TRACE-FRACTURE Toward an Improved Risk Assessment of the Contaminant Spreading in Fractured Underground Reservoirs

Country: EU Projects
Start Date:           Duration: 36 months         Project Type: RTD
Contract Number: EVK1-CT-1999-00013
Organisation Type:  EC Project
Topics: 
Contaminated land-->Soil and groundwater processes-->Contaminant hydrology
Contaminated land-->Soil and groundwater processes-->Geochemistry
Contaminated land-->Soil and groundwater processes-->Hydrogeology
Contaminated land-->Soil and groundwater processes-->Modelling
Groundwater protection-->Groundwater processes-->Contaminant hydrology
Groundwater protection-->Groundwater processes-->Geochemistry
Groundwater protection-->Groundwater processes-->Hydrogeology
Project objectives:
Fractures are widespread in the subsurface of almost all Europe, and their complex morphology influences substantially the migration of liquid pollutants 
toward underground aquifers. The design and application of remedial technologies to fractured aquifers, contaminated by non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPL),
is one of the most intractable problems. Reliable numerical simulators of the NAPL transport in fractured porous media are required for the implementation
of rational and cost-effective risk assessment procedures to contaminated fractured sites. In spite of the progress that has been accomplished on the development
of algorithms for the numerical solution of the macroscopic models of contaminant transport in fractured reservoirs, there is a lack of fundamental knowledge
concerning the patterns of NAPL transport within single fractures and fracture networks as well as the interactive effects of the structural characteristics
of fractures and fluid rheology on the mesoscopic transport coefficients (e.g. permeability) of fractured porous media. The overall objective of the present study is to perform a systematic experimental and theoretical analysis of the one-phase flow, immiscible two-phase
flow and hydrodynamic solute dispersion in artificial and real fractured porous media to study the relations of the morphology of single fractures, fracture
networks and fractures embedded into porous matrices as well as of the non-Newtonian fluid rheology with the flow pathways of organic liquid pollutants toward
underground aquifers. All gained information will be quantified by deriving new and reliable phenomenological models about the fluid transport in fractured
media. The new mesoscopic models will be integrated into an existing industrial macroscopic simulator of the multiphase contaminant transport in fractured
porous media. The use of the new simulator as a numerical tool for the mapping of the contaminant transport in two generic NAPL-contaminated fractured sites
will contribute to the development of a new generalized procedure of risk assessment and design of remediation strategies for fractured contaminated underground
reservoirs.
Project Summary:
Accurate geostatistical properties and reliable effective transport coefficients of fractured soils and rocks are determined at multiple scales ranging 
from single fractures to fracture networks, by combining properly data from field-work and photogeological analysis with lab-scale experiments and computational methods. This information is integrated
into an updated numerical simulator of the organic pollutant transport in fractured media (SIMUSCOPP). The simulator is used as a tool for the cost-effective calculation of the spatial and temporal distribution of the saturation of the bulk NAPL in the unsaturated / saturated zones, and
concentration of NAPL compounds in the groundwater. Long-term numerical predictions of the chemical status of groundwater under various scenarios of pollution, that simulate the site contamination history, are coupled with additional information (e.g. exposure pathways, potential receptors, toxicity
of substances, etc) for the risk assessment of fractured sites contaminated by organic pollutants. Two very different highly heterogeneous fractured sites
which have been contaminated by the waste oils of industrial facilities are investigated to assess the risks for the human health and ecosystem from the groundwater
contamination: (i) one site overlying granite rock and situated in North Spain; (ii) one site overlying clay till sediment and situated in an urban area of Denmark. The results of
the project can be used to formulate a protocol for the risk assessment of fractured contaminated sites, and specify the boundaries of the protection zones
of aquifers in fractured areas.
Achieved Objectives:
Accurate geostatistical properties and reliable effective transport coefficients of fractured soils and rocks are determined at multiple scales ranging 
from single fractures to fracture networks, by combining properly data from field-work and photo-geological analysis with lab-scale experiments and computational
methods. This information is integrated into an updated numerical simulator of the organic pollutant transport in fractured media (SIMUSCOPP). The simulator is used as a tool for the cost-effective calculation of the spatial
and temporal distribution of the saturation of the bulk non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) in the unsaturated / saturated zones, and concentration of NAPL compounds
in groundwater. Long-term numerical predictions of the chemical status of groundwater under various scenarios of pollution, that simulate the site contamination
history, are coupled with additional information (e.g. exposure pathways, potential receptors, toxicity of substances, etc) for the risk assessment of
fractured sites contaminated by organic pollutants. Two very different highly heterogeneous fractured sites which have been contaminated by the waste oils
of industrial facilities are investigated to assess the risks threatened for the human health and ecosystem: (i) one site overlying granite rock and situated
in North Spain; (ii) one site overlying clay till sediment and situated in an urban area of Denmark. The results of the project are helpful in formulating protocols
for the risk assessment of fractured contaminated sites, and setting the boundaries of the protection zones of aquifers underlying fractured areas.
Product Descriptions:

            
Additional Information:

            
Project Resources:

Toward an Improved Risk Assessment of the Contaminant SprEading in Fractured Underground Reservoirs
Weblink:
http://www.iceht.forth.gr/projects/trace_fracture/description.html
Funding Programme(s): 
EC Framework Programme 5
Link to Organisations:
Submitted by: EUGRIS Team Dr Stefan Gödeke  Who does what?  27/07/2005 12:08:00
Updated by: EUGRIS Team Professor Paul Bardos  Who does what?  03/10/2006 15:13:00