A
cubic underground storage tank (1 meter thick x 10 meters square) with its top
at a depth of 10 meters below the ground surface and generally even with the water
table surface is leaching a contaminant at a concentration of 700 mg/L from its
down gradient face into ground-water flow at the prevailing flow velocity. The
aquifer has the following properties:
- K = 3.0 x 10-5m/s
- dh/dl = 0.002
- effective porosity
= 0.23
- dispersivity ()
= 10m
- dispersivity in the
y is 1/5th that in the x direction
- dispersivity in the
z is 1/10th that in the x direction
- D* = 1 x 10-9m2/s
Calculate
the contaminant concentration in a ground-water sample collected from a well 15
meters down gradient after 1 year. The well has a total depth of 14 meters and
is screened from 13 to 14 meters depth. The well is offset laterally from the
center of the tank by a distance of 5 meters. When you want to confirm your answer,
click answer for the value.
For your convenience, I include the appropriate expression here:
where:
Co = source concentration [M/L3]
C = concentration [M/L3]
x = distance from the source in the direction of flow
y, z = orthogonal distances from the center of the plane source
= average linear velocity
of ground water [L/T ]
t = time since continuous concentration release began [ T ]
Dx, Dy, Dz = dispersion coefficients in the x,
y, & z directions [L2/T ]
- Note: dispersivity
varies with scale of plume migration, as well as, direction and each dispersivity
is multiplied by the velocity in the x direction
erf
= the error function ERF
erfc = the complimentary error function ERFC
FOR DOWNWARD SPREADING ONLY, substitute Z for Z/2
FOR NO SPREADING IN THE z DIRECTION, increase CO/8
to CO/4 and omit the erf terms for z.
Calculate your answer, being extremely careful with respect
to using consistent units and noticing how the answer is expressed (e.g. as
Concentration or relative Concentration, then check
yourself by deciding whether the answer is reasonable, and visiting the key.
KEY TO EXERCISE FOR EXPLORING 3D CONTAMINANT TRANSPORT, CONTINUOUS SOURCE