Predictive modelling of dispersion controlled reactive plumes at the laboratory-scale.

A model-based interpretation of laboratory-scale experimental data is presented. Hydrolysis experiments carried out using thin glass tanks filled with glass beads to construct a hypothetical and inert, homogeneous porous medium were analysed using a 2D numerical model. A new empirical formula, based upon results for non-reactive (tracer) experiments is used to calculate transversal dispersivity values for a range of grain sizes and any flow velocities. Combined with effective diffusion coefficients calculated from Stokes-Einstein type equations, plume lengths arising from mixing between two solutes can be predicted accurately using numerical modelling techniques. Moreover, pH and ion concentration profiles lateral to the direction of flow of the mixing species can be determined at any given point downstream, without the need for result fitting. In our case, this approach does not lead to overpredictions of lateral mixing, as previously reported when using parameters derived from non-reactive tracer experiments to describe reactive solute transport. The theory is based on the assumption of medium homogeneity.

Deposition, persistence and turnover of pollutants: First results from the EU project AquaTerra for selected river basins and aquifers.

Deposition, turnover and movement of persistent organic pollutants (POP) were investigated in the EU integrated project "AquaTerra", which is among the first funded environmental projects within the 6th Framework Program by the European Commission. Project work integrates across various disciplines that range from biogeochemistry, environmental engineering, computer modelling and chemistry to socio-economic sciences. Field study areas are the river basins of the Ebro, the Meuse, the Elbe and the Danube as well as the 3-km(2) French catchment of the Brévilles Spring. Within the first 2 years of the project more than 1700 samples of atmospherically deposited particles, sediments, and water have been collected in the above-mentioned systems. Results show clear spatial patterns of deposition of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with the highest rates in the Meuse Basin. For local inputs, in the Brévilles sandy aquifer, the contamination of the groundwater by the pesticides atrazine (AT) and deethylatrazine did not decrease even 5 years after their agricultural inputs were stopped. On the other hand, herbicides such as mecroprop (MCPP), and PAHs, were at least partially degraded microbiologically in laboratory studies with soils and aquifer material from selected sites. For sediment transport of contaminants, new flood sampling techniques revealed highest deposition rates of beta-hexachlorocyclohexane (beta-HCH) in river sediments at hotspot areas on the Mulde River in the Bitterfeld region (Elbe Basin, Germany). These selected preliminary results of AquaTerra help to improve fundamental understanding of persistent organic pollutants (POP) in the environment.

The integrated project AquaTerra of the EU sixth framework lays foundations for better understanding of river-sediment-soil-groundwater systems.

The integrated project "AquaTerra" with the full title "integrated modeling of the river-sediment-soil-groundwater system; advanced tools for the management of catchment areas and river basins in the context of global change" is among the first environmental projects within the sixth Framework Program of the European Union. Commencing in June 2004, it brought together a multidisciplinary team of 45 partner organizations from 12 EU countries, Romania, Switzerland, Serbia and Montenegro. AquaTerra is an ambitious project with the primary objective of laying the foundations for a better understanding of the behavior of environmental pollutants and their fluxes in the soil-sediment-water system with respect to climate and land use changes. The project performs research as well as modeling on river-sediment-soil-groundwater systems through quantification of deposition, sorption and turnover rates and the development of numerical models to reveal fluxes and trends in soil and sediment functioning. Scales ranging from the laboratory to river basins are addressed with the potential to provide improved river basin management, enhanced soil and groundwater monitoring as well as the early identification and forecasting of impacts on water quantity and quality. Study areas are the catchments of the Ebro, Meuse, Elbe and Danube Rivers and the Brévilles Spring. Here we outline the general structure of the project and the activities conducted within eleven existing sub-projects of AquaTerra.

Numerical experiments and field results on the size of steady state plumes.

Contaminated groundwater poses a serious risk for drinking water supplies. Under certain conditions, however, groundwater contamination remains restricted to a tolerable extent because of natural attenuation processes. We present an innovative approach to evaluate the size of these so-called steady-state plumes by 2-D and 1-D modelling in homogeneous aquifers. If longitudinal mixing is negligible, scenarios can be modelled in a simplified way using a 1-D domain vertical to the direction of flow. We analysed the sensitivity of the plume length with respect to biodegradation kinetics, flow velocity, transverse vertical dispersivity alphat, the source and aquifer geometry and reaction stoichiometry. Our findings indicate that for many readily biodegradable compounds transverse-dispersive mixing rather than reaction kinetics is the limiting factor for natural attenuation. Therefore, if alphat, aquifer and source geometry and concentrations of electron acceptors and donors are known, the length of the steady state contaminant plume can be predicted. The approach is validated under field conditions for an ammonium plume at a former landfill site in SW Germany.

Transverse vertical dispersion in groundwater and the capillary fringe.

Transverse dispersion is the most relevant process in mass transfer of contaminants across the capillary fringe (both directions), dilution of contaminants, and mixing of electron acceptors and electron donors in biodegrading groundwater plumes. This paper gives an overview on literature values of transverse vertical dispersivities alpha(tv) measured at different flow velocities and compares them to results from well-controlled laboratory-tank experiments on mass transfer of trichloroethene (TCE) across the capillary fringe. The measured values of transverse vertical dispersion in the capillary fringe region were larger than in fully saturated media, which is credited to enhanced tortuosity of the flow paths due to entrapped air within the capillary fringe. In all cases, the values observed for alpha(tv) were << 1 mm. The new measurements and the literature values indicate that alpha(tv) apparently declines with increasing flow velocity. The latter is attributed to incomplete diffusive mixing at the pore scale (pore throats). A simple conceptual model, based on the mean square displacement and the pore size accounting for only partial diffusive mixing at increasing flow velocities, shows very good agreement with measured and published data.

Tracer diffusion coefficients in sedimentary rocks: correlation to porosity and hydraulic conductivity.

Matrix diffusion is an important transport process in geologic materials of low hydraulic conductivity. For predicting the fate and transport of contaminants, a detailed understanding of the diffusion processes in natural porous media is essential. In this study, diffusive tracer transport (iodide) was investigated in a variety of geologically different limestone and sandstone rocks. Porosity, structural and mineralogical composition, hydraulic conductivity, and other rock properties were determined. The effective diffusion coefficients were measured using the time-lag method. The results of the diffusion experiments indicate that there is a close relationship between total porosity and the effective diffusion coefficient of a rock (analogous to Archie's Law). Consequently, the tortousity factor can be expressed as a function of total porosity. The relationship fits best for thicker samples (> 1.0 cm) with high porosities (> 20%), because of the reduced influence of heterogeneity in larger samples. In general, these correlations appear to be a simple way to determine tortuosity and the effective diffusion coefficient from easy to determine rock porosity values.

Occurrence and attenuation of specific organic compounds in the groundwater plume at a former gasworks site.

The changing contaminant pattern with travelled distance was investigated in the anaerobic groundwater plume downstream from an extended zone containing residual NAPL at a former gas manufacturing plant. With increasing distance, O- and N-heterocyclic aromatic compounds are enriched in the plume relative to the usually assessed coal tar constituents (poly- and monocyclic aromatic compounds). In a first approximation, the overall concentration decrease of the investigated compounds follows a first order overall decay. The half life distance in the plume downgradient from the source varied between 20 m for benzene and up to 167-303 m for alkyl-naphthalenes. Acenaphthene is degraded only within about 50 m downstream from the source area, then its concentration remains constant (ca. 180 microg/l) and far above the legal limit. Dimethyl-benzofurans were the most recalcitrant among all compounds which could be quantified with the analytical method available. The overall groundwater contamination in the plume is seriously underestimated if only BTEX and 16-EPA-PAHs are monitored.