[PDF] Chaotic Dynamical Conceptual Model To Describe Fluid Flow And Contaminant Transport In A Fractured Vadose Zone 1998 Annual Progress Report eBook

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Page : 3 pages
File Size : 38,84 MB
Release : 1998
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DOE faces the remediation of numerous contaminated sites, such as those at Hanford, INEEL, LLNL, and LBNL, where organic and/or radioactive wastes were intentionally or accidentally released to the vadose zone from surface spills, underground tanks, cribs, shallow ponds, and deep wells. Migration of these contaminants through the vadose zone has lead to the contamination of or threatens to contaminate underlying groundwater. A key issue in choosing a corrective action plan to clean up contaminated sites is to determine the location, total mass, mobility and travel time to receptors for contaminants moving in the vadose zone. These problems are difficult to solve in a technically defensible and accurate manner because contaminants travel downward intermittently through narrow pathways driven by variations in environmental conditions. These preferential pathways can be difficult to find and predict. The primary objective of this project is to determine if and when dynamical chaos theory can be used to investigate infiltration of fluid and contaminant transport in heterogeneous soils and fractured rocks. The objective of this project is being achieved through the following Activities (1) Evaluation of chaotic behavior of flow in laboratory and field experiments using methods from non-linear dynamics; (2) Evaluation of the impact these dynamics may have on contaminant transport through heterogeneous fractured rocks and soils, and how it can be used to guide remediation efforts; (3) Development of a conceptual model and mathematical and numerical algorithms for flow and transport, which incorporate both: (a) the spatial variability of heterogeneous porous and fractured media, and (b) the description of the temporal dynamics of flow and transport, which may be chaotic; and (4) Development of appropriate experimental field and laboratory techniques needed to detect diagnostic parameters for chaotic behavior of flow. This approach is based on the assumption that spatial heterogeneity and flow phenomena are affected by non-linear dynamics, and in particular, chaotic processes. The scientific and practical value of this approach is that the authors can predict the range within which the parameters of flow and transport change with time in order to design and manage the remediation, even when the authors can not predict the behavior at any point or time. This progress report summarizes work after 1.5 years of a 3-year project.

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Page : 16 pages
File Size : 35,22 MB
Release : 1997
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Understanding subsurface flow and transport processes is critical for effective assessment, decision-making, and remediation activities for contaminated sites. However, for fluid flow and contaminant transport through fractured vadose zones, traditional hydrogeological approaches are often found to be inadequate. In this project, the authors examine flow and transport through a fractured vadose zone as a deterministic chaotic dynamical process, and develop a model of it in these terms. Initially, they examine separately the geometric model of fractured rock and the flow dynamics model needed to describe chaotic behavior. Ultimately they will put the geometry and flow dynamics together to develop a chaotic-dynamical model of flow and transport in a fractured vadose zone. They investigate water flow and contaminant transport on several scales, ranging from small-scale laboratory experiments in fracture replicas and fractured cores, to field experiments conducted in a single exposed fracture at a basalt outcrop, and finally to a ponded infiltration test using a pond of 7 by 8 m. In the field experiments, the authors measure the time-variation of water flux, moisture content, and hydraulic head at various locations, as well as the total inflow rate to the subsurface. Such variations reflect the changes in the geometry and physics of water flow that display chaotic behavior, which the authors try to reconstruct using the data obtained. In the analysis of experimental data, a chaotic model can be used to predict the long-term bounds on fluid flow and transport behavior, known as the attractor of the system, and to examine the limits of short-term predictability within these bounds. This approach is especially well suited to the need for short-term predictions to support remediation decisions and long-term bounding studies.

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Page : 5 pages
File Size : 36,9 MB
Release : 1999
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(1) To determine if and when dynamical chaos theory can be used to investigate infiltration of fluid and contaminant transport in heterogeneous soils and fractured rocks. (2) To introduce a new approach to the multiscale characterization of flow and transport in fractured basalt vadose zones and to develop physically based conceptual models on a hierarchy of scales. The following activities are indicative of the success in meeting the project s objectives: A series of ponded infiltration tests, including (1) small-scale infiltration tests (ponded area 0.5 m2) conducted at the Hell s Half Acre site near Shelley, Idaho, and (2) intermediate-scale infiltration tests (ponded area 56 m2) conducted at the Box Canyon site near Arco, Idaho. Laboratory investigations and modeling of flow in a fractured basalt core. A series of small-scale dripping experiments in fracture models. Evaluation of chaotic behavior of flow in laboratory and field experiments using methods from nonlinear dynamics; Evaluation of the impact these dynamics may have on contaminant transport through heterogeneous fractured rocks and soils, and how it can be used to guide remediation efforts; Development of a conceptual model and mathematical and numerical algorithms for flow and transport that incorporate (1) the spatial variability of heterogeneous porous and fractured media, and (2) the description of the temporal dynamics of flow and transport, both of which may be chaotic. Development of appropriate experimental field and laboratory techniques needed to detect diagnostic parameters for chaotic behavior of flow. This approach is based on the assumption that spatial heterogeneity and flow phenomena are affected by nonlinear dynamics, and in particular, by chaotic processes. The scientific and practical value of this approach is that we can predict the range within which the parameters of flow and transport change with time in order to design and manage the remediation, even when we can not predict the behavior at any point or time.

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Page : 5 pages
File Size : 46,27 MB
Release : 1999
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DOE faces the remediation of numerous contaminated sites, such as those at Hanford, INEEL, LLNL, and LBNL, where organic and/or radioactive wastes were intentionally or accidentally released to the vadose zone from surface spills, underground tanks, cribs, shallow ponds, and deep wells. Migration of these contaminants through the vadose zone has led to the contamination of (or threatens to contaminate) underlying groundwater. A key issue in choosing a corrective action plan to clean up contaminated sites is the determination of the location, total mass, mobility and travel time to receptors for contaminants moving in the vadose zone. These problems are difficult to solve in a technically defensible and accurate manner because contaminants travel downward intermittently, through narrow pathways, driven by variations in environmental conditions. These preferential flow pathways can be difficult to find and predict. The primary objective of this project is to determine if and when dynamical chaos theory can be used to investigate infiltration of fluid and contaminant transport in heterogeneous soils and fractured rocks. The objective of this project is being achieved through the following activities: Development of multi scale conceptual models and mathematical and numerical algorithms for flow and transport, which incorporate both (a) the spatial variability of heterogeneous porous and fractured media and (b) the temporal dynamics of flow and transport; Development of appropriate experimental field and laboratory techniques needed to detect diagnostic parameters for chaotic behavior of flow; Evaluation of chaotic behavior of flow in laboratory and field experiments using methods from non-linear dynamics; Evaluation of the impact these dynamics may have on contaminant transport through heterogeneous fractured rocks and soils and remediation efforts. This approach is based on the consideration of multi scale spatial heterogeneity and flow phenomena that are affected by nonlinear dynamics, and in particular, chaotic processes. The scientific and practical value of this approach is that we can predict the range within, which the parameters of flow and transport change with time, which allows us to design and manage the remediation even when we cannot predict the behavior at any point or time.

Author : National Research Council
Publisher : National Academies Press
Page : 398 pages
File Size : 35,4 MB
Release : 2001-05-21
Category : Science
ISBN : 0309170990

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Fluid flow and solute transport within the vadose zone, the unsaturated zone between the land surface and the water table, can be the cause of expanded plumes arising from localized contaminant sources. An understanding of vadose zone processes is, therefore, an essential prerequisite for cost-effective contaminant remediation efforts. In addition, because such features are potential avenues for rapid transport of chemicals from contamination sources to the water table, the presence of fractures and other channel-like openings in the vadose zone poses a particularly significant problem, Conceptual Models of Flow and Transport in the Fractured Vadose Zone is based on the work of a panel established under the auspices of the U.S. National Committee for Rock Mechanics. It emphasizes the importance of conceptual models and goes on to review the conceptual model development, testing, and refinement processes. The book examines fluid flow and transport mechanisms, noting the difficulty of modeling solute transport, and identifies geochemical and environmental tracer data as important components of the modeling process. Finally, the book recommends several areas for continued research.

Author : Daniel D. Evans
Publisher : American Geophysical Union
Page : 212 pages
File Size : 37,46 MB
Release : 2001-01-09
Category : Science
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Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 42. This monograph is an update and revision of the first edition, Geophysical Monograph 42, on ground-water flow and transport through unsaturated, fractured rock, published by AGU in 1987. The first edition evolved from a special symposium held during the American Geophysical Union fall meetings in San Francisco in December 1986. Invited and contributed papers at that AGU session, as well as panel presentations, focused on conceptualizing, measuring and modeling flow and transport through unsaturated fractured rock. As noted in the preface to the first edition, "the expanded interest in the topic (water flow and contaminant transport through unsaturated fractured rock) was initiated when the U.S. Geological Survey proposed that deep unsaturated zones in arid regions be considered in the site selection for the first high-level, commercially generated radioactive waste repository." Much of the research reported in that first edition was motivated by the U.S. Department of Energy's program to investigate Yucca Mountain at the Nevada Test Site as a possible geologic repository for commercially generated, high-level radioactive waste. As noted in the overview paper of the first edition, "characterization methods and modeling are in their developmental stage with the greatest lack of knowledge being the interaction between fracture and matrix flow and transport properties." Although the first edition of this monograph reflected the state-of-the science, laboratory and field experimental programs were novel and limited and, in general, followed from the principles and methods developed in the soil science community.

Author : Oleg G. Bakunin
Publisher : Springer
Page : 354 pages
File Size : 50,77 MB
Release : 2011-09-10
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783642203510

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The book introduces readers to and summarizes the current ideas and theories about the basic mechanisms for transport in chaotic flows. Typically no single paradigmatic approach exists as this topic is relevant for fields as diverse as plasma physics, geophysical flows and various branches of engineering. Accordingly, the dispersion of matter in chaotic or turbulent flows is analyzed from different perspectives. Partly based on lecture courses given by the author, this book addresses both graduate students and researchers in search of a high-level but approachable and broad introduction to the topic.

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Page : 28 pages
File Size : 12,4 MB
Release : 1994
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The DEFUSE computer model is a convenient and simple tool for calculating the subsurface gaseous diffusion of volatile contaminants in the vadose zone for the purposes of guiding vadose zone characterization and data collection efforts and for determining the need for site remediation. The reader is referred to Nitao (1990) for further details on the conceptual model for contaminant transport in the vadose zone and an application of DEFUZE to a site at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.