An ELLAM approximation for advective–dispersive transport with nonlinear sorption

We consider an Eulerian–Lagrangian localized adjoint method (ELLAM) applied to nonlinear model equations governing solute transport and sorption in porous media. Solute transport in the aqueous phase is modeled by standard advection and hydrodynamic dispersion processes, while sorption is modeled with a nonlinear local-equilibrium model. We present our implementation of finite volume ELLAM (FV-ELLAM) and finite element (FE-ELLAM) discretizations to the reactive transport model and evaluate their performance for several test problems containing self-sharpening fronts.     

Versatile Two-Level Schwarz Preconditioners for Multiphase Flow

Numerically modeling groundwater flow on finely discretized two- and three-dimensional domains requires solution algorithms appropriate for distributed memory multiprocessor architectures. Multilevel and domain decomposition algorithms are appropriate for preconditioning or solving linear systems in parallel and have, therefore, been applied to linear models for saturated groundwater flow. These algorithms have also been incorporated into more complex nonlinear multiphase flow models in the context of a linearization procedure such as Newton's method. In this work, we study a class of parallel preconditioners based on two-level Schwarz domain decomposition applied in a nonlinear two-phase flow numerical model. The restriction and interpolation operators are based on an aggregation approach that has a straightforward implementation for a variety of applications arising in subsurface modeling: structured and unstructured discretizations, finite elements and finite differences, and multicomponent model equations. We present model formulations, results from numerical experiments, and a comparison of a standard one-level Schwarz method to three two-level aggregation-based methods.     

Inexact Newton methods and the method of lines for solving Richards' equation in two space dimensions

Richards' equation (RE) is often used to model flow in unsaturated porous media. This model captures physical effects, such as sharp fronts in fluid pressures and saturations, which are present in more complex models of multiphase flow. The numerical solution of RE is difficult not only because of these physical effects but also because of the mathematical problems that arise in dealing with the nonlinearities. The method of lines has been shown to be very effective for solving RE in one space dimension. When solving RE in two space dimensions, direct methods for solving the linearized problem for the Newton step are impractical. In this work, we show how the method of lines and Newton-iterative methods, which solve linear equations with iterative methods, can be applied to RE in two space dimensions. We present theoretical results on convergence and use that theory to design an adaptive method for computation of the linear tolerance. Numerical results show the method to be effective and robust compared with an existing approach.     

Colonial auks and eiders as potential indicators of oil pollution

Colonial auk (Alcid) populations can be used as indicators of the effects of oil pollution on the seabirds of Canada's coastal zones. Of approximately 11 million breeding colonial alcids in Canada and in adjacent West Greenland waters, 87% are murres. Common Eiders may serve as the best indicators of the effects of oil pollution in Canada's western Arctic where colonial alcids are scarce.     

Seismic and electromagnetic controlled-source interferometry in dissipative media

Seismic interferometry deals with the generation of new seismic responses by crosscorrelating existing ones. One of the main assumptions underlying most interferometry methods is that the medium is lossless. We develop an ‘interferometry‐by‐deconvolution’ approach which circumvents this assumption. The proposed method applies not only to seismic waves, but to any type of diffusion and/or wave field in a dissipative medium. This opens the way to applying interferometry to controlled‐source electromagnetic (CSEM) data. Interferometry‐by‐deconvolution replaces the overburden by a homogeneous half space, thereby solving the shallow sea problem for CSEM applications. We demonstrate this at the hand of numerically modeled CSEM data.     

Comparison of derivative-free optimization methods for groundwater supply and hydraulic capture community problems

Management decisions involving groundwater supply and remediation often rely on optimization techniques to determine an effective strategy. We introduce several derivative-free sampling methods for solving constrained optimization problems that have not yet been considered in this field, and we include a genetic algorithm for completeness. Two well-documented community problems are used for illustration purposes: a groundwater supply problem and a hydraulic capture problem. The community problems were found to be challenging applications due to the objective functions being nonsmooth, nonlinear, and having many local minima. Because the results were found to be sensitive to initial iterates for some methods, guidance is provided in selecting initial iterates for these problems that improve the likelihood of achieving significant reductions in the objective function to be minimized. In addition, we suggest some potentially fruitful areas for future research.     

Prevention of Wellbore Clogging by Intermittent Abstraction

Wellfield “Tull en ’t Waal” (water utility Vitens Midden Nederland) suffers extensively from wellbore (or mechanical) clogging. To prevent this type of clogging, wells have been operated intermittently since August 2005 using a carrousel well operation schedule. Since the introduction of this schedule, wellbore clogging has become minimal.