Unsteady Flow to Wells Partially Penetrating in Two-Layered Aquifers

Abstract

The unsteady flow of water to well in a layered aquifer with an interlayer flow is examined in this paper. The system studied comprises an aquifer consisting of two productive layers of finite thickness that are in a perfect hydraulic contact and a well which partially penetrates in one of the layers. Each layer is assumed to be homogeneous and isotropic and the water contained in the aquifer is of identical physical properties and small compressibility. The analytical solutions are derived for the case when the system is characterised by equality of hydraulic diffusivity of layers. These solutions give the results accurate enough for practical applications and allow to estimate the effects of partial penetration and contrast in parameters of formation on distribution of the flow potential both at large distances from wells and at the wells. The obtained solutions also provide a basis for predicting the interlayer flow arising from the performance of a pumping well as well as between a pair of wells which have an open interval located in different layers of the aquifer. Two cases have been analysed: (1) a pumping pair of wells which is used to prevent water inflow to the productive well, and (2) a pumping-injection pair of wells providing the demanded mixing of water from adjacent layers. Some examples of flow patterns and specially computed diagrams are given to illustrate the operation of such systems.