Assessment of Consolidation-Induced Contaminant Transport for In Situ Capping of Subaqueous Contaminated Sediments
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 8
Abstract
This paper presents an investigation of the effect of sediment consolidation on contaminant transport through a sediment-cap system for in situ cappings of subaqueous contaminated sediments. Numerical simulations were conducted using the model CST3 and consider coupled consolidation and contaminant transport for representative layer geometry, material properties, and applied stress conditions. Simulation results indicate that sediment consolidation can have significant effects on contaminant breakthrough time, mass flux, cumulative mass outflow, and concentration distribution within the sediment-cap system. These effects manifest not only during the consolidation process but also long after consolidation has been completed. Traditional advective-dispersive transport analyses fail to consider transient advection induced by sediment consolidation and associated contaminant migration and changes in material properties that can lead to significantly unconservative transport results and adverse environmental impact. For example, simulation results indicate that failure to account for sediment consolidation yields a cumulative contaminant mass outflow that is underestimated by a factor greater than 6,000 within the first 3 years after cap placement and by a factor of 2 at the end of a 100-year simulation period, even though consolidation essentially is completed in the first 1.5 years.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
Financial support for this investigation was provided by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2019YFC1806000), the National Science Foundation in the US (Grant Nos. CMMI-1622781 and CMMI-0969346), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51878312 and 52078235). This support is gratefully acknowledged. The opinions expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors and not necessarily consistent with the policies or opinions of the funding agencies.
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 8 • August 2021
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Received: Sep 28, 2020
Accepted: Mar 18, 2021
Published online: May 22, 2021
Published in print: Aug 1, 2021
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