Impacts of surface sealings on long-term plume development at a former coking plant area

摘要

Changes in the electron acceptor supply must be considered in order to simulate reliable future plume spreading in groundwater. For example, decreasing amounts of electron acceptor mass fluxes from the unsaturated zone caused by less groundwater recharge due to surface sealing could lead to further plume spreading during the forecast horizon. However, to accept monitored natural attenuation (MNA) as an alternative remediation strategy, steady state plumes have to be proved. This article deals with the quantitative impacts of different amounts of surface sealing on future plume spreading by using a reactive transport model. Due to these interventions, the results show significant changes in plume length (increases up to 50%) and in some cases the plumes no longer attain steady-state conditions. This underlines the necessity of considering surface sealing scenarios for MNA concepts at such sites.