Preliminary assessment of numerical data requirements TA-73 landfill Los Alamos, New Mexico
A numerical model, TOUGH2, was selected for describing liquid- and gas-phase flow in the unsaturated tuff underlying the TA-73 landfill. The model was selected primarily for its ability to simulate the significant mechanisms that may affect transport of contaminants through the vadose zone at the TA-73 landfill, including non-isothermal flow through fractured media. TOUGH2 is the best documented, verified, and validated model capable of performing the required simulations. The sensitivity analyses that were performed and describes in this report identified the input parameters that the selected numerical model is most sensitive to. The input parameters analyzed were saturated hydraulic conductivity, van Genuchten {alpha} and n, residual and saturated moisture contents, infiltration rate, fracture spacing and permeability, atmospheric pressure, and temperature. The sensitivity analyses were performed using a model grid that was designed to incorporate the regions in the landfill vicinity where contaminant transport is likely to occur and where the physical processes affecting flow and transport are the most dynamic. The sensitivity analyses performed suggest that the model is quite sensitive to a number of input parameters, including saturated hydraulic conductivity, the van Genuchten parameters {alpha} and n (for both the tuff matrix and fractures), fracture density and aperture, and atmospheric pressure. The results indicate that additional site-specific hydraulic properties and fracture data should be obtained before attempting to perform predictive, numerical simulations of gas- and liquid-phase flow beneath the landfill.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States); Stephens (Daniel B.) and Associates, Inc., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 10190774
- Report Number(s):
- LA-SUB--94-139; ON: DE95001749
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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