Performance Evaluation of PV-Powered Pump and Treat Systems Using Typical Meteorological Year Three Data
Publication: Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 18, Issue 2
Abstract
Pump and treat (P&T) is a technology that has been extensively used to remove and/or contain contaminated groundwater. P&T systems conventionally operate continuously, which requires significant amounts of energy. The use of renewable energies to meet power demands of remedial systems may reduce a project’s carbon dioxide emissions. This paper analyzes the performance of a hypothetical photovoltaic (PV)–powered P&T system that operates both intermittently by assuming that the system does not include an energy storage component and continuously by assuming that the system includes a relatively small capacity energy storage component using widely available Typical Meteorological Year 3 (TMY3) data. The results are compared against a baseline case of continuous pumping at a constant rate using volume of groundwater removed and capture zone width. The comparison shows that the cost-benefit of increasing the capture zone widths and volume of extracted groundwater by increasing the rated flow rate is greater than by including a relatively small-capacity energy storage component. PV-powered P&T system performance, without or with limited relatively small-capacity energy storage, is conditioned to site-specific hydrologic and seasonal characteristics. The methodology presented in this paper can be used to assess and compare the performance of each alternative.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Aksoy, A., and Culver, T. (2004). “Comparison of continuous and pulsed pump-and-treat for mass transfer-limited aquifers.” Turkish J. Eng. Env. Sci., 28(5), 307–316.
Collins, E., Elmore, A. C., and Crow, M. (2013). “Using conditional probability to predict solar-powered pump-and-treat performance.” J. Hazard. Toxic Radioact. Waste, 31–37.
Conroy, J. P., Elmore, A. C., and Crow, M. (2013). “Capture zone comparison for photovoltaic microgrid-powered pump and treat remediation.” J. Hazard. Toxic Radioact. Waste,.
Cortes Di Lena, Y., Elmore, A. C., and Conroy, J. (2013). “Effectiveness of capture zones generated by intermittent pumping of a PV-powered pump-and-treat system without energy storage.” Remed. J., 23(3), 111–122.
Davis, M. W., Dougherty, B. P., and Fanney, A. H. (2001). “Prediction of building integrated photovoltaic cell temperatures.” J. Sol. Energy Eng., 123(3), 200–210.
Elmore, A. C., and DeAngelis, L. (2004). “Modeling a ground water circulation well alternative.” Ground Water Monit. Rem., 24(1), 66–73.
Fetter, C. W. (2001). “Properties of aquifers.” Applied hydrogeology, 4th Ed., Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 66–112.
Goswami, D. Y., Kreith, F., and Kreider, J. F. (2000). “Fundamentals of solar radiation.” Principles of solar engineering, 2nd Ed., Taylor & Francis Group, New York, 13–80.
Keely, J. F. (1989). Performance evaluations of pump-and-treat remediations, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Robert S., Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory, Ada, OK.
Liu, W., Medina, M. A., Thomann, W., Piver, W. T., and Jacobs, T. L. (2000). “Optimization of intermittent pumping schedules for aquifer remediation using a genetic algorithm.” J. Am. Water Resour. Assoc., 36(6), 1335–1348.
Mackay, D. M., Wilson, R. D., Brown, M. J., Ball, W. P., Xia, G., and Durfee, D. P. (2000). “A controlled field evaluation of continuous vs. pulsed pump-and-treat remediation of a VOC-contaminated aquifer: Site characterization, experimental setup, and overview of results.” J. Contam. Hydrol., 41(1–2), 81–131.
Miller, G. R., and Elmore, A. C. (2005). “Modeling of a groundwater circulation well removal action alternative.” Pract. Period. Hazard., Toxic Radioact. Waste Manage., 122–129.
Skoplaki, E., and Palyvos, J. A. (2009). “On the temperature dependence of photovoltaic module electrical performance: A review of efficiency/power correlations.” Sol. Energy, 83(5), 614–624.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). (1996). Pump-and-treat ground-water remediation: A guide for decision makers and practitioners, Office of Research and Development, Washington, DC.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). (2008). Green remediation: Incorporating sustainable environmental practices into remediation of contaminated sites, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Washington, DC.
Visual 7214 MODFLOW Classic 2011.1 [Computer software]. Kitchener, ON, Schlumberger Water Services (SWS).
Wilcox, S., and Marion, W. (2008). Users manual for TMY3 data sets, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 18 • Issue 2 • April 2014
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 17, 2013
Accepted: Oct 14, 2013
Published online: Jan 8, 2014
Published in print: Apr 1, 2014
Discussion open until: Jun 8, 2014
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.