ORCID Profile
0000-0002-8669-8184
Current Organisation
University of Western Australia
Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the Feedback Form.
In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Hydrogeology | Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience
Water Allocation and Quantification | Urban and Industrial Water Management | Mining Land and Water Management |
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2021
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Date: 2021
DOI: 10.1039/D1EM00303H
Abstract: A more ubiquitous use of process-based models will enhance the information gained from biogeochemical experimentation through both, a more rigorous interpretation of acquired data and the optimal design of future experiments.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2018
Publisher: CRC Press
Date: 23-08-2019
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 09-09-2013
DOI: 10.1021/ES4023909
Abstract: Leaching of nitrate from agricultural land to groundwater and the resulting nitrate pollution are a major environmental problem worldwide. Its impact is often mitigated in aquifers hosting sufficiently reactive reductants that can promote autotrophic denitrification. In the case of pyrite acting as reductant, however, denitrification is associated with the release of sulfate and often also with the mobilization of trace metals (e.g., arsenic). In this study, reactive transport modeling was used to reconstruct, quantify and analyze the dynamics of the dominant biogeochemical processes in a nitrate-polluted pyrite-containing aquifer and its evolution over the last 50 years in response to changing agricultural practices. Model simulations were constrained by measured concentration depth profiles. Measured (3)H/(3)He profiles were used to support the calibration of flow and conservative transport processes, while the comparison of simulated and measured sulfur isotope signatures acted as additional calibration constraint for the reactive processes affecting sulfur cycling. The model illustrates that denitrification largely prevented an elevated discharge of nitrate to surface waters, while sulfate discharges were significantly increased, peaking around 15 years after the maximum nitrogen inputs.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 10-2005
DOI: 10.1029/2005WR004095
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-11-2022
Publisher: Mineralogical Society of America
Date: 04-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2011
DOI: 10.1016/J.JCONHYD.2010.09.012
Abstract: Former manufactured gas plant sites often form a widespread contaminant source in the subsurface, leading to large plumes that contain a wide variety of tar-oil related compounds. Although most of these compounds eventually degrade naturally, the relevant processes tend to be slow and inefficient, often leaving active remediation as the only viable option to eliminate the risks of toxic substances to reach potential receptors such as surface waters or drinking water wells. In this study we use a reactive transport model to analyse the fate of a contaminant plume containing acenaphthene, methylbenzofurans and dimethylbenzofurans (i) prior to the installation of an active remediation scheme and (ii) for an enhanced remediation experiment during which O(2) and H(2)O(2) were added to the contaminated groundwater through a recirculation well. The numerical model developed for this study considers the primary contaminant degradation reactions (i.e., microbially mediated redox reactions) as well as secondary and competing mineral precipitation/dissolution reactions that affect the site's hydrochemistry and/or contaminant fate. The model was calibrated using a variety of constraints to test the uncertainty on model predictions resulting from the undocumented presence of reductants such as pyrite. The results highlight the important role of reactive transport modelling for the development of a comprehensive process understanding.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2012
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 24-09-2009
DOI: 10.1021/ES901142A
Abstract: A high spatial resolution data set documenting carbon and sulfur isotope fractionation at a tar oil-contaminated, sulfate-reducing field site was analyzed with a reactive transport model. Within a comprehensive numerical model, the study links the distinctive observed isotope depth profiles with the degradation of various monoaromatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds (BTEX/PAHs) under sulfate-reducing conditions. In the numerical model, microbial dynamics were simulated explicitly and isotope fractionation was directly linked to the differential microbial uptake of lighter and heavier carbon isotopes during microbial growth. Measured depth profiles from a multilevel s ling well with high spatial resolution served as key constraints for the parametrization of the model simulations. The results of the numerical simulations illustrate particularly well the evolution of the isotope signature of toluene, which is the most rapidly degrading compound and the most important reductant at the site. The resulting depth profiles at the observation well show distinct differences between the small isotopic enrichment in the contaminant plume core and the much stronger enrichment of up to 3.3 per thousand at the plume fringes.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2012
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 04-02-2020
Publisher: Australian Water Association
Date: 2020
Abstract: Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) can improve water security by using aquifers to store water when it is abundant until required for future use and can increase the use of urban stormwater and treated wastewater to reduce the demand on traditional surface water and groundwater supplies. Recently, two Australian ex les were showcased internationally as sustainable and economic MAR: Perth’s groundwater replenishment scheme (GWRS) with recycled water to increase security of urban water supply and a multi-site urban stormwater MAR scheme for suburban non-potable water supply in Salisbury, Adelaide. This paper provides a synopsis of these Australian exemplars of sustainable and economic MAR.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2020
DOI: 10.1071/AJ19187
Abstract: Large sedimentary basins with multiple aquifer systems like the Great Artesian Basin and the Beetaloo Sub-Basin are associated with large time and spatial scales for regional groundwater flow and mixing effects from inter-aquifer exchange. This makes them difficult to study using traditional hydrogeological investigation techniques. In continental onshore Australia, such sedimentary aquifer systems can also be important freshwater resources. These resources have become increasingly stressed because of growing demand and use of groundwater by multiple industries (e.g. stock, irrigation, mining, oil and gas). The social licence to operate for extractive oil and gas industries increasingly requires robust and reliable scientific evidence on the degree to which the target formations are vertically and laterally hydraulically separated from the aquifers supplying fresh water for stock and agricultural use. The complexity of such groundwater interactions can only be interpreted by applying multiple lines of evidence including environmental isotopes, hydrochemistry, hydrogeological and geophysical observations. We present an overview of multi-tracer studies from coal seam gas areas (Queensland and New South Wales) or areas targeted for shale gas development (Northern Territory). The focus was to investigate recharge to surficial karst and deep confined aquifer systems before industrial extraction on time scales of decades up to one million years and aquifer inter-connectivity at the formation scale. A systematic and consistent methodology is applied for the different case study areas aimed at building robust conceptual hydrogeological models that inform groundwater management and groundwater modelling. The tracer studies provided (i) in all areas increased confidence around recharge estimates, (ii) evidence for a dual-porosity flow system in the Hutton Sandstone (Queensland) and (iii) new insights into the connectivity, or lack thereof, of flow systems.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2020
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 05-2017
DOI: 10.1002/2017WR020551
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 11-2020
DOI: 10.1029/2020WR028066
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 08-2011
DOI: 10.1029/2010WR010118
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 16-03-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2014
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 10-2007
DOI: 10.1029/2006WR005630
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 18-02-2016
Publisher: CRC Press
Date: 23-08-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2019
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 23-09-2006
DOI: 10.1021/ES052506T
Abstract: Reactive multicomponent transport modeling was used to investigate and quantify the factors that affect redox zonation and the fate of the pharmaceutical residue phenazone during artificial recharge of groundwater at an infiltration site in Berlin, Germany. The calibrated model and the corresponding sensitivity analysis demonstrated thattemporal and spatial redox zonation at the study site was driven by seasonally changing, temperature-dependent organic matter degradation rates. Breakthrough of phenazone at monitoring wells occurred primarily during the warmer summer months, when anaerobic conditions developed. Assuming a redox-sensitive phenazone degradation behavior the model results provided an excellent agreement between simulated and measured phenazone concentrations. Therefore, the fate of phenazone was shown to be indirectly controlled by the infiltration water temperature through its effect on the aquifer's redox conditions. Other factors such as variable residence times appeared to be of less importance.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-2020
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 26-02-2008
DOI: 10.1021/ES071981J
Abstract: The Rayleigh equation is commonly applied to evaluate the extent of degradation at contaminated sites for which compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) data are available. However, it was shown recently that (i) the Rayleigh equation systematically underestimates the extent of biodegradation in physically heterogeneous systems, while (ii) it overestimates biodegradation if sorption-based carbon isotope fractionation is relevant. This paper further explores these two isotope effects not captured by the Rayleigh equation by means of a numerical modeling approach. The reactive multicomponent transport simulations show that the systematic underestimation is considerably larger for fringe-controlled and Monod-type degradation reactions than for previously assumed redox-insensitive first-order degradation kinetics, while forthe nonsteady state front portion of plumes, the Rayleigh equation may falsely indicate the occurrence of and/or overestimate biodegradation. The latter anomaly results from carbon isotope fractionation during sorption. It occurs for both supply-controlled degradation at the plume fringe and slow, reaction-controlled degradation inside the plume core. The numerical model approach enables a more accurate interpretation of CSIA data and thereby improves the quantification of biodegradation processes.
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 20-04-2018
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 09-2009
DOI: 10.1021/ES900658N
Abstract: A model-based analysis of concentration and isotope data was carried out to assess natural attenuation of chlorinated ethenes in an aerobic fractured bedrock aquifer. Tetrachloroethene (PCE) concentrations decreased downgradient of the source, but constant delta13C signatures indicated the absence of PCE degradation. In contrast, geochemical and isotopic data demonstrated degradation of trichloroethene (TCE) and cis-1,2-dichloroethene (DCE) under the prevailing oxic conditions. Numerical modeling was employed to simulate isotopic enrichment of chlorinated ethenes and to evaluate alternative degradation pathway scenarios. Existing field information on groundwater flow, solute transport, geochemistry, and delta13C signatures of the chlorinated ethenes was integrated via reactive transport simulations. The results provided strong evidence for the occurrence of aerobic TCE and DCE degradation. The chlorinated ethene concentrations together with stable carbon isotope data allowed us to reliably constrain the assessment of the extent of biodegradation at the site and plume simulations quantitatively linked aerobic biodegradation with isotope signatures in the field. Our investigation provides the first quantitative assessment of aerobic biodegradation of chlorinated ethenes in a fractured rock aquifer based on compound specific stable isotope measurements and reactive transport modeling.
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 24-07-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-08-2023
DOI: 10.1111/GWAT.13345
Abstract: In this paper we present a new reactive transport code for the efficient simulation of groundwater quality problems. The new code couples the two previously existing tools OpenFoam and PhreeqcRM. The major objective of the development was to transfer and expand the capabilities of the MODFLOW/MT3DMS‐family of codes, especially their outstanding ability to suppress numerical dispersion, to a versatile and computationally efficient code for unstructured grids. Owing to the numerous, previously existing transport solvers contained in OpenFoam, the newly developed code achieves this objective and provides a solid basis for future expansions of the code capabilities. The flexibility of the OpenFoam framework is illustrated by the addition of diffusional processes for gaseous compounds in the unsaturated zone and the advection of gases (multiphase transport). The code capabilities and accuracy are illustrated through several ex les: (1) a simple 2D case for conservative solute transport under saturated conditions, (2) a gas diffusion case with reactions in the unsaturated zone, (3) a hydrogeologically complex 3D reactive transport problem, and finally (4) the injection of CO 2 into a deep aquifer with acidification being buffered by carbonate minerals.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2010
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2006
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.ENVPOL.2022.119463
Abstract: The occurrence of excessive ammonium in groundwater threatens human and aquatic ecosystem health across many places worldwide. As the fate of ammonium in groundwater systems is often affected by a complex mixture of transport and biogeochemical transformation processes, identifying the sources of groundwater ammonium is an important prerequisite for planning effective mitigation strategies. Elevated ammonium was found in both a shallow and an underlying deep groundwater system in an alluvial aquifer system beneath an agricultural area in the central Yangtze River Basin, China. In this study we develop and apply a novel, indirect approach, which couples the random forest classification (RFC) of machine learning method and fluorescence excitation-emission matrices with parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC), to distinguish multiple sources of ammonium in a multi-layer aquifer. EEM-PARAFAC was applied to provide insights into potential ammonium sources as well as the carbon and nitrogen cycling processes affecting ammonium fate. Specifically, RFC was used to unravel the different key factors controlling the high levels of ammonium prevailing in the shallow and deep aquifer sections, respectively. Our results reveal that high concentrations of ammonium in the shallow groundwater system primarily originate from anthropogenic sources, before being modulated by intensive microbially mediated nitrogen transformation processes such as nitrification, denitrification and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA). By contrast, the linkage between high concentrations of ammonium and decomposition of soil organic matter, which ubiquitously contained nitrogen, suggested that mineralization of soil organic nitrogen compounds is the primary mechanism for the enrichment of ammonium in deeper groundwaters.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2022.119096
Abstract: Contamination through per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have occurred globally in soil and groundwater systems at military, airport and industrial sites due to the often decades-long periodic application of firefighting foams. At PFAS contaminated sites, the unsaturated soil horizon often serves as a long-term source for sustained PFAS contamination for both groundwater and surface water runoff. An understanding of the processes controlling future mass loading rates to the saturated zone from these source zones is imperative to design efficient remediation measures. In the present study, hydrochemical data from a site where PFAS transport was observed as a result of the decades-long application of AFFF were used to develop and evaluate conceptual and numerical models that determine PFAS mobility across the vadose zone under realistic field-scale conditions. The simulation results demonstrate that the climate-driven physical flow processes within the vadose zone exert a dominating control on the retention of PFAS. Prolonged periods of evapotranspiration exceeding rainfall under the semi-arid conditions trigger periods of upward flux and evapoconcentration, leading to the observed persistence of PFAS compounds in the upper ca. 2 metres of the vadose zone, despite cessation of AFFF application to soils since more than a decade. Physico-chemical retention mechanisms, namely sorption to the air-water interface (AWI) and sediment surfaces, contribute further to PFAS retention. The simulations demonstrate how PFAS downward transport is effectively confined to short periods following discrete rain events when soils display a high degree of saturation. During these periods, AWI sorption is at a minimum. In addition, high PFAS concentrations measured and simulated below the source zone reduce the effect of the AWI further due to a decrease in surface tension associated with elevated PFAS concentrations. Consequently, time-integrated PFAS migration and retardation illuminates that the field-relevant PFAS transport rates are predominantly controlled by the physical flow processes with a lower relative importance of AWI and sediment sorption adding to PFAS retention.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 05-2010
DOI: 10.1029/2009WR008168
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 09-06-2020
Publisher: CSIRO
Date: 2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2019
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-02-2023
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 12-2017
DOI: 10.1002/2017WR021240
Abstract: Coal seam gas production involves generation and management of large amounts of co‐produced water. One of the most suitable methods of management is injection into deep aquifers. Field injection trials may be used to support the predictions of anticipated hydrological and geochemical impacts of injection. The present work employs reactive transport modeling (RTM) for a comprehensive analysis of data collected from a trial where arsenic mobilization was observed. Arsenic sorption behavior was studied through laboratory experiments, accompanied by the development of a surface complexation model (SCM). A field‐scale RTM that incorporated the laboratory‐derived SCM was used to simulate the data collected during the field injection trial and then to predict the long‐term fate of arsenic. We propose a new practical procedure which integrates laboratory and field‐scale models using a Monte Carlo type uncertainty analysis and alleviates a significant proportion of the computational effort required for predictive uncertainty quantification. The results illustrate that both arsenic desorption under alkaline conditions and pyrite oxidation have likely contributed to the arsenic mobilization that was observed during the field trial. The predictive simulations show that arsenic concentrations would likely remain very low if the potential for pyrite oxidation is minimized through complete deoxygenation of the injectant. The proposed modeling and predictive uncertainty quantification method can be implemented for a wide range of groundwater studies that investigate the risks of metal(loid) or radionuclide contamination.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.JCONHYD.2012.04.005
Abstract: A newly developed groundwater and electrokinetic (EK) flow and reactive transport numerical model was applied to simulate electrokinetic in situ chemical oxidation (EK-ISCO) remediation. Scenario simulations that considered the oxidation of a typical organic contaminant (tetrachloroethene) by permanganate were used to gain a better understanding of the key processes and parameters that control remediation efficiency. In a first step a sensitivity analysis was carried out to investigate a range of EK, hydraulic and engineering parameters on the performance of EK-ISCO. While all investigated parameters affected the remediation process to some extent, the duration and energy required for remediation were shown to be most dependent upon the applied voltage gradient, the natural oxidant demand and the concentration of the injected oxidant. Secondly, the efficacy of EK-induced oxidant transport was further examined for a heterogeneous aquifer system with random permeability fields. Oxidant migration under EK was slower in low-permeability media due to the increased oxidant consumption of competing reductants. Instead of injecting oxidant only at the cathode, locating injection wells between the electrodes greatly increased the contaminant degradation by decreasing the distance the amendment had to migrate before reaching the contaminant.
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 13-07-2017
Abstract: Over the last few decades, significant progress has been made to characterize the extent, severity, and underlying geochemical processes of groundwater arsenic (As) pollution in S/SE Asia. However, comparably little effort has been made to merge the findings into frameworks that allow for a process-based quantitative analysis of observed As behavior and for predictions of its long-term fate. This study developed field-scale numerical modeling approaches to represent the hydrochemical processes associated with an in situ field injection of reactive organic carbon, including the reductive dissolution and transformation of ferric iron (Fe) oxides and the concomitant release of sorbed As. We employed data from a sucrose injection experiment in the Bengal Delta Plain to guide our model development and to constrain the model parametrization. Our modeling results illustrate that the temporary pH decrease associated with the sucrose transformation and mineralization caused pronounced, temporary shifts in the As partitioning between aqueous and sorbed phases. The results also suggest that while the reductive dissolution of Fe(III) oxides reduced the number of sorption sites, a significant fraction of the released As was rapidly scavenged through coprecipitation with neo-formed magnetite. These secondary reactions can explain the disparity between the observed Fe and As behavior.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2007
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-05-2015
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 12-01-2007
DOI: 10.1021/ES0615674
Abstract: On the basis of a combination of laboratory microcosm experiments, column sorption experiments, and the current spatial distribution of groundwater concentrations, the origin of a mixed brominated ethene groundwater plume and its degradation pathway were hypothesized. The contaminant groundwater plume was detected downgradient of a former mineral processing facility, and consisted of tribromoethene (TriBE), cis-1,2-dibromoethene (c-DBE), trans-1,2-dibromoethene (t-DBE), and vinyl bromide (VB). The combined laboratory and field data provided strong evidence that the origin of the mixed brominated ethene plume was a result of dissolution of the dense non-aqueous-phase liquid 1,1,2,2-tetrabromoethane (TBA) atthe presumed source zone, which degraded rapidly (half-life of 0.2 days) to form TriBE in near stoichiometric amounts. TriBE then degraded (half-life of 96 days) to form c-DBE, t-DBE, and VB via a reductive debromination degradation pathway. Slow degradation of c-DBE (half-life >220 days), t-DBE (half-life 220 days), and VB (half-life >220 days) coupled with their low retardation coefficients (1.2, 1.2, and 1.0 respectively) resulted in the formation of an extensive mixed brominated ethene contaminant plume. Without this clearer understanding of the mechanism for TBA degradation, the origin of the mixed brominated ethene groundwater contamination could have been misinterpreted, and inappropriate and ineffective source zone and groundwater remediation techniques could be applied.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2020
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 02-06-2010
DOI: 10.1021/ES100463Q
Abstract: Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) is promoted as an attractive technique to meet growing water demands. An impediment to MAR applications, where oxygenated water is recharged into anoxic aquifers, is the potential mobilization of trace metals (e.g., arsenic). While conceptual models for arsenic transport under such circumstances exist, they are generally not rigorously evaluated through numerical modeling, especially at field-scale. In this work, geochemical data from an injection experiment in The Netherlands, where the introduction of oxygenated water into an anoxic aquifer mobilized arsenic, was used to develop and evaluate conceptual and numerical models of arsenic release and attenuation under field-scale conditions. Initially, a groundwater flow and nonreactive transport model was developed. Subsequent reactive transport simulations focused on the description of the temporal and spatial evolution of the redox zonation. The calibrated model was then used to study and quantify the transport of arsenic. In the model that best reproduced field observations, the fate of arsenic was simulated by (i) release via codissolution of arsenopyrite, stoichiometrically linked to pyrite oxidation, (ii) kinetically controlled oxidation of dissolved As(III) to As(V), and (iii) As adsorption via surface complexation on neo-precipitated iron oxides.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2009
DOI: 10.1016/J.JCONHYD.2008.09.010
Abstract: The suitability of a granulated zero valent iron (ZVI) permeable reactive barrier (PRB) remediation strategy was investigated for tribromoethene (TriBE), cis-1,2-dibromoethene (c-DBE), trans-1,2-dibromoethene (t-DBE) and vinyl bromide (VB), via batch and large-scale column experiments that were subsequently analysed by reactive transport modelling. The brominated ethenes in both batch and large-scale column experiments showed rapid (compared to controls and natural attenuation) degradation in the presence of ZVI. In the large-scale column experiment, degradation half-lives were 0.35 days for TriBE, 0.50 days for c-DBE, 0.31 days for t-DBE and 0.40 days for VB, under site groundwater flow conditions, resulting in removal of brominated ethenes within the first 0.2 m of a 1.0 m thick ZVI layer, indicating that a PRB groundwater remediation strategy using ZVI could be used successfully. In the model simulations of the ZVI induced brominated ethene degradation, assuming a dominant reductive beta-elimination pathway via bromoacetylene and acetylene production, simulated organic compound concentrations corresponded well with both batch and large-scale column experimental data. Changes of inorganic reactants were also well captured by the simulations. The similar ZVI induced degradation pathway of TriBE and TCE suggests that outcomes from research on ZVI induced TCE remediation could also be applied to TriBE remediation.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2002
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2008
DOI: 10.1016/J.JCONHYD.2007.11.003
Abstract: Zero-valent iron (ZVI) permeable-reactive barriers have become an increasingly used remediation option for the in situ removal of various organic and inorganic chemicals from contaminated groundwater. In the present study a process-based numerical model for the transport and reactions of chlorinated hydrocarbon in the presence of ZVI has been developed and applied to analyse a comprehensive data set from laboratory-scale flow-through experiments. The model formulation includes a reaction network for the in idual sequential and/or parallel transformation of chlorinated hydrocarbons by ZVI, for the resulting geochemical changes such as mineral precipitation, and for the carbon isotope fractionation that occurs during each of the transformation reactions of the organic compounds. The isotopic fractionation was modelled by formulating separate reaction networks for lighter ((12)C) and heavier ((13)C) isotopes. The simulation of a column experiment involving the parallel degradation of TCE by hydrogenolysis and beta-elimination can conclusively reproduce the observed concentration profiles of all collected organic and inorganic data as well as the observed carbon isotope ratios of TCE and its daughter products.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2011
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 10-12-2021
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 09-08-2010
DOI: 10.1021/ES101661U
Abstract: Water-sediment interactions triggered by the injection of oxidized aqueous solutions into anoxic groundwater systems usually modify both the aquifer matrix and control the final aqueous composition. The identification and quantification of these reactions in complex heterogeneous systems remains a challenge for the analysis and prediction of water quality changes. Driven by the proposed injection of large quantities of oxic water into a deep anoxic heterogeneous pyritic aquifer this study was undertaken to quantify the reactivity of aquifer sediments with respect to oxidant consumption and to characterize the variability of the reaction rates across different lithological units. A total of 53 s les were incubated for periods of 14, 37, and 50 days, during which the gas-phase was continuously monitored and the aqueous composition analyzed. A geochemical modeling framework was developed that incorporated a mixed set of equilibrium and kinetic reactions and supported the interpretation and quantification of the geochemical controls. The good agreement between simulated and experimental results of O2 consumption, CO2 production, pH, major ions, and trace metals suggests that the framework was able to successfully quantify reaction rates of competing redox and buffering reactions for the different lithological aquifer material.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2018
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 20-10-2020
DOI: 10.3390/W12102932
Abstract: Superlative levels of arsenic (As) in groundwater and sediment often result from industrial pollution, as is the case for a coastal aquifer in Southern Italy, with a fertilizer plant atop. Understanding conditions under which As is mobilized from the sediments, the source of that As, is necessary for developing effective remediation plans. Here, we examine hydrogeological and geochemical factors that affect groundwater As concentrations in a contaminated coastal aquifer. Groundwater has been subject to pump-and-treat at a massive scale for more than 15 years and is still ongoing. Nevertheless, As concentrations (0.01 to 100 mg/L) that are four orders of magnitude more than Italian drinking water standard of 10 μg/L are still present in groundwater collected from about 50 monitoring wells over three years (2011, 2016, and 2018). As was quantified in three different locations by sequential extractions of 29 sediment cores in 2018 (depth 2.5 m to −16.5 m b.g.l.), combined with groundwater As composition, the aqueous and solid partitioning of As were evaluated by partition coefficient (Kd) in order to infer the evolution of the contaminant plumes. Most sediment As is found in easily extractable and/or adsorbed on amorphous iron oxides/hydroxides fractions based on sequential extractions. The study shows that As contamination persists, even after many years of active remediation due to the partitioning to sediment solids. This implies that the choice of remediation techniques requires an improved understanding of the biogeochemical As-cycling and high spatial resolution characterization of both aqueous and solid phases for sites of interest.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2012
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2007
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.JCONHYD.2015.06.005
Abstract: The release and retention of in-situ colloids in aquifers play an important role in the sustainable operation of managed aquifer recharge (MAR) schemes. The processes of colloid release, retention, and associated permeability changes in consolidated aquifer sediments were studied by displacing native groundwater with reverse osmosis-treated (RO) water at various flow velocities. Significant amounts of colloid release occurred when: (i) the native groundwater was displaced by RO-water with a low ionic strength (IS), and (ii) the flow velocity was increased in a stepwise manner. The amount of colloid release and associated permeability reduction upon RO-water injection depended on the initial clay content of the core. The concentration of released colloids was relatively low and the permeability reduction was negligible for the core s le with a low clay content of about 1.3%. In contrast, core s les with about 6 and 7.5% clay content exhibited: (i) close to two orders of magnitude increase in effluent colloid concentration and (ii) more than 65% permeability reduction. Incremental improvement in the core permeability was achieved when the flow velocity increased, whereas a short flow interruption provided a considerable increase in the core permeability. This dependence of colloid release and permeability changes on flow velocity and colloid concentration was consistent with colloid retention and release at pore constrictions due to the mechanism of hydrodynamic bridging. A mathematical model was formulated to describe the processes of colloid release, transport, retention at pore constrictions, and subsequent permeability changes. Our experimental and modeling results indicated that only a small fraction of the in-situ colloids was released for any given change in the IS or flow velocity. Comparison of the fitted and experimentally measured effluent colloid concentrations and associated changes in the core permeability showed good agreement, indicating that the essential physics were accurately captured by the model.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.JCONHYD.2015.06.003
Abstract: A severe groundwater contamination with extensive plumes of arsenic, phosphate and ammonium was found in a coastal aquifer beneath a former fertilizer production plant. The implementation of an active groundwater remediation strategy, based on a comprehensive pump and treat scheme, now prevents the migration of the dissolved contaminants into the marine environment. However, due to the site's proximity to the coastline, a seawater wedge was induced by the pumping scheme. Additionally the groundwater flow and salinity patterns were also strongly affected by leakage from the site's sewer system and from a seawater-fed cooling canal. The objective of this study was to elucidate the fate of arsenic and its co-contaminants over the site's history under the complex, coupled hydrodynamic and geochemical conditions that prevail at the site. A detailed geochemical characterisation of s les from sediment cores and hydrochemical data provided valuable high-resolution information. The obtained data were used to develop various conceptual models and to constrain the development and calibration of a reactive transport model. The reactive transport simulations were performed for a sub-domain (two-dimensional transect) of an earlier developed three-dimensional flow and variable density solute transport model. The results suggest that in the upper sub-oxic zone the influx of oxygenated water promoted As attenuation via co-precipitation with Al and Fe oxides and copper hydroxides. In contrast, in the deeper aquifer zone, iron reduction, associated with the release of adsorbed As and the dissolution of As bearing phases, provided and still provides to date a persistent source for groundwater pollution. The presented monitoring and modelling approach could be broadly applied to coastal polluted sites by complex contaminant mixture containing As.
Publisher: CSIRO
Date: 2013
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2011
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-1998
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 30-04-2021
Abstract: The application of electric fields facilitates in situ extraction of metals from intact ore bodies of low hydraulic conductivity.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-01-2016
DOI: 10.1111/GWAT.12318
Abstract: A modified version of the MODFLOW/MT3DMS-based reactive transport model PHT3D was developed to extend current reactive transport capabilities to the variably-saturated component of the subsurface system and incorporate diffusive reactive transport of gaseous species. Referred to as PHT3D-UZF, this code incorporates flux terms calculated by MODFLOW's unsaturated-zone flow (UZF1) package. A volume-averaged approach similar to the method used in UZF-MT3DMS was adopted. The PHREEQC-based computation of chemical processes within PHT3D-UZF in combination with the analytical solution method of UZF1 allows for comprehensive reactive transport investigations (i.e., biogeochemical transformations) that jointly involve saturated and unsaturated zone processes. Intended for regional-scale applications, UZF1 simulates downward-only flux within the unsaturated zone. The model was tested by comparing simulation results with those of existing numerical models. The comparison was performed for several benchmark problems that cover a range of important hydrological and reactive transport processes. A 2D simulation scenario was defined to illustrate the geochemical evolution following dewatering in a sandy acid sulfate soil environment. Other potential applications include the simulation of biogeochemical processes in variably-saturated systems that track the transport and fate of agricultural pollutants, nutrients, natural and xenobiotic organic compounds and micropollutants such as pharmaceuticals, as well as the evolution of isotope patterns.
Publisher: CSIRO
Date: 2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-08-2013
DOI: 10.1111/J.1745-6584.2012.00978.X
Abstract: Radially symmetric flow and solute transport around point sources and sinks is an important specialized topic of groundwater hydraulics. Analysis of radial flow fields is routinely used to determine heads and flows in the vicinity of point sources or sinks. Increasingly, studies also consider solute transport, biogeochemical processes, and thermal changes that occur in the vicinity of point sources/sinks. Commonly, the analysis of hydraulic processes involves numerical or (semi-) analytical modeling methods. For the description of solute transport, analytical solutions are only available for the most basic transport phenomena. Solving advanced transport problems numerically is often associated with a significant computational burden. However, where axis-symmetry applies, computational cost can be decreased substantially in comparison with full three-dimensional (3D) solutions. In this study, we explore several techniques of simulating conservative and reactive transport within radial flow fields using MODFLOW as the flow simulator, based on its widespread use and ability to be coupled with multiple solute and reactive transport codes of different complexity. The selected transport simulators are MT3DMS and PHT3D. Computational efficiency and accuracy of the approaches are evaluated through comparisons with full 2D/3D model simulations, analytical solutions, and benchmark problems. We demonstrate that radial transport models are capable of accurately reproducing a wide variety of conservative and reactive transport problems provided that an adequate spatial discretization and advection scheme is selected. For the investigated test problems, the computational load was substantially reduced, with the improvement varying, depending on the complexity of the considered reaction network.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 11-2015
DOI: 10.1002/2015WR017833
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.JCONHYD.2017.04.002
Abstract: Organic pollutants such as solvents or petroleum products are widespread contaminants in soil and groundwater systems. In-situ bioremediation is a commonly used remediation technology to clean up the subsurface to eliminate the risks of toxic substances to reach potential receptors in surface waters or drinking water wells. This study discusses the development of a subsurface model to analyse the performance of an actively operating field-scale enhanced bioremediation scheme. The study site was affected by a mixed toluene, dihydromyrcenol (DHM), methanol, and i-propanol plume. A high-resolution, time-series of data was used to constrain the model development and calibration. The analysis shows that the observed failure of the treatment system is linked to an inefficient oxygen injection pattern. Moreover, the model simulations also suggest that additional contaminant spillages have occurred in 2012. Those additional spillages and their associated additional oxygen demand resulted in a significant increase in contaminant fluxes that remained untreated. The study emphasises the important role that reactive transport modelling can play in data analyses and for enhancing remediation efficiency.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 09-2010
DOI: 10.1029/2009WR008781
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 06-2014
DOI: 10.1002/2013WR014404
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 04-2021
DOI: 10.1029/2020WR029474
Abstract: In this study, the influence of varying temperatures on the transport behavior of conservative solutes in heterogeneous porous media has been investigated. Column flow experiments employing potassium bromide as tracer were conducted at four temperature levels (3°C, 10°C, 20°C, and 30°C) and the measured electrical conductivity (EC) signal was interpreted through inverse modeling. Additional experiments were performed with deuterium‐enriched water at 10°C and 30°C. For those experiments, deuterium isotope ratios were analyzed alongside anion and cation concentrations. Obtained EC‐based breakthrough curves showed measurable differences in both the observed peak values and tailing intensities that could be clearly attributed to variations in the experimental temperatures. The EC‐based results were further corroborated by the measured isotope ratios and corresponding anion/cation concentrations, although measured differences were less pronounced. The model‐based interpretation of the results employed the standard advection‐dispersion equation as well as three alternative variants that were all based on the single‐rate dual‐domain mass transfer (DDMT) approach, but embracing varying coupling intensities between the experiments. For all variants transport parameters were determined for EC, bromide, and deuterium, respectively. The estimated ranges of the transport parameters all point toward a direct correlation between the effective DDMT rates and the experimental temperature. The observed correlation directly follows the Arrhenius relationship, but is weaker than the one describing the temperature dependence of the molecular diffusion coefficients, therefore pointing to a contribution of non‐diffusive components.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2015
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 12-2014
DOI: 10.1002/2013WR015219
Abstract: Changes in subsurface temperature distribution resulting from the injection of fluids into aquifers may impact physiochemical and microbial processes as well as basin resource management strategies. We have completed a 2 year field trial in a hydrogeologically and geochemically heterogeneous aquifer below Perth, Western Australia in which highly treated wastewater was injected for large‐scale groundwater replenishment. During the trial, chloride and temperature data were collected from conventional monitoring wells and by time‐lapse temperature logging. We used a joint inversion of these solute tracer and temperature data to parameterize a numerical flow and multispecies transport model and to analyze the solute and heat propagation characteristics that prevailed during the trial. The simulation results illustrate that while solute transport is largely confined to the most permeable lithological units, heat transport was also affected by heat exchange with lithological units that have a much lower hydraulic conductivity. Heat transfer by heat conduction was found to significantly influence the complex temporal and spatial temperature distribution, especially with growing radial distance and in aquifer sequences with a heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity distribution. We attempted to estimate spatially varying thermal transport parameters during the data inversion to illustrate the anticipated correlations of these parameters with lithological heterogeneities, but estimates could not be uniquely determined on the basis of the collected data.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2022.118199
Abstract: Groundwater contamination of geogenic arsenic (As) remains a global health threat, particularly in south-east Asia. The prominent correlation often observed between high As concentrations and methane (CH
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 02-2014
DOI: 10.1002/2013WR013835
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 07-2007
DOI: 10.1029/2006WR005679
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 27-01-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2021
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Date: 09-09-2010
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2014
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 20-07-2011
DOI: 10.1021/ES201286C
Abstract: Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is an aquifer recharge technique in which water is injected in an aquifer during periods of surplus and withdrawn from the same well during periods of deficit. It is a critical component of the long-term water supply plan in various regions, including Florida, USA. Here, the viability of ASR as a safe and cost-effective water resource is currently being tested at a number of sites due to elevated arsenic concentrations detected during groundwater recovery. In this study, we developed a process-based reactive transport model of the coupled physical and geochemical mechanisms controlling the fate of arsenic during ASR. We analyzed multicycle hydrochemical data from a well-documented affected southwest Floridan site and evaluated a conceptual/numerical model in which (i) arsenic is initially released during pyrite oxidation triggered by the injection of oxygenated water (ii) then largely complexes to neo-formed hydrous ferric oxides before (iii) being remobilized during recovery as a result of both dissolution of hydrous ferric oxides and displacement from sorption sites by competing anions.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.JCONHYD.2013.10.002
Abstract: Calcite is an important, relatively soluble mineral phase that can affect uranium reactive transport in subsurface sediments. This study was conducted to investigate the distribution of calcite and its influence on uranium adsorption and reactive transport in the groundwater-river mixing zone of the Hanford 300A site, Washington State. Simulations using a two-dimensional (2D) reactive transport model under field-relevant hydrological and hydrogeochemical conditions revealed the development of a calcite reaction front through the mixing zone as a result of dynamic groundwater-river interactions. The calcite concentration distribution, in turn, affected the concentrations of aqueous carbonate and calcium, and pH through dissolution, as river waters intruded and receded from the site at different velocities in response to stage changes. The composition variations in groundwater subsequently influenced uranium mobility and discharge rates into the river in a complex fashion. The results implied that calcite distribution and concentration are important variables that need to be quantified for accurate reactive transport predictions of uranium, especially in dynamic groundwater-river mixing zones.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 2013
DOI: 10.1029/2012WR012604
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2023
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 13-12-2013
DOI: 10.1021/ES403194R
Abstract: The transport and biochemical transformations of the iodinated X-ray contrast medium (ICM) iomeprol were studied at the stream/groundwater interface. During a one-month field experiment piezometric pressure heads, temperatures, and concentrations of redox-sensitive species, iomeprol and 15 of its transformation products (TPs) were collected in stream- and groundwater. The data set was analyzed and transformation processes and rates identified by comparing conservative and reactive transport simulations. ICM and TP transformations were simulated as a cometabolic process during organic carbon degradation. Using iomeprol/TPs ratios as calibration constrain mitigated the uncertainties associated with the high variability of the ICM wastewater discharge into the investigated stream. The study provides evidence that biodegradation of ICM occurs at the field-scale also for predominantly denitrifying conditions. Under these anaerobically dominated field conditions shortest simulated half-life (21 days) was in the same range as previously reported laboratory-determined half-lives for aerobic conditions.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2020
DOI: 10.1016/J.WATRES.2019.115314
Abstract: During the First Gulf War (1991) a large number of oil wells were destroyed and oil fires subsequently extinguished with seawater. As a result Kuwait's sparse fresh groundwater resources were severely contaminated with crude oil. Since then limited research has focused on the microbial community ecology of the groundwater and their impact on the associated contamination. Here, the microbial community ecology (bacterial, archaeal and eukaryotic) and how it relates to the characteristics of the hydrocarbon contaminants were examined for the first time since the 1991 event. This study was conducted using 15 wells along the main groundwater flow direction and detected several potential hydrocarbon degrading microorganisms such as Hyphomicrobiaceae, Porphyromonadaceae and Eurotiomycetes. The beta ersity of the microbial communities correlated significantly with total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentrations and salinity. The TPH consisted mainly of polar compounds present as an unresolved complex mixture (UCM) of a highly recalcitrant nature. Based on the proportions of TPH to dissolved organic carbon (DOC), the results indicate that some minor biodegradation has occurred within highly contaminated aquifer zones. However, overall the results from this study suggest that the observed variations in TPH concentrations among the s led wells are mainly induced by mixing/dilution with pristine groundwater rather than by biodegradation of the contaminants. The findings make an important contribution to better understand the fate of the groundwater pollution in Kuwait, with important implications for the design of future remediation efforts.
Publisher: CRC Press
Date: 23-08-2018
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 05-2023
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 05-2016
DOI: 10.1002/2015WR017802
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 24-02-2005
DOI: 10.1021/ES0486768
Abstract: Artificial recharge is a technique used increasingly to supplement drinking water supplies. To assess the potential water quality changes that occur during subsurface passage, a comprehensive deep-well injection experiment was carried out for a recharge scheme, where pretreated, aerobic surface water was injected at 300 m depth into an anaerobic aquifer. Water quality parameters were recorded over the 854-days long injection phase. The evolution of the major ion and redox chemistry was analyzed with a three-dimensional reactive multicomponent transport model. It was found that the oxidation of pyrite was the main driverforwater quality changes and that reaction rates depended significantly on the spatially/temporally varying groundwater temperature. With the temperature-dependency of the oxidation reactions incorporated into the model, the simulations give an accurate picture of the temporal and spatial evolution of the hydrochemical changes that occurred during the experiment. To delineate the influence of physical and chemical processes on local concentration changes the results of the reactive transport model simulations were compared with the corresponding results from nonreactive simulations. The study emphasizes the suitability of mechanistic multicomponent reactive transport modeling as an integrative tool for data analysis when physical transport and chemical processes interact.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2018
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
Date: 2005
Publisher: Geochemical Society
Date: 2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2003
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 11-2018
Abstract: Coal seam gas (CSG) extraction generates large volumes of coproduced water. Injection of the excess water into deep aquifers is often the most sustainable management option. However, such injection risks undesired sediment-water interactions that mobilize metal(loid)s in the receiving aquifer. This risk can be mitigated through pretreatment of the injectant. Here, we conducted a sequence of three push-pull tests (PPTs) where the injectant was pretreated using acid amendment and/or deoxygenation to identify the processes controlling the fate of metal(loid)s and to understand the treatment requirements for large-scale CSG water injection. The injection and recovery cycles were closely monitored, followed by analysis of the observations through reactive transport modeling. While arsenic was mobilized in all three PPTs, significantly lower arsenic concentrations were observed in the recovered water when the injectant was deoxygenated, regardless of pH adjustment. The breakthrough of arsenic was commensurate with molybdenum, but distinct from phosphate. This allowed for the observed and modeled arsenic and molybdenum mobilization to be attributed to a stoichiometric codissolution process during pyrite oxidation, whereas phosphate mobility was governed by sorption. Understanding the nature of these hydrochemical processes explained the greater efficiency of pretreatment by deoxygenation on minimizing metal(loid) mobilization compared to the acid amendment.
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 24-06-2006
DOI: 10.1021/ES0603002
Abstract: Data obtained from a field study of an aquifer contaminated by landfill leachate and related laboratory experiments suggest that natural attenuation of phenoxy acid herbicides such as mecoprop (MCPP) occurs in the transition zone between the anaerobic plume core and the overlying aerobic water body. The location of this transition zone is assumed to be primarily controlled by vertical transverse dispersion processes occurring downstream of the pollution source. A reactive transport modeling study was carried out to evaluate this conceptual model. The transport was simulated for a two-dimensional vertical cross section to quantify the combined physical, geochemical, and microbial processes that affect the fate of the phenoxy acid herbicides. The simulations, showing removal of phenoxy acids, an increase of phenoxy acid degraders in the fringe zone, and a dependency of the results on vertical transverse dispersivity, are compatible with the hypothesis of fringe-controlled aerobic biodegradation of the phenoxy acids.
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 11-09-2007
DOI: 10.1021/ES071122V
Abstract: Large-scale column experiments were carried out over a period of 545 days to assess the effect of increasing acidity on bacterial denitrification, sulfate reduction, and metal(loid) bioprecipitation in groundwater affected by acid mine drainage. At a groundwater pH of 5.5, denitrification and Cu2+ removal, probably via malachite (Cu2(OH)2CO3) precipitation, were observed in the ethanol-amended column. Sulfate reduction, sulfide production, and Zn2+ removal were also observed, with Zn2+ removal observed in the zone of sulfate reduction, indicating likely precipitation as sphalerite (ZnS). Se6+ removal was also observed in the sulfate reducing zone, probably as direct bioreduction to elemental selenium via ethanol/acetate oxidation or sulfide oxidation precipitating elemental sulfur. A step decrease in groundwater pH from 5.5 to 4.25 resulted in increased denitrification and sulfate reduction half-lives, migration of both these redox zones along the ethanol-amended column, and the formation of an elevated Cu2+ plume. Additionally, an elevated Zn2+ plume formed in the previous sulfate reducing zone of the ethanol-amended column, suggesting dissolution of precipitated sphalerite as a result of the reduction in groundwater pH. As Cu2+ passed through the zone of sphalerite dissolution, SEM imaging and EDS detection suggested that Cu2+ removal had occurred via chalcocite (Cu2S) or covellite (CuS) precipitation.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2022
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2007
DOI: 10.1016/J.JCONHYD.2007.04.002
Abstract: 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.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.JCONHYD.2014.12.005
Abstract: Compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) of organic pollutants has become a well-established tool for assessing the occurrence and extent of biodegradation processes in contaminated aquifers. However, the precision of CSIA is influenced by the degree to which assumptions underlying CSIA data interpretation hold under realistic field-scale conditions. For the first time this study demonstrates how aquifer analogs combined with reactive transport models offer an underexplored way to develop generic process understanding, evaluate monitoring and quantification strategies in highly heterogeneous subsurface settings. Data from high-resolution aquifer analogs were used in numerical experiments to track the propagation of a representative oxidizable organic compound (toluene) within a variety of realistic heterogeneous aquifers and to investigate its detailed fate. The simulations were used to analyze (1) the effects of physical aquifer heterogeneities on spatiotemporal patterns of contaminant concentrations and isotope signatures, (2) the performance of the commonly applied Rayleigh equation and (3) the applicability of an extension of the Rayleigh equation for complex hydrogeological conditions. The results indicate that if field-derived enrichment factors are applied without corrections for dilution, the conventional Rayleigh equation is inaccurate and estimates for biodegradation are typically overestimated and unreliable in heterogeneous aquifers. Underestimations can occur due to the partial source zone depletion. In contrast, if dilution can be accurately accounted for, field-derived enrichment factors comprise a suitable alternative to laboratory-derived and redox-specific enrichment factors. The study also examines to what extent variations in monitoring/s ling strategies influence the obtained results. Especially measurements from long-screened wells (>1 m) reveal to be inappropriate for the application of the Rayleigh equation in the investigated aquifer analogs, as low resolution data s led from the simulated scenarios only enable a qualitative assessment of biodegradation. Measurements from both long- and short-screened wells employing the Rayleigh equation streamline approach are only partly viable for in situ biodegradation measurements in heterogeneous systems.
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 19-08-2022
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1002/2014WR015779
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2021
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 11-2018
DOI: 10.1029/2018WR022800
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2014
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2020
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 09-2018
DOI: 10.1029/2018WR023579
Publisher: Perth, CSIRO
Date: 2007
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2007
DOI: 10.1016/J.JCONHYD.2006.09.003
Abstract: Over a period of several decades multiple leaks of large volumes from storage facilities located near Hnevice (Czech Republic) have caused the underlying Quaternary aquifer to be severely contaminated with nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) petroleum hydrocarbons. Beginning in the late 1980's the NAPL plume started to shrink as a consequence of NAPL dissolution exceeding replenishment and due to active remediation. The subsurface was classified geochemically into four different zones, (i) a contaminant-free zone never occupied by NAPL or dissolved contaminants, (ii) a re-oxidation zone formerly occupied by NAPL, (iii) a zone currently occupied by NAPL, and (iv) a lower fringe zone between the overlying NAPL and the deeper underlying contaminant-free zone. The study investigated the spatial and temporal variability of the redox zonation at the Hnevice site and quantified the influence of iron-cycling on the overall electron balance. As a first step inverse geochemical modelling was carried out to identify possible reaction models and mass transfer processes. In a subsequent step, two-dimensional (forward) multi-component reactive transport modelling was performed to evaluate and quantify the major processes that control the geochemical evolution at the site. The study explains the observed enrichment of the lower fringe zone with ferrihydrite as a result of the re-oxidation of ferrous iron. It suggests that once the NAPL zone started to shrink the dissolution of previously formed siderite and FeS by oxygen and nitrate consumed a significant part of the oxidation capacity for a considerable time period and therefore limited the penetration of electron acceptors into the NAPL contaminated zone.
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 15-11-2007
DOI: 10.1021/ES071123N
Abstract: A biogeochemical transport modeling study was carried out to analyze large-scale laboratory column experiments in which ethanol was used as an electron donor to create favorable conditions for the immobilization of selected trace metals (Zn and Cu) in groundwater. Microbial activity was explicitly simulated to capture the dynamic changes of the redox zonation within the column (i) in the early phase of the experiment (microbial lag) and (ii) in response to a significant decrease in the pH of the feed solution introduced after 188 days. The simulated redox dynamics agreed well with the observations after the pH-dependency of microbial growth was incorporated into the microbial model. The study showed that residual minerals may have buffered the pH for a period after the pH of the feed solution was decreased. Where the buffering capacity was exhausted, the pH decreased, leading to a successive downstream movement of the redox boundaries. The simulations reproduced the Zn immobilization within the sulfate-reducing zone as well as its partial remobilization after this zone moved further downstream. The immobilization of Cu within the denitrifying zone could also be well explained by incorporating malachite (Cu2(OH)2CO3) precipitation in the simulations.
Publisher: CRC Press
Date: 23-08-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2005
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2002
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2021
DOI: 10.1016/J.JCONHYD.2021.103894
Abstract: Iodine is an essential micronutrient in the human diet and an appropriate human iodine intake level is important for population health. Excessive iodine intake is often associated with high iodine groundwater which serves as an important drinking water source in many regions. This study aims to identify the source and key hydrogeochemical processes for iodine accumulation and mobility in the groundwaters of the Northern Jiangsu Yishusi Plain. Combined hydrogeochemical and statistical analyses, specifically random forest modeling and factor analysis, were used to explore the mechanisms affecting the spatial distribution of iodine. The concentration of iodine in the investigated groundwaters was found to vary widely and to range between 4.8 and 4750 μg/L, with 48.9% of the total s les (674) exceeding the threshold value of 100 μg/L for toxic exposure, as defined by the Chinese high‑iodine standard guideline. High iodine concentrations are shown to mainly occur in the marine plain and the shallow aquifer associated with the floodplains of the Old Yellow River. The marine or lagoons-facies sediments were identified as the most plausible iodine source. In addition, mixing of groundwater with paleo-seawater might also have played a role in the coastal area. In contrast, the flood sediments of the Old Yellow River are shown to be an unlikely source. However, they serve as a cover layer that favored the development of reducing hydrogeochemical conditions that can trigger iodine mobilization via the reductive dissolution of iron oxides and the degradation of organic matter. Slow groundwater flow rates also appear to favor iodine release from sediments.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2011
DOI: 10.1016/J.JCONHYD.2011.01.001
Abstract: Saline solutions are the most commonly used hydrological tracers, because they can be easily and economically monitored by in situ instrumentation such as electrical conductivity (EC) loggers in wells or by geoelectrical measurements. Unfortunately, these low-cost techniques only provide information on the total concentration of ions in solution, i.e., they cannot resolve the ionic composition of the aqueous solution. This limitation can introduce a bias in the estimation of aquifer parameters where sorption phenomena between saline tracers and sediments become relevant. In general, only selected anions such as Cl(-) and Br(-) are recognised to be transported unretarded and they are referred to as conservative tracers or mobile anions. However, cations within the saline tracer may interact with the soil matrix through a range of processes such as ion exchange, surface complexation and via physical mass-transfer phenomena. Heterogeneous reactions with minerals or mineral surfaces may not be negligible where aquifers are composed of fine alluvial sediments. The focus of the present study was to examine and to quantify the bias between the aquifer parameters estimated during model-based interpretation of experimental data of EC measurements of saline tracer relative to the aquifer parameters found by specific measurements (i.e. via ionic chromatography, IC) of truly conservative species. To accomplish this, column displacement experiments with alluvial aquifer materials collected from the Po lowlands (Italy) were performed under water saturated conditions. The behaviour of six selected, commonly used saline tracers (i.e., LiCl, KCl, and NaCl LiBr, KBr, and NaBr) was studied and the data analysed by inverse modelling. The results demonstrate that the use of EC as a tracer can lead to an erroneous parameterisation of the investigated porous media, if the reactions between solute and matrix are neglected. In general, errors were significant except for KCl and KBr, which is due to the weak interaction between dissolved K(+) and the sediment material. The study shows that laboratory scale pre-investigations can help with tracer selection and to optimise the concentration range targeted for in situ multilevel monitoring by unspecific geoelectrical instrumentation.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 10-2001
DOI: 10.1029/2000WR000049
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2021
Publisher: IWA Publishing
Date: 04-2008
DOI: 10.2166/WST.2008.168
Abstract: Australian experience at five research sites where stormwater and reclaimed water have been stored in aquifers prior to reuse, have yielded valuable information about water treatment processes in anaerobic and aerobic aquifers. One of these sites is the stormwater to potable water ASTR project at the City of Salisbury, a demonstration project within the broader EC project ‘RECLAIM WATER’. A framework for characterising the effectiveness of such treatment for selected organic chemicals, natural organic matter, and pathogens is being developed for inclusion in new Australian Guidelines for Management of Aquifer Recharge. The combination of pre-treatments (including passive systems such as reed beds) and aquifer treatment effectiveness in relation to source waters and intended uses of recovered water will be described. Advantages and disadvantages of various types of pre-treatments in relation to effectiveness and sustainability of managed aquifer recharge will be discussed taking account of aquifer characteristics. These observations will be consolidated into a draft set of principles to assist in selection of engineered treatments compatible with passive treatment in aquifers.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 05-2011
DOI: 10.1029/2010WR009108
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-2003
DOI: 10.1111/J.1745-6584.2003.TB02588.X
Abstract: This paper presents a three-dimensional, MODFLOW/MT3DMS-based reactive multicomponent transport model for saturated porous media. Based on a split-operator technique, the model, referred to as PHT3D, couples the transport simulator MT3DMS and the geochemical modeling code PHREEQC-2. Through the flexible, generic nature of PHREEQC-2, PHT3D can handle a broad range of equilibrium and kinetically controlled reactive processes, including aqueous complexation, mineral precipitation/dissolution, and ion exchange. The ersity of potential applications is demonstrated through simulation of five existing literature benchmarks and a new three-dimensional s le problem. The model might be applied to simulate the geochemical evolution of pristine and contaminated aquifers as well as their cleanup. The latter problem class includes the natural and enhanced attenuation/remediation schemes of a wide range of organic and inorganic contaminants. Processes/reactions not included in the standard PHREEQC-2 database but typical for this type of application (e.g., NAPL dissolution, microbial growth/decay) can be defined and included via the extensible PHREEQC-2 database file.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Start Date: 2015
End Date: 2019
Funder: German Research Foundation
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2010
End Date: 2014
Funder: German Research Foundation
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2016
End Date: 2017
Funder: German Research Foundation
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2019
End Date: 2022
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 02-2020
End Date: 02-2024
Amount: $838,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 07-2009
End Date: 12-2015
Amount: $14,999,996.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity