Analyses of Solute Transport Using Streamline Simulation and Semi-analytical Solutions

Abstract

In this article, we present a two-dimentional (2D) solute transport model using streamline simulation and semi-analytical solutions of one-dimensional (1D) transport equation. We validated the accuracy of the developed model by comparing three simulation results of contaminant transport using an analytical, a semi-analytical, and an upwind finite-difference solution of 1D transport equation. We also show how to apply the developed model to simulate solute transport with complex boundary conditions, such as the first-order degraded source condition and the Cauchy boundary condition. For an advection-dominant flow, we can clearly see the differences of plume spreads between the streamline simulation models with the semi-analytical solution and the numerical solution. From the comparison of computing time, the streamline simulation using the semi-analytical solution is 10–200 times faster than the streamline simulation using the numerical solution. If we would use a semi-analytical solution instead of a numerical solution in case no analytical solution is available, we could obtain faster and more accurate simulation results free from numerical dispersion.

Keywords:

• complex boundary
• computing time
• semi-analytical
• streamline

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Ministry of Environment's “Eco-Technopia Project” No. 2003-04001-0021-0. This research was conducted through the Research Institute of Engineering Science at Seoul National University, Korea.