸附、根系吸收等作用,建立包气带剖面二维溶质运移模型和饱和带平面二维溶质运移数学模型。建模过程中,假定降雨量的平均分布及土壤质地、水力参数以及有机物成分、种类均相同,同时假定污染物与多孔介质间的作用为线性吸附,植物根系对污染物的吸附遵循一级动力学。基于模型的解析解,实现案例的模拟计算。模拟结果表明：该模型具有适用范围广、模拟高效快捷等优点,能够较准确预测污染发生后污染物在土壤中的动向、到达饱和带的时间以及饱和带中污染物的迁移情况。     

考虑土体固结变形的污染物运移模型

土体的固结压缩变形对污染物的运移具有重要的影响,而目前国内关于污染物在变形多孔介质中运移规律的研究尚处于空白,在国外也是近几年才有人开始这方面的研究工作。在Biot固结理论和污染物运移理论相结合的基础上,提出了污染物在黏土防渗层中迁移转化的一维数学模型,该模型的最大特点是考虑了土体受力变形对污染物运移的影响,在合理简化的基础上给出了模型的解析解,并将计算结果与太湖疏浚污染底泥堆场的实测结果进行了比较分析,模拟计算的结果在一定程度上能够反映实际土层中污染物的运移情况。     

大变形黏土防渗层中的污染物迁移和转化规律研究

国内湖泊疏浚污染底泥堆场一般以较厚的黏土层作为主要防渗层,由于在上覆底泥作用下黏土层会发生较大的固结变形,因此,在研究黏土防渗层中的污染物运移和转化规律时,应该考虑土体变形的影响。基于Gibson一维大变形固结理论和饱和多孔介质中的污染物对流扩散方程,建立了二者耦合的可变形多孔介质中污染物的运移和转化模型,其中首次考虑了土体自重和生物降解作用的影响。利用所建立模型的数值解,研究了在可变形黏土防渗层中的污染物运移和转化规律,同时分析了模型中不同项和主要参数的作用和影响。研究结果表明,土体大变形对黏土防渗层中污染物的运移有着较复杂的影响,一方面土体变形会加速污染物的运移;另一方面土体固结带来的渗透性减小会增加污染物的穿透时间,二者的不同作用取决于众多的影响因素,如土层厚度和吸附作用等。研究结果对于评估天然黏土防渗层对污染物的阻隔作用有重要的指导意义。     

Predicting contaminant fate and transport in sediment caps: Mathematical modelling approaches

Sediment capping is a remedial option for managing contaminated sediments that involves the artificial placement of a layer of material over a contaminated area. Sorbent materials such as activated C and coke can be used to amend sand caps to improve cap performance. In this study, analytical and numerical modelling approaches were compared for predicting contaminant fate and transport in sediment caps using several diffusion-controlled and advection-dominated contaminant transport scenarios. An analytical tool was used to predict cap performance at steady-state. These results were compared with the results from the numerical CoReTranS model in which the effective diffusivity and degradation rates were modelled as discontinuous functions at a prescribed bioturbation depth. The numerical approach was also applied to modelling a sorptive cap. It was shown that, while the analytical approach can be used to predict steady-state contaminant transport, the numerical approach is needed to evaluate multiple sediment layers with different transport and sorption characteristics and to examine the transient performance between the time that the single layer transient is applicable (i.e., before penetration of the cap containment layer) and until steady-state in the upper layer. For the 30 cm thick sand cap that was considered in this study, the predicted time to reach steady-state conditions for a diffusion-controlled scenario is 1 ka. For an advection-dominated transport, the time to reach steady-state conditions is reduced to 100 a. The activated C-amended sand cap was more effective in isolating the contaminant within the sorbent layer for a sustained period of time (∼100 a). Results from both modelling approaches showed that capping can effectively reduce contaminant flux to the overlying water with critical variables being cap thickness, groundwater velocity, and sediment sorptivity.     

Clarification of nonlinear retardation factors for colloid-enhanced transport in porous media

There have been a couple of contaminant retardation factors reported for the three-phase (aqueous, solid, and colloid) groundwater system. However, the retardation factor has often been presented by itself and not incorporated into the relevant transport equation, particularly when derived from the mass fraction approach. This may cause a misunderstanding of the retardation factor especially for the systems where multi-phases exist due to the presence of colloids and/or nonlinear sorption processes are involved. It is, therefore, necessary to clarify the form of the nonlinear retardation factor along with the relevant transport equation in the multi-phase system. Alternative forms of the retardation factor and relevant transport equation for specific conditions are presented in various combinations of the nonlinearity of involved sorption mechanisms. The retardation factors for specific conditions are compared with the ones available in the literature. The results indicate that more caution should be given in applying the retardation factor in order to explore contaminant transport in the multi-phase system where any nonlinear sorption is involved. Finally, presentation of the retardation factor along with the relevant transport equation in this study would help prevent possible misuse of the retardation factor in investigating contaminant transport in the multi-phase system.     

Scaling Laws and Experimental Modelling of Contaminant Transport Mechanism through Soils in a Geotechnical Centrifuge

This paper presents the results of a research program conducted on the geotechnical centrifuge to investigate contaminant transport mechanism through the soil mass. The mechanism that governs contaminant transport through soil mass is discussed, the principles of geotechnical centrifuge modelling are outlined, and relevant scaling laws that govern the relationship between a centrifuge model and the prototype, with respect to the problem of contaminant transport, are presented. Modelling of models has been established to validate the experimental results. It has been concluded that the geotechnical centrifuge can be used as an experimental tool to simulate field scale problems.     

One‐dimensional contaminant transport through a deforming porous medium: theory and a solution for a quasi‐steady‐state problem

Contaminant migration through soil is usually modelled mathematically using the dispersion–advection equation. This type of model finds application when planning the remediation of contaminated land, predicting the movement of polluted groundwater and designing engineered landfills. Usually the analysis assumes that the porous media through which the contaminant migrates is stationary. However, the construction of landfills on clay soils means that the soil beneath the landfill will undergo time‐dependent deformation as the soil consolidates. To date, there are no published data on the effect a deforming porous media may have on contaminant transport beneath a landfill; indeed, there appears to be no theory of contaminant migration through a deforming soil. In this paper, a one‐dimensional theory of contaminant migration through a saturated deforming porous media is developed based on a small and large strain analysis of a consolidating soil and conservation of contaminant mass. By selection of suitable parameters, the new transport equation reduces to the familiar one‐dimensional dispersion–advection equation for a saturated soil with linear, reversible, equilibrium controlled sorption of the contaminant onto the soil skeleton. Analytic solutions to a quasi‐steady‐state contaminant transport problem for a deforming media are presented, and a preliminary assessment made of the potential importance of soil deformation on the results of a contaminant migration analysis. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Advective transport from a penny-shaped crack in a porous medium and an associated uniqueness theorem

This paper examines the problem of the advective transport of a contaminant from sources in the shape of either a penny-shaped crack or an elongated needle-shaped cavity located in a porous medium of infinite extent. The advective transport is induced by Darcy flow in the porous medium, where the internal boundary is maintained at a constant potential. The paper presents an approximate analytical solution to this problem, which is deduced from a formulation that models a cavity in the shape of either an oblate or a prolate spheroid. The results also represent one of the few spatially three-dimensional exact analytical solutions for the, albeit linear, hyperbolic problem governing the contaminant transport problem. The paper also presents a canonical proof of uniqueness for advective contaminant transport problems associated with media of infinite extent. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Contamination,risk, and heterogeneity: on the effectiveness of aquifer remediation

The effectiveness of aquifer remediation is typically expressed in terms of a reduction in contaminant concentrations relative to a regulated maximum contaminant level (MCL), and is usually confirmed by sparse monitoring data and/or simple model calculations. Here, the effectiveness of remediation is re-examined from a more thorough risk-based perspective that goes beyond the traditional MCL concept. A methodology is employed to evaluate the health risk to individuals exposed to contaminated household water that is produced from groundwater. This approach explicitly accounts for differences in risk arising from variability in individual physiology and water use, the uncertainty in estimating chemical carcinogenesis for different individuals, and the uncertainties and variability in contaminant concentrations within groundwater as affected by transport through heterogeneous geologic media. A hypothetical contamination scenario is developed as a case study in a saturated, alluvial aquifer underlying an actual Superfund site. A baseline (unremediated) human exposure and health risk scenario, as induced by contaminated groundwater pumped from this site, is predicted and compared with a similar estimate based upon pump-and-treat exposure intervention. The predicted reduction in risk in the remediation scenario is not an equitable one—that is, it is not uniform to all individuals within a population and varies according to the level of uncertainty in prediction. The importance of understanding the detailed hydrogeologic connections that are established in the heterogeneous geologic regime between the contaminated source, municipal receptors, and remediation wells, and its relationship to this uncertainty is demonstrated. Using two alternative pumping rates, we develop cost-benefit curves based upon reduced exposure and risk to different individuals within the population, under the presence of uncertainty.     

Modelling coupled heat and contaminant transport in groundwater

This paper presents the results of a research programme conducted on the geotechnical centrifuge at The University of Western Australia to investigate coupled heat and contaminant transport in the soil surrounding a buried waste source. The phenomena which govern heat and contaminant transport through porous media are discussed, the principles of geotechnical centrifuge modelling are outlined, and relevant scaling laws that govern the relationship between a centrifuge model and the prototype, with respect to the problem of coupled waste transport, are presented. A model test, simulating two-dimensional migration from a buried heat and contaminant source, is described, and the results from four model tests are presented. The experimental data show that hydraulic instability is responsible for the transport of contaminant in the soil around the source and that the mode of instability is determined by the magnitude of the effective Rayleigh number.     

衬垫中污染物运移的一维概率分析

衬垫中污染物的运移分析一般采用确定性方法。为了研究渗透系数变异性对污染物运移的影响,基于土层剖面随机场理论,将渗透系数模拟成服从对数正态分布的空间随机场,利用Monte-Carlo和数值积分两种方法进行分析。两种方法得到的结果有很好的一致性。衬垫渗透系数的空间变异性对污染物运移有重要影响。变异系数较大时,衬垫失效概率在前期较大而后期较小,但衬垫底部出现高浓度(相对浓度0.9～1.0)的几率也较高。衬垫的可靠性要综合考虑渗透系数的变异性和渗透系数数值范围的影响。      

Large-diameter,non-pumped wells filled with reactive media for groundwater remediation

A groundwater flow and contaminant transport model was used to simulate arrays of non-pumped wells with reactive media for remediating contaminated groundwater. Each array featured a minimum number of wells, with identical diameter, capable of removing a contaminant plume within a hypothetical site. Simulated well diameters ranged from 0.25 m (similar to typical remediation wells) to 1.25 m (similar to large-diameter, bucket-augered wells). Both arrays occupied a linear transect located approximately 5 m downgradient of the front of a polluted enclave and oriented 90° to the hydraulic gradient. The minimum smallest diameter array contained 23 wells, whereas the minimum largest diameter array contained only four wells. Results of this study suggest that bucket-augering technology, adapted to install non-pumped wells with reactive media, may be an effective alternative for remediating contaminated groundwater in some environments.     

地下水污染风险源识别与分级方法

由于目前缺乏一套完整成熟的地下水污染风险源准确识别与分级方法, 在综合解析污染源结构、污染物输移过程评价的基础上, 构建了涵盖地下水易污性和地下水污染源两部分多因素耦合的风险源识别模型, 其中从污染源特性和污染物性质两方面建立了污染源危害性评价参数体系.以地下水易污性指数和污染源潜在危害性评价指数作为风险源分级指标, 采用乘积模型进行了风险源的评价与分级.选择某水源地对所建方法进行实例分析, 确定了地下水污染的高风险源区.结果表明, 污染源和地下水易污性共同决定了地下水污染的风险源, 所建方法对地下水污染的预防及污染源的有效监管有重要意义.      

Olive-oil mill wastewater transport under unsaturated and saturated laboratory conditions using the geoelectrical resistivity tomography method and the FEFLOW model

An integrated approach for monitoring the vertical transport of a solute into the subsurface by using a geophysical method and a simulation model is proposed and evaluated. A medium-scale (1 m³) laboratory tank experiment was constructed to represent a real subsurface system, where an olive-oil mill wastewater (OOMW) spill might occur. High-resolution cross-hole electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) was performed to monitor the OOMW transport. Time-lapse ERT images defined the spatial geometry of the interface between the contaminated and uncontaminated soil into the unsaturated and saturated zones. Knowing the subsurface characteristics, the finite element flow and transport model FEFLOW was used for simulating the contaminant movement, utilizing the ERT results as a surrogate for concentration measurements for the calibration process. A statistical analysis of the ERT measurements and the corresponding transport model results for various time steps showed a good agreement between them. In addition, a sensitivity analysis of the most important parameters of the simulation model (unsaturated flow, saturated flow and transport) was performed. This laboratory-scale study emphasizes that the combined use of geophysical and transport-modeling approaches can be useful for small-scale field applications where contaminant concentration measurements are scarce, provided that its transferability from laboratory to field conditions is investigated thoroughly.     

复合衬层中变系数有机污染物迁移规律分析

土工膜和下伏压实黏土组成的复合衬层已被广泛用作填埋场的防渗屏障系统。有机污染物在复合衬层中迁移时,其主要运移机制是扩散作用。假设有机污染物在土工膜中稳态扩散,并假设在下伏衬层中扩散系数为迁移距离的线性函数,且考虑降解作用的影响,建立了有机污染物在复合衬层中的一维扩散模型,针对零浓度下边界条件,获得了模型解析解。基于该解析解,分析讨论了相关参数的敏感性。结果表明,相关参数对计算结果影响很大,降解半衰期对污染物运移同样存在较大影响。该解析模型仅适用于有机污染物在两层复合衬垫中的迁移问题,可为填埋场的初步设计提供参考     

The effect of aquifer heterogeneity on natural attenuation rate of BTEX

Monitored natural attenuation can be a viable option for remediation of groundwater contamination by BTEX compounds. Under the field conditions, the rate of contaminant mass attenuation through natural processes, such as biodegradation, to a large extent affected by the groundwater flow regime, which is primarily controlled by the aquifer heterogeneity. Numerical simulation techniques were used to describe quantitatively the relationship between biodegradation rate of BTEX and aquifer heterogeneity. Different levels of aquifer heterogeneity were described by random hydraulic conductivity fields (K) having different statistical parameters, the coefficient of variation (CV) and the correlation length (h). The Turning Bands Algorithm was used to generate such K fields. Visual MODFLOW/RT3D was used to simulate the fate and transport of dissolved BTEX plume within heterogeneous aquifers. The multispecies reactive transport approach described BTEX degradation using multiple terminal electron-accepting processes. First-order biodegradation rate constants were calculated from simulated BTEX plumes in heterogeneous flow fields. The results showed that aquifer heterogeneity significantly affected biodegradation rate; it decreased with increasing CV when h was in the range of up to 12 m, whereas it increased with increasing CV when h was greater than about 12 m. For well characterized aquifers, this finding could be of great value in assessing the effectiveness of natural attenuation during feasibility studies at BTEX contaminated sites.     

Electrical resistivity mapping of oil spills in a coastal environment of Lagos,Nigeria

Three years after the oil spillage and pipeline explosion that claimed about 100 human lives at Ijegun Community of Lagos–Nigeria, a combination of carefully designed 2D Electrical Resistivity Profilling and Vertical Electrical Sounding methods was deployed to map and characterise the subsurface around the contaminated site. Data acquired were processed, forward modelled and tomographically inverted to obtain the multi-dimensional resistivity distribution of subsurface. The results of the study revealed high resistivity structures that indocate the presence of contaminant (oil plumes) of different sizes and shapes around the oil leakage site. These high resistivity structures are absent in the tomograms and resistivity-depth slices computed for Iyana—a linear settlement not affected by oil spillage. The five geo-electric layers and the resistivities delineated in the area are the top soil layer, 220–670 Ωm; clayey sand layer, 300–1072 Ωm; top sand layer, 120–328 Ωm; mudstone/shale layer, 25–116 Ωm and the bottom sand layer, 15–69 Ωm. The base of the first four geo-electric layers corresponds to 3.9, 8.4, 27.2 and 34.6 m respectively. The two groundwater aquifers delineated correspond to the third and fifth geo-electric layers. The top aquifer has been infiltrated by oil plumes. The depth penetrated by the oil plume decreases from 32 m to about 24 m across the survey profiles from the two ends. It was concluded that the contaminant plumes from the oil spillage are yet to be completely degraded as at the time of the study. It is recommended that the contaminated site be remediated to remove or reduce the contaminant oil in the subsurface.     

Numerical modeling of the flow and transport of radionuclides in heterogeneous porous media

This paper is concerned with numerical methods for the modeling of flow and transport of contaminant in porous media. The numerical methods feature the mixed finite element method over triangles as a solver to the Darcy flow equation and a conservative finite volume scheme for the concentration equation. The convective term is approximated with a Godunov scheme over the dual finite volume mesh, whereas the diffusion–dispersion term is discretized by piecewise linear conforming triangular finite elements. It is shown that the scheme satisfies a discrete maximum principle. Numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the methodology for a coupled system that includes an elliptic equation and a diffusion–convection–reaction equation arising when modeling flow and transport in heterogeneous porous media. The proposed scheme is robust, conservative, efficient, and stable, as confirmed by numerical simulations.      

MT3D-通用的三维地下水污染物运移数值模型

定量研究污染物在地下水中的运移过程通常采用数值模拟方法。MT3D是一套基于有限差分方法的污染物运移模拟软件，近年来在国外水文地质和水环境模拟等领域的研究中已经得到较为广泛的认可。MT3D比较全面地考虑了污染物在地下水中的对流、弥散和化学反应等过程，可以灵活处理各种复杂的源汇项和边界条件，能够准确模拟承压、无压和越流含水层中的污染物运移过程。MT3D具有模块化的程序结构、灵活的求解方法以及全面的模拟功能，非常适合实际问题的研究，值得在国内推广使用。