E4252 - Environmental Engineering
Software:
BIOSCREEN groundwater transport model
Hydrogeologic fate and transport of groundwater contaminants under Columbia University
A common environmental problem is to predict the subsurfact fate and transport of pollutants that have been released into a groundwater aquifer. This pollution may contaminate drinking water supplies obtained from groundwater wells, or may migrate downgradient and discharge into rivers, lake, or other surface water bodies. To accurately predict the migration of a pollutant plume through a ground water aquifer, the transformation and transport properties of both the aquifer and pollutant must be understood.
In this exercise, operation of a machine shop in the basement of the Seeley W. Mudd Building has resulted in a mobilization and leak of trichloroethylene (TCE) into the groundwater aquifer underneath the Columbia campus (see figure 1). The main issue is to predict the impact of this TCE release on the Hudson River. This is done using the EPA's BIOSCREEN groundwater transport model to simulate the migration of the TCE plume towards the Hudson Riber. The general objective is to determine if and when the TCE plume discharge into the Hudson River, and if so then at waht steady-state concentration.
The exercise is essentially a computer-based laboratory session, designed to be completed in a single class. All modeling software and inputs are fully developed and tested before the laboratory session. Detailed and illustrated instructions for running the relevant aspects of the model are provided, so students focus on the simulation exercise rather than the mechanics of running the model. The objective is to use the modeling platform as a tool to better understand groundwater flow concepts, not to provide training on how to expertly run BIOSCREEN.
This exercise is intended to reinforce the groundwater flow material that is covered in CIEE E4252 Environmental Engineering. Furthermore, the exercise demonstrates the ability of numerical methods to solve more complex and realistic problems than what can typically be done using analytical methods.
[EPA's BIOSCREEN groundwater transport model description]
Figure 1: Configuration of the place where TCE is released.
