FLOW AGAINST DISPERSION IN 2-DIMENSIONAL REGIONS

In field applications, upstream spreading of contaminant plumes may be controlled by the flow of fresh water in a direction opposite to the dispersive expansion direction of the plume. In the current literature this type of control is identified as flow against dispersion or contrary flow. In this study analytic methods are used to investigate contrary flow conditions for two-dimensional applications. In particular, special attention is given to the dispersive spread of the contaminant plume in the transverse direction under equilibrium flow against dispersion. Typical problems analyzed emphasize the effect of adsorption and transverse dispersion on the overall control process. Problems analyzed indicate that equilibrium flow velocities deduced from one-dimensional analysis, which may balance the dispersive spread of the plume in the longitudinal direction, represent an over design condition when these equlibrium velocities are compared with the conditions generated from a two-dimensional model for a downstream source which is finite in the transverse direction.