Modeling, simulation and analysis of groundwater flow captured by the horizontal reactive media well using the cell-based smoothed radial point interpolation method

Abstract

The Horizontal Reactive Media Treatment (HRX) well is a novel technology for in situ treatment of contaminated groundwater. The most significant technical performance risk associated with field-scale implementation of the HRX well is the potential for water to bypass the well untreated. Therefore, the groundwater capture simulation plays a very important role in the design of the HRX well. We build a model based on a cell-based smoothed radial point interpolation method (CS-RPIM) for simulating groundwater flow captured by the HRX well in both 3D test pit pilot scale and field scale. This method is compared with the finite element method and measured values. Capture width and groundwater velocity obtained by CS-RPIM are consistent with the measured values. We further develop MATLAB software modules to analyze the effects of the hydraulic conductivities, dimension of well and other parameters on the groundwater capture zone, velocity and residence time in the reactive media. The results show that increase of well diameter has a significant effect on enlargement of the capture zone and the extension of media treatment time. When well diameter increases by 100%, horizontal and vertical capture width increase by 57% and 50% respectively, and media treatment time can be extended by 68%.