Upscaling of Regional Scale Transport Under Transient Conditions: Evaluation of the Multirate Mass Transfer Model

Guo, Zhilin; Fogg, Graham E.; Henri, Christopher V.

doi:10.1029/2019WR024953

Title: Upscaling of Regional Scale Transport Under Transient Conditions: Evaluation of the Multirate Mass Transfer Model

Journal Article · 01 July 2019 · Water Resources Research

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR024953 · OSTI ID:1530626

^[1];

^[2];

^[2]

Land, Air, and Water Resources University of California Davis CA USA, School of Environmental Science and Engineering Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen China
Land, Air, and Water Resources University of California Davis CA USA

Abstract Regional scale transport models are needed to support the long‐term evaluation of groundwater quality and to develop management strategies aiming to prevent serious groundwater degradation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the capacity of a previously developed upscaling approach to adequately describe the main solute transport processes, including the capture of late‐time tails under changing boundary conditions. Potential factors that impact the performance of upscaling methods, including temporal variations in mass transfer rates and mass distributions, were investigated. Advective‐dispersive contaminant transport in a 3‐D heterogeneous domain was simulated and used as a reference solution. The equivalent transport under homogeneous flow conditions was then evaluated by applying the multirate mass transfer (MRMT) model. The random walk particle tracking method was used to solve the solute transport for heterogeneous and homogeneous MRMT scenarios under steady state and transient conditions. The results indicate that the MRMT model can capture the tails satisfactorily for plumes transported with ambient steady state flow fields at all studied scales using the same parameters. However, when the boundary conditions change in either local, plume, or regional scale, the mass transfer model calibrated for transport under steady state conditions cannot accurately reproduce the tailings observed for the heterogeneous scenario. The deteriorating impacts of transient boundary conditions on the upscaled model are more significant for regions where the flow fields are dramatically affected, which highlights the poor applicability of the MRMT approach for complex field settings. This finding also has implications for the suitability of other potential upscaling approaches.

View Accepted Manuscript (Publisher)

Cite

Export

Save

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

OSTI ID:: 1530626

Journal Information:: Water Resources Research, Journal Name: Water Resources Research Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 55; ISSN 0043-1397

Publisher:: American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (63)

An automatic locally-adaptive method to estimate heavily-tailed breakthrough curves from particle distributions Pedretti, Daniele; Fernàndez-Garcia, Daniel Advances in Water Resources, Vol. 59 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2013.05.006	journal	September 2013
The fractional-order governing equation of Lévy Motion Benson, David A.; Wheatcraft, Stephen W.; Meerschaert, Mark M. Water Resources Research, Vol. 36, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1029/2000WR900032	journal	February 2000
Multiple-Rate Mass Transfer for Modeling Diffusion and Surface Reactions in Media with Pore-Scale Heterogeneity Haggerty, Roy; Gorelick, Steven M. Water Resources Research, Vol. 31, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1029/95WR10583	journal	June 1995
Application of a fractional advection-dispersion equation Benson, David A.; Wheatcraft, Stephen W.; Meerschaert, Mark M. Water Resources Research, Vol. 36, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1029/2000WR900031	journal	February 2000
Modeling mass transfer processes using random walk particle tracking: MODELING MASS TRANSFER USING PARTICLE TRACKING Salamon, P.; Fernàndez-Garcia, D.; Gómez-Hernández, J. J. Water Resources Research, Vol. 42, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1029/2006WR004927	journal	November 2006
Relative contribution of DNAPL dissolution and matrix diffusion to the long-term persistence of chlorinated solvent source zones Seyedabbasi, Mir Ahmad; Newell, Charles J.; Adamson, David T. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, Vol. 134-135 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2012.03.010	journal	June 2012
Differences in the scale-dependence of dispersivity estimated from temporal and spatial moments in chemically and physically heterogeneous porous media Fernàndez-Garcia, Daniel; Illangasekare, Tissa H.; Rajaram, Harihar Advances in Water Resources, Vol. 28, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2004.12.011	journal	July 2005
Transport upscaling in heterogeneous aquifers: What physical parameters control memory functions?: HETEROGENEITY EFFECTS ON MEMORY FUNCTION Willmann, M.; Carrera, J.; Sánchez-Vila, X. Water Resources Research, Vol. 44, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1029/2007WR006531	journal	December 2008
What controls the apparent timescale of solute mass transfer in aquifers and soils? A comparison of experimental results: CONTROLLING THE TIMESCALE OF SOLUTE MASS TRANSFER Haggerty, Roy; Harvey, Charles F.; Freiherr von Schwerin, Claudius Water Resources Research, Vol. 40, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1029/2002WR001716	journal	January 2004
Nonideal transport of reactive solutes in heterogeneous porous media: 5. Simulating regional-scale behavior of a trichloroethene plume during pump-and-treat remediation Zhang, Zhihui; Brusseau, Mark L. Water Resources Research, Vol. 35, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1029/1999WR900162	journal	October 1999
Scaling of flow and transport behavior in heterogeneous groundwater systems Scheibe, Timothy; Yabusaki, Steven Advances in Water Resources, Vol. 22, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0309-1708(98)00014-1	journal	November 1998
Efficient upscaling of hydraulic conductivity in heterogeneous alluvial aquifers Fleckenstein, Jan H.; Fogg, Graham E. Hydrogeology Journal, Vol. 16, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-008-0312-3	journal	June 2008
Computing “Anomalous” Contaminant Transport in Porous Media: The CTRW MATLAB Toolbox Cortis, Andrea; Berkowitz, Brian Ground Water, Vol. 43, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6584.2005.00045.x	journal	August 2005
Assessing contaminant-removal conditions and plume persistence through analysis of data from long-term pump-and-treat operations Brusseau, Mark L.; Guo, Zhilin Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, Vol. 164 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2014.05.004	journal	August 2014
The concept of block-effective macrodispersivity and a unified approach for grid-scale- and plume-scale-dependent transport Rubin, Y.; Sun, A.; Maxwell, R. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 395 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022112099005868	journal	September 1999
Dispersion of groundwater age in an alluvial aquifer system: DISPERSION OF GROUNDWATER AGE Weissmann, Gary S.; Zhang, Y.; LaBolle, Eric M. Water Resources Research, Vol. 38, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1029/2001WR000907	journal	October 2002
Calculating equivalent permeability: a review Renard, Ph.; de Marsily, G. Advances in Water Resources, Vol. 20, Issue 5-6 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0309-1708(96)00050-4	journal	October 1997
Theory of anomalous chemical transport in random fracture networks Berkowitz, Brian; Scher, Harvey Physical Review E, Vol. 57, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.57.5858	journal	May 1998
The impact of well-field configuration and permeability heterogeneity on contaminant mass removal and plume persistence Guo, Zhilin; Brusseau, Mark L. Journal of Hazardous Materials, Vol. 333 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2017.03.012	journal	July 2017
Characterizing Three-Dimensional Hydraulic Conductivity Distributions Using Qualitative and Quantitative Geologic Borehole Data: Application to a Field Site Zhang, Zhihui; Brusseau, Mark L. Ground Water, Vol. 36, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6584.1998.tb02842.x	journal	July 1998
Rate-limited mass transfer or macrodispersion: Which dominates plume evolution at the macrodispersion experiment (MADE) site? Harvey, Charles; Gorelick, Steven M. Water Resources Research, Vol. 36, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1029/1999WR900247	journal	March 2000
Upscaling hydraulic conductivities in heterogeneous media: An overview Wen, Xian-Huan; Gómez-Hernández, J. Jaime Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 183, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1694(96)80030-8	journal	August 1996
Analysis of groundwater migration from artificial recharge in a large urban aquifer: A simulation perspective Tompson, Andrew F. B.; Carle, Steven F.; Rosenberg, Nina D. Water Resources Research, Vol. 35, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1029/1999WR900175	journal	October 1999
A continuous time random walk approach to transient flow in heterogeneous porous media: RAPID COMMUNICATION Cortis, Andrea; Knudby, Christen Water Resources Research, Vol. 42, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1029/2006WR005227	journal	October 2006
Apparent directional mass-transfer capacity coefficients in three-dimensional anisotropic heterogeneous aquifers under radial convergent transport Pedretti, D.; Fernàndez-Garcia, D.; Sanchez-Vila, X. Water Resources Research, Vol. 50, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1002/2013WR014578	journal	February 2014
Groundwater Flow and Sand Body Interconnectedness in a Thick, Multiple-Aquifer System Fogg, Graham E. Water Resources Research, Vol. 22, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1029/WR022i005p00679	journal	May 1986
On matrix diffusion: formulations, solution methods and qualitative effects Carrera, Jesús; Sánchez-Vila, Xavier; Benet, Inmaculada Hydrogeology Journal, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s100400050143	journal	June 1998
On the Equivalence of Two Conceptual Models for Describing Ion Exchange During Transport Through an Aggregated Oxisol Nkedi-Kizza, P.; Biggar, J. W.; Selim, H. M. Water Resources Research, Vol. 20, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1029/WR020i008p01123	journal	August 1984
The random walk's guide to anomalous diffusion: a fractional dynamics approach Metzler, Ralf; Klafter, Joseph Physics Reports, Vol. 339, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0370-1573(00)00070-3	journal	December 2000
Numerical simulations of solute transport in highly heterogeneous formations: A comparison of alternative numerical schemes Boso, Francesca; Bellin, Alberto; Dumbser, Michael Advances in Water Resources, Vol. 52 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2012.08.006	journal	February 2013
Can the Desert Bloom? Lessons Learned from the Israeli Case Nativ, Ronit Ground Water, Vol. 42, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6584.2004.tb02719.x	journal	September 2004
Representative hydraulic conductivities in saturated groundwater flow Sanchez-Vila, Xavier; Guadagnini, Alberto; Carrera, Jesus Reviews of Geophysics, Vol. 44, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005RG000169	journal	January 2006
New form of dispersion tensor for axisymmetric porous media with implementation in particle tracking: NEW FORM OF DISPERSION TENSOR FOR AXISYMMETRIC MEDIA Lichtner, Peter C.; Kelkar, Sharad; Robinson, Bruce Water Resources Research, Vol. 38, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1029/2000WR000100	journal	August 2002
A random walk solution for modeling solute transport with network reactions and multi-rate mass transfer in heterogeneous systems: Impact of biofilms Henri, Christopher V.; Fernàndez-Garcia, Daniel Advances in Water Resources, Vol. 86 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2015.09.028	journal	December 2015
Assessing the impact of source-zone remediation efforts at the contaminant-plume scale through analysis of contaminant mass discharge Brusseau, M. L.; Hatton, J.; DiGuiseppi, W. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, Vol. 126, Issue 3-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2011.08.003	journal	November 2011
Impact of upscaling on solute transport: Traveltimes, scale dependence of dispersivity, and propagation of uncertainty: IMPACT OF UPSCALING Fernàndez-Garcia, D.; Gómez-Hernández, J. J. Water Resources Research, Vol. 43, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005WR004727	journal	February 2007
Implementation schemes for avoiding artifact discontinuities in simulated annealing Carle, Steven F. Mathematical Geology, Vol. 29, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02769630	journal	June 1997
Nonpoint source solute transport normal to aquifer bedding in heterogeneous, Markov chain random fields: NONPOINT SOURCE TRANSPORT IN MARKOV Zhang, Hua; Harter, Thomas; Sivakumar, Bellie Water Resources Research, Vol. 42, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1029/2004WR003808	journal	June 2006
Toward efficiency in heterogeneous multispecies reactive transport modeling: A particle-tracking solution for first-order network reactions Henri, Christopher V.; Fernàndez-Garcia, Daniel Water Resources Research, Vol. 50, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1002/2013WR014956	journal	September 2014
Probability of Nitrate Contamination of Recently Recharged Groundwaters in the Conterminous United States Nolan, Bernard T.; Hitt, Kerie J.; Ruddy, Barbara C. Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 36, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1021/es0113854	journal	May 2002
Solute transport in heterogeneous formations of bimodal conductivity distribution: 1. Theory Dagan, G.; Lessoff, S. C. Water Resources Research, Vol. 37, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1029/2000WR900225	journal	March 2001
Release of contaminants from a heterogeneously fractured low permeability unit underlying a DNAPL source zone Dearden, R. A.; Noy, D. J.; Lelliott, M. R. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, Vol. 153 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2011.05.006	journal	October 2013
Modeling groundwater contaminant transport in the presence of large heterogeneity: a case study comparing MT3D and RWhet Guo, Zhilin; Fogg, Graham E.; Brusseau, Mark L. Hydrogeology Journal, Vol. 27, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-019-01938-9	journal	February 2019
On Characterization of Anomalous Dispersion in Porous and Fractured Media Berkowitz, Brian; Scher, Harvey Water Resources Research, Vol. 31, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1029/95WR00483	journal	June 1995
Three-dimensional hydraulic conductivity upscaling in groundwater modeling Zhou, Haiyan; Li, Liangping; Jaime Gómez-Hernández, J. Computers & Geosciences, Vol. 36, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2010.03.008	journal	October 2010
Performance assessment of solute transport upscaling methods in the context of nuclear waste disposal Cassiraga, E. F.; Fernàndez-Garcia, D.; Gómez-Hernández, J. J. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, Vol. 42, Issue 5-6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2005.03.013	journal	July 2005
Upscaling transport with mass transfer models: Mean behavior and propagation of uncertainty: UPSCALING WITH MASS TRANSFER MODELS Fernàndez-Garcia, D.; Llerar-Meza, G.; Gómez-Hernández, J. Jaime Water Resources Research, Vol. 45, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1029/2009WR007764	journal	October 2009
Motivation of synthesis, with an example on groundwater quality sustainability: MOTIVATION OF SYNTHESIS Fogg, Graham E.; LaBolle, Eric M. Water Resources Research, Vol. 42, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005WR004372	journal	March 2006
Spatial connectivity in a highly heterogeneous aquifer: From cores to preferential flow paths: SPATIAL CONNECTIVITY IN A HETEROGENEOUS AQUIFER Bianchi, Marco; Zheng, Chunmiao; Wilson, Crystal Water Resources Research, Vol. 47, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1029/2009WR008966	journal	May 2011
Modeling non-Fickian transport in geological formations as a continuous time random walk Berkowitz, Brian; Cortis, Andrea; Dentz, Marco Reviews of Geophysics, Vol. 44, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005RG000178	journal	January 2006
Space-fractional advection-dispersion equations with variable parameters: Diverse formulas, numerical solutions, and application to the Macrodispersion Experiment site data: SPATIAL FADE WITH VARIABLE PARAMETERS Zhang, Yong; Benson, David A.; Meerschaert, Mark M. Water Resources Research, Vol. 43, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1029/2006WR004912	journal	May 2007
Transport upscaling using multi-rate mass transfer in three-dimensional highly heterogeneous porous media Li, Liangping; Zhou, Haiyan; Gómez-Hernández, J. Jaime Advances in Water Resources, Vol. 34, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2011.01.001	journal	April 2011
Debates-Stochastic subsurface hydrology from theory to practice: A geologic perspective: STOCHASTIC SUBSURFACE HYDROLOGY: A GEOLOGIC PERSPECTIVE Fogg, Graham E.; Zhang, Yong Water Resources Research, Vol. 52, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016WR019699	journal	December 2016
Source-zone characterization of a chlorinated-solvent contaminated Superfund site in Tucson, AZ Brusseau, M. L.; Nelson, N. T.; Zhang, Z. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, Vol. 90, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2006.09.004	journal	February 2007
A multi-isotope (B, Sr, O, H, and C) and age dating ( ³ H- ³ He and ¹⁴ C) study of groundwater from Salinas Valley, California: Hydrochemistry, dynamics, and contamination processes : MULTI-ISOTOPE AND AGE DATING STUDY OF GROUNDWATER Vengosh, Avner; Gill, Jim; Lee Davisson, M. Water Resources Research, Vol. 38, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1029/2001WR000517	journal	January 2002
Slow advection and diffusion through low permeability inclusions Guswa, Andrew J.; Freyberg, David L. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, Vol. 46, Issue 3-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-7722(00)00136-4	journal	December 2000
A general real-time formulation for multi-rate mass transfer problems Silva, O.; Carrera, J.; Kumar, S. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions, Vol. 6, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.5194/hessd-6-2415-2009	journal	January 2009
Using geographic distribution of well-screen depths and hydrogeologic conditions to identify areas of concern for contaminant migration through inactive supply wells Gailey, Robert M. Hydrogeology Journal, Vol. 26, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-018-1734-1	journal	February 2018
Estimation of Aquifer Parameters Under Transient and Steady State Conditions: 1. Maximum Likelihood Method Incorporating Prior Information Carrera, Jesus; Neuman, Shlomo P. Water Resources Research, Vol. 22, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1029/WR022i002p00199	journal	February 1986
When good statistical models of aquifer heterogeneity go bad: A comparison of flow, dispersion, and mass transfer in connected and multivariate Gaussian hydraulic conductivity fields: FLOW, DISPERSION, AND MASS TRANSFER Zinn, Brendan; Harvey, Charles F. Water Resources Research, Vol. 39, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1029/2001WR001146	journal	March 2003
Hydrogeochemistry of alluvial groundwaters in an agricultural area: an implication for groundwater contamination susceptibility Chae, Gi-Tak; Kim, Kangjoo; Yun, Seong-Taek Chemosphere, Vol. 55, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2003.11.001	journal	April 2004
Persistence of a Groundwater Contaminant Plume after Hydraulic Source Containment at a Chlorinated-Solvent Contaminated Site Matthieu, D. E.; Brusseau, M. L.; Guo, Z. Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation, Vol. 34, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1111/gwmr.12077	journal	September 2014
Transition probability-based indicator geostatistics Carle, Steven F.; Fogg, Graham E. Mathematical Geology, Vol. 28, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02083656	journal	May 1996

Similar Records

Adaptive Multirate Mass Transfer (aMMT) Model: A New Approach to Upscale Regional‐Scale Transport Under Transient Flow Conditions

Journal Article · 2020 · Water Resources Research · OSTI ID:1602315

Guo, Zhilin; Henri, Christopher V.; Fogg, Graham E.; +2 more

Vadose Zone Contaminant Fate and Transport Analysis for the 216-B-26 Trench

Technical Report · 2004 · OSTI ID:894884

Ward, Andy L; Gee, Glendon W; Zhang, Z F; +1 more

Estimating kinetic mass transfer by resting-period measurements in flow-interruption tracer tests

Journal Article · 2010 · Journal of Contaminant Hydrology · OSTI ID:985792

Gong, R; Lu, C; Wu, Wei-min; +8 more

Title: Upscaling of Regional Scale Transport Under Transient Conditions: Evaluation of the Multirate Mass Transfer Model

Citation Formats

References (63)

Similar Records

Related Subjects