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Title: Application of the finite element groundwater model FEWA to the engineered test facility

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5187388· OSTI ID:5187388

A finite element model for water transport through porous media (FEWA) has been applied to the unconfined aquifer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Solid Waste Storage Area 6 Engineered Test Facility (ETF). The model was developed in 1983 as part of the Shallow Land Burial Technology - Humid Task (ONL-WL14) and was previously verified using several general hydrologic problems for which an analytic solution exists. Model application and calibration, as described in this report, consisted of modeling the ETF water table for three specialized cases: a one-dimensional steady-state simulation, a one-dimensional transient simulation, and a two-dimensional transient simulation. In the one-dimensional steady-state simulation, the FEWA output accurately predicted the water table during a long period in which there were no man-induced or natural perturbations to the system. The input parameters of most importance for this case were hydraulic conductivity and aquifer bottom elevation. In the two transient cases, the FEWA output has matched observed water table responses to a single rainfall event occurring in February 1983, yielding a calibrated finite element model that is useful for further study of additional precipitation events as well as contaminant transport at the experimental site.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-84OR21400
OSTI ID:
5187388
Report Number(s):
ORNL/TM-9467; ON: DE86001424
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products. Original copy available until stock is exhausted. Environmental Sciences Division Publication No. 2581
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English