Active Spreading: Hydraulics for Enhancing Groundwater Remediation
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 27, Issue 5
Abstract
During in situ groundwater remediation, reactions occur in a narrow reaction front in which the amendment and contaminant are close enough to mix. Active spreading, in which injection or extraction wells create spatially variable velocity fields, can be used to increase the surface area of the reaction front, thereby enhancing reaction. This study used four active spreading flow fields that are building blocks to more complex remediation hydraulics to evaluate how the flow field and the plume position control contaminant degradation in both homogeneous and heterogeneous aquifers. At the plume scale, reaction depended on mechanical dispersion across the reaction front, which is proportional to both the local velocity and the local contaminant concentration gradient. Mechanical dispersion and, consequently, the amount of degradation, was highest when the reaction front was perpendicular to the local velocity, producing a high local dispersion coefficient. This effect was amplified where flow was diverging due to sharpening of the concentration gradient.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear or are cited herein.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge review suggestions from the editor and anonymous referees whose feedback rendered significant advancement to this work. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. EAR-1417005 and EAR-1417017.
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Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 27 • Issue 5 • May 2022
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© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 30, 2021
Accepted: Jan 11, 2022
Published online: Mar 10, 2022
Published in print: May 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Aug 10, 2022
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