Performance Assessment of Hanging Funnel-and-Gate Structures Designed by Reverse Particle Tracking for Capturing Polluted Groundwater

摘要

The objective of this study was to evaluate the capability of partially penetrating (hanging) funnel-and- gate structures, designed using reverse flow trajectories, for capturing plumes of contaminated groundwater. Linear capture structures, comprised of two slurry cutoff walls on either side of a permeable gate, were positioned perpendicular to regional groundwater flow in a hypothetical unconfined aquifer. A four-step approach was used for each of two simulated settings: (1) a numerical mass transport model generated a contaminant plume originating from a source area; (2) a particle-tracking model projected groundwater flow paths upstream from a treatment gate; (3) the structure was widened and deepened until bounding path lines contained the plume; and (4) mass transport simulation tested the ability of the structure to capture the plume. Results of this study suggest that designing funnel-and-gate structures using reverse particle tracking may result in too small a structure to capture a contaminant plume. This practice generally ignores effects of hydrodynamic dispersion, which may enlarge plumes such that contaminants move beneath or around a capture structure. This bypassing effect may be considerable even for low values of dispersivity. Particle-tracking approaches may also underestimate the amount of time required to reduce contaminant concentrations to acceptable levels.