Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 69-82 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Journal of contaminant hydrology |
| Volume | 173 |
| Early online date | 8 Dec 2014 |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2015 |
Abstract
Flow under variable-density conditions is widespread, occurring in geothermal reservoirs, at waste disposal sites or due to saltwater intrusion. The migration of dense plumes typically results in the formation of vertical plume fingers which are known to be triggered by material heterogeneity or by variations in source concentration that causes the density variation. Using a numerical groundwater model, six perturbation methods are tested under saturated and unsaturated flow conditions to mimic heterogeneity and concentration variations on the pore scale in order to realistically generate dense fingers. A laboratory-scale sand tank experiment is numerically simulated, and the perturbation methods are evaluated by comparing plume fingers obtained from the laboratory experiment with numerically simulated fingers. Dense plume fingering for saturated flow can best be reproduced with a spatially random, time-constant perturbation of the solute source. For unsaturated flow, a spatially and temporally random noise of solute concentration or a random conductivity field adequately simulate plume fingering.
Keywords
- Density, Fingering, Groundwater, Model, Numerical trigger, Saturated, Unsaturated
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Science(all)
- Environmental Chemistry
- Environmental Science(all)
- Water Science and Technology
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In: Journal of contaminant hydrology, Vol. 173, 02.2015, p. 69-82.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Generation of dense plume fingers in saturated-unsaturated homogeneous porous media
AU - Cremer, Clemens J.M.
AU - Graf, Thomas
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PY - 2015/2
Y1 - 2015/2
N2 - Flow under variable-density conditions is widespread, occurring in geothermal reservoirs, at waste disposal sites or due to saltwater intrusion. The migration of dense plumes typically results in the formation of vertical plume fingers which are known to be triggered by material heterogeneity or by variations in source concentration that causes the density variation. Using a numerical groundwater model, six perturbation methods are tested under saturated and unsaturated flow conditions to mimic heterogeneity and concentration variations on the pore scale in order to realistically generate dense fingers. A laboratory-scale sand tank experiment is numerically simulated, and the perturbation methods are evaluated by comparing plume fingers obtained from the laboratory experiment with numerically simulated fingers. Dense plume fingering for saturated flow can best be reproduced with a spatially random, time-constant perturbation of the solute source. For unsaturated flow, a spatially and temporally random noise of solute concentration or a random conductivity field adequately simulate plume fingering.
AB - Flow under variable-density conditions is widespread, occurring in geothermal reservoirs, at waste disposal sites or due to saltwater intrusion. The migration of dense plumes typically results in the formation of vertical plume fingers which are known to be triggered by material heterogeneity or by variations in source concentration that causes the density variation. Using a numerical groundwater model, six perturbation methods are tested under saturated and unsaturated flow conditions to mimic heterogeneity and concentration variations on the pore scale in order to realistically generate dense fingers. A laboratory-scale sand tank experiment is numerically simulated, and the perturbation methods are evaluated by comparing plume fingers obtained from the laboratory experiment with numerically simulated fingers. Dense plume fingering for saturated flow can best be reproduced with a spatially random, time-constant perturbation of the solute source. For unsaturated flow, a spatially and temporally random noise of solute concentration or a random conductivity field adequately simulate plume fingering.
KW - Density
KW - Fingering
KW - Groundwater
KW - Model
KW - Numerical trigger
KW - Saturated
KW - Unsaturated
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84920141644&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jconhyd.2014.11.008
DO - 10.1016/j.jconhyd.2014.11.008
M3 - Article
C2 - 25555221
AN - SCOPUS:84920141644
VL - 173
SP - 69
EP - 82
JO - Journal of contaminant hydrology
JF - Journal of contaminant hydrology
SN - 0169-7722
ER -