Long-Term Performance Evaluation of Permeable Reactive Barrier for Groundwater Remediation Using Visual MODFLOW

Abstract

Severe groundwater pollution is taking place due to the irregular dumping of liquid and solid waste at the surface. Many conventional groundwater remediation techniques have been developed, over the past few decades, however, permeable reactive barrier (PRB) has emerged as a promising alternative for the in situ treatment of a variety of the groundwater contaminants. This study deals with the long-term performance evaluation of a permeable reactive barrier for a hypothetical site having a study area of 1.04 km² by numerically simulating the developed model using Visual MODFLOW. The model has been simulated for a period of 5 years to obtain the real nature of contaminant plume, with chloride as the contaminant, spreading throughout the aquifer. Further, continuous PRB has been installed with optimized design and selected material properties. Activated wood charcoal has been used as a reactive material for the chloride degradation. The simulation of the model provides a performance evaluation criteria for the stability of a barrier configuration over a real contaminated site. Overall, the developed model would be able to provide an optimum and sustainable solution of the reactive barrier for the treatment of certain specific contaminants releasing from the contaminant sites and remediation of the aquifer in the long run.