Simulation of Buoyant, Miscible Liquid Plumes in Heterogeneous Aquifers

by Salwa Rashad, Univ of Wisconsin, Madison, United States,
John Hoopes, Univ of Wisconsin, Madison, United States,
David Olson, Univ of Wisconsin, Madison, United States,
Tswn-Syau Tsay, Univ of Wisconsin, Madison, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Hydraulic Engineering

Abstract:

Laboratory experiments have been conducted in a sand tank with a single heterogeneity into which NaNO3 is continuously injected. From samples along, across and over the depth of the tank concentrations of NaNO3 are obtained and used to compute the trajectory, spreading and concentration distribution of the plume for various aquifer flow and plume discharge and density conditions. The measurements are compared with results of the numerical simulation. Parameters (e.g., time step and grid size) are computed from specified ambient flow, and source conditions, using estimated values for C_c, cell Courant number, and Peg, grid Peclet number, based upon accuracy and stability considerations. Results are presented for optimum values of C_c, Peg and number of particles which give the best prediction of experimental plume behavior with a minimum computation time.

Subject Headings: Plumes | Numerical models | Groundwater pollution | Sensitivity analysis | Particle pollution | Heterogeneity | Grid systems

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