Contaminant transport model in transient and unsaturated conditions applied to laboratory column test with tailings
Abstract Mining is an important economic activity in the modern world. However, despite the generated benefits, mining produces tremendous volumes of tailings, an environmental liability with numerous adverse effects. Researches about contaminant transport in tailings dam are important to assess the degree of contamination and to propose preventive or remedial measures. In geotechnical practice, the flow of solutes is generally characterized by numerical solution of the Richards equation to describe water movement followed by advection-dispersion equation to describe contaminant movement. This study aimed to model and simulate contaminant transport in a laboratory column test, using a new analytical formulation and mathematical codes, through tailings in transient unsaturated conditions. The analytical solution for the Richards equation was used to simulate the variation in the volumetric water content and to determine the transient contaminant plume using the advection-dispersion equation subsequently. The models were used to calibrate experimental data from hydraulic characterization and contamination tests. Finally, the normalized contaminant plume (cw/c0) was simulated as a function of time and space. Comparisons with experimental data showed that the analytical formulations adequately expressed the process of contaminant infiltration through the unsaturated porous medium. The formulations offered effectively and are configured as a new approach to solve various contamination problems in transient unsaturated conditions, providing insights into many complex processes that occur in the lab tests and requires far less computational effort compared with current programs to modeling the solute transport using numerical solutions, as the versatile commercial Software HYDRUS.
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Associação Brasileira de Mecânica dos Solos
2022
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oai:scielo:S2675-547520220002004102022-07-19Contaminant transport model in transient and unsaturated conditions applied to laboratory column test with tailingsCarbajal,Eliu JamesDiniz,Mariana dos SantosRodriguez-Pacheco,Roberto LorenzoCavalcante,André Luís Brasil Unsaturated porous medium Unsaturated flow Contaminant transport Tailing Abstract Mining is an important economic activity in the modern world. However, despite the generated benefits, mining produces tremendous volumes of tailings, an environmental liability with numerous adverse effects. Researches about contaminant transport in tailings dam are important to assess the degree of contamination and to propose preventive or remedial measures. In geotechnical practice, the flow of solutes is generally characterized by numerical solution of the Richards equation to describe water movement followed by advection-dispersion equation to describe contaminant movement. This study aimed to model and simulate contaminant transport in a laboratory column test, using a new analytical formulation and mathematical codes, through tailings in transient unsaturated conditions. The analytical solution for the Richards equation was used to simulate the variation in the volumetric water content and to determine the transient contaminant plume using the advection-dispersion equation subsequently. The models were used to calibrate experimental data from hydraulic characterization and contamination tests. Finally, the normalized contaminant plume (cw/c0) was simulated as a function of time and space. Comparisons with experimental data showed that the analytical formulations adequately expressed the process of contaminant infiltration through the unsaturated porous medium. The formulations offered effectively and are configured as a new approach to solve various contamination problems in transient unsaturated conditions, providing insights into many complex processes that occur in the lab tests and requires far less computational effort compared with current programs to modeling the solute transport using numerical solutions, as the versatile commercial Software HYDRUS.info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessAssociação Brasileira de Mecânica dos SolosSoils and Rocks v.45 n.2 20222022-01-01info:eu-repo/semantics/articletext/htmlhttp://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2675-54752022000200410en10.28927/sr.2022.076021 |
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Carbajal,Eliu James Diniz,Mariana dos Santos Rodriguez-Pacheco,Roberto Lorenzo Cavalcante,André Luís Brasil |
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Carbajal,Eliu James Diniz,Mariana dos Santos Rodriguez-Pacheco,Roberto Lorenzo Cavalcante,André Luís Brasil Contaminant transport model in transient and unsaturated conditions applied to laboratory column test with tailings |
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Carbajal,Eliu James Diniz,Mariana dos Santos Rodriguez-Pacheco,Roberto Lorenzo Cavalcante,André Luís Brasil |
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Carbajal,Eliu James |
title |
Contaminant transport model in transient and unsaturated conditions applied to laboratory column test with tailings |
title_short |
Contaminant transport model in transient and unsaturated conditions applied to laboratory column test with tailings |
title_full |
Contaminant transport model in transient and unsaturated conditions applied to laboratory column test with tailings |
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Contaminant transport model in transient and unsaturated conditions applied to laboratory column test with tailings |
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Contaminant transport model in transient and unsaturated conditions applied to laboratory column test with tailings |
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contaminant transport model in transient and unsaturated conditions applied to laboratory column test with tailings |
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Abstract Mining is an important economic activity in the modern world. However, despite the generated benefits, mining produces tremendous volumes of tailings, an environmental liability with numerous adverse effects. Researches about contaminant transport in tailings dam are important to assess the degree of contamination and to propose preventive or remedial measures. In geotechnical practice, the flow of solutes is generally characterized by numerical solution of the Richards equation to describe water movement followed by advection-dispersion equation to describe contaminant movement. This study aimed to model and simulate contaminant transport in a laboratory column test, using a new analytical formulation and mathematical codes, through tailings in transient unsaturated conditions. The analytical solution for the Richards equation was used to simulate the variation in the volumetric water content and to determine the transient contaminant plume using the advection-dispersion equation subsequently. The models were used to calibrate experimental data from hydraulic characterization and contamination tests. Finally, the normalized contaminant plume (cw/c0) was simulated as a function of time and space. Comparisons with experimental data showed that the analytical formulations adequately expressed the process of contaminant infiltration through the unsaturated porous medium. The formulations offered effectively and are configured as a new approach to solve various contamination problems in transient unsaturated conditions, providing insights into many complex processes that occur in the lab tests and requires far less computational effort compared with current programs to modeling the solute transport using numerical solutions, as the versatile commercial Software HYDRUS. |
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Associação Brasileira de Mecânica dos Solos |
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2022 |
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http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2675-54752022000200410 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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