Equilibrium versus Nonequilibrium Treatment Modeling in the Optimal Design of Pump-and-Treat Groundwater Remediation Systems
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 133, Issue 8
Abstract
The present work proposes that the incorporation of granular activated carbon (GAC) treatment model that accounts for nonequilibrium adsorption into the optimal design of pump-and-treat systems will result in more realistic costs and better-engineered remediation systems. It was found that, when nonequilibrium GAC adsorption effects are considered, the predicted cost of optimal remediation strategies increases consistently when compared to costs obtained assuming equilibrium GAC adsorption, for a wide range of cleanup goals. This finding implies that when simpler equilibrium models are used for GAC adsorption, cleanup costs will be underestimated. GAC treatment costs are shown to be particularly sensitive to the degree of mass transfer limitations in the aquifer–contaminant system, especially when nonequilibrium GAC adsorption is accounted for. Time-varying pumping rates are shown to produce more efficient remediation solutions; the increase in efficiency is even more pronounced when nonequilibrium GAC adsorption is accounted for. Further results show that the optimal remediation designs can be significantly more efficient when the number of GAC adsorber units is selected through optimization.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by NSF Grant No. NSFBES-0083112, USEPA Grant No. UNSPECIFIEDCR826614-01-0, and the Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute, Research Triangle Park, N.C.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 133 • Issue 8 • August 2007
Pages: 809 - 818
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 20, 2006
Accepted: Jan 8, 2007
Published online: Aug 1, 2007
Published in print: Aug 2007
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