NAPL pool dissolution in stratified and anisotropic porous formations

A two-dimensional numerical model is developed to study contaminant transport resulting from the dissolution of single- and multicomponent dense nonaqueous-phase liquid (DNAPL) pools in heterogeneous porous media. The aqueous-phase concentration of each dissolved component is assumed to undergo first-order decay as well as sorb under local equilibrium conditions. Pool shrinkage is accounted for by modeling the progressive reduction of the DNAPL pool surface area as a time-dependent boundary. Multicomponent pool dissolution is modeled using an effective solubility (or equilibrium aqueous solubility) relationship, where the nonaqueous-phase activity coefficient for each constituent is evaluated at each and every time step. Subsurface heterogeneities are depicted by an ideally stratified porous formation and by a statistically anisotropic aquifer. In the stratified formation, a multicomponent DNAPL pool is assumed to be formed at the interface between a sand layer and a clay layer, where DNAPL dissolution occurs simultaneously in both strata. The ground-water velocity inside the sand stratum is uniform in the longitudinal direction whereas the interstitial liquid in the aquitard is stagnant. In the statistically anisotropic aquifer, a single-component DNAPL pool is assumed to be formed on top of an impermeable bedrock, where DNAPL dissolution occurs in the aquifer only. Results from several model simulations indicate that dissolved contaminant concentrations in aquifers are reduced significantly in the presence of aquitards, and most importantly, the transfer of dissolved contaminants along the pool-water interface is slower within statistically anisotropic than within homogeneous aquifers.