Modelling of contaminant transport in heterogeneous vertical barrier

Vertical barrier technique is an ideal candidate for site contamination control. In practical application, the characteristic of vertical cut‐off wall is heterogeneous with permeability decreases with depth due to the increasing geostatic stress. In this study, a numerical model was established cons...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water and environment journal : WEJ 2024-02, Vol.38 (1), p.169-177
Main Authors: Shaoyi, Wang, Jiawei, Wu, Peifu, Cai, Cong, Chen, Shenghua, Ye, Jianqiang, Xu, Liang, Chen, Xiaoyong, Luo, Jun, Wei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
consolidation stress
contaminant transport
Contaminants
Contamination
finite element method
Groundwater
Groundwater flow
Heterogeneity
High density polyethylenes
Hydrostatic pressure
Leakage
Mathematical models
Membranes
Numerical models
Permeability
Pollution control
Pollution transport
vertical barrier
Water pressure
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Summary:Vertical barrier technique is an ideal candidate for site contamination control. In practical application, the characteristic of vertical cut‐off wall is heterogeneous with permeability decreases with depth due to the increasing geostatic stress. In this study, a numerical model was established considering the coupling effect of groundwater flow and contaminant transport considering depth dependent permeability. The results showed that a heterogeneous barrier with variable permeability can reduce the breakthrough time by 63.7% compared to a fixed permeability barrier. The contaminant concentration inside the wall was up to 10 times higher than outside. Shallow leakage occurs where the horizontal migration is dominated by advection. The distribution of pore‐water pressure in the system after the installation of high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) membranes significantly reduced the shallow convective effect by reducing up to 90% pore‐water pressure. Reinforcing the vertical barrier wall using HDPE membrane can effectively prevent the shallow leakage caused by the heterogeneity.
ISSN:1747-6585
1747-6593
DOI:10.1111/wej.12896