Finite Element Model to Predict the Flow of Underground Contaminants Due to Leakage of Chemical and/or Radio Active Material from a Buried Containment

摘要

In the investigation, a Galerkin finite element model in two dimensions is developed to study the phenomena of mass transfer in porous media. In particular, the problems of the saltwater encroachment in coastal aquifers and the transport of hazardous wastes in groundwater environment are studied for a wide range of aquifer parameters. The coupled governing partial differential equations are nondimensionalized and solved for a two-dimensional, saturated aquifer in the vertical plane for both steady state and transient conditions using an iterative solution procedure. The flow transport is represented either in terms of the stream function or the freshwater hydraulic head.