Optimal design of groundwater remediation system using a probabilistic multi-objective fast harmony search algorithm under uncertainty

Abstract

This study develops a new probabilistic multi-objective fast harmony search algorithm (PMOFHS) for optimal design of groundwater remediation systems under uncertainty associated with the hydraulic conductivity (K) of aquifers. The PMOFHS integrates the previously developed deterministic multi-objective optimization method, namely multi-objective fast harmony search algorithm (MOFHS) with a probabilistic sorting technique to search for Pareto-optimal solutions to multi-objective optimization problems in a noisy hydrogeological environment arising from insufficient K data. The PMOFHS is then coupled with the commonly used flow and transport codes, MODFLOW and MT3DMS, to identify the optimal design of groundwater remediation systems for a two-dimensional hypothetical test problem and a three-dimensional Indiana field application involving two objectives: (i) minimization of the total remediation cost through the engineering planning horizon, and (ii) minimization of the mass remaining in the aquifer at the end of the operational period, whereby the pump-and-treat (PAT) technology is used to clean up contaminated groundwater. Also, Monte Carlo (MC) analysis is employed to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. Comprehensive analysis indicates that the proposed PMOFHS can find Pareto-optimal solutions with low variability and high reliability and is a potentially effective tool for optimizing multi-objective groundwater remediation problems under uncertainty.