Groundwater clean-up: the optimization perspective

摘要

There are many sources of groundwater petroleum hydrocarbon contamination. When groundwater is to be used for drinking purposes, irrigation, etc. it is necessary to evaluate the extent of contamination. The design of monitoring networks to provide initial detection of groundwater contamination is therefore very important. Nevertheless, in many situations it is also necessary to use cleanup techniques to restore the quality of groundwater. How to design a monitoring network and a remediation system are two problems addressed in many research studies published in the literature. Optimization methods play an important role in finding the best decisions regarding the two problems. This paper presents a synthesis of the optimization models reported in the literature on this subject. Through this presentation, both the mathematical characteristics of these models, and the adequacy of the optimization methods employed, which range from classical mathematical programming to modern heuristics are discussed.