LAB-SCALE STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF SUBSURFACE BARRIER, PUMPING & RECHARGE ON

SALINE INTRUSION

By

Bristi Kumar Mudai

Roll-144104071
Under the supervision of
Prof. Rajib Kumar Bhattacharjya

WHAT IS SEAWATER INTRUSION

?
A natural process that occurs in all coastal
aquifers.
Defined as the inland movement of seawater
into fresh groundwater aquifers as a result of
higher density of seawater than fresh water.

WHAT IS SEAWATER INTRUSION ?

FIG-1-SALTWATER INTRUSION IN COASTAL

AQUIFER (FROM USGS WEBSITE)

LITERATURE REVIEW
AUTHOR

YEAR

BROAD TOPIC

Wienclaw and Koda. 2004

Studied groundwater protection near landfill by

using bentonite barrier.

Goswami and
Clement.

2007

Modeled seawater intrusion experiments with

SEAWAT and gave a benchmark data-set.

Werner et al.

2009

Experimental observations on upconing of interface

due to pumping.

Luyun et al.

2009

Experimental and numerical observations of subsurface barriers in lab-scale experiments.

Luyun et al.

2011

Studied effect of recharge wells in controlling

intrusion.

Sriapai et al.

2012

Studied effectiveness of various methods of

controlling intrusion.

Kuan et al.

2012

Studied tidal effects on saltwater intrusion.

Chang and Clement.

2012

Studied effect of regional and areal flux on

intrusion

OBJECTIVES
To study the effect of pumping, injection and
sub-surface barriers on seawater intrusion
wedge.
To study the effect of a horizontal clay layer
on seawater intrusion wedge.

LABORATORY APPROACH

FIG.1-SCHEMATIC OF THE
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

LABORATORY APPROACH

PRINTABLE RULERS

DIGITAL STOPWATCH

FIG-2-RECTANGULAR GLASS TANK

LABORATORY APPROACH

LABORATORY APPROACH

METHODOLOGY
FEMWATER is a three-dimensional
finite element computer model for
simulating density dependent flow
and transport in variable saturated
media.
It is designed to solve the flow and
transport
through
saturatedunsaturated
porous
media,
simultaneously.

METHODOLOGY
The governing equation for flow is
the modified Richards equation (Lin
et al., 1997):

METHODOLOGY
The governing equation for transport
is written as:

In the case of saltwater intrusion, the

fluid density and concentration is
related as:

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

As of now we conducted the experiment to
observe the saltwater wedge in the sand tank
after 5 hours without the use of any barriers
and pumping.
The same was simulated
with GMSFEMWATER.
The 3D mesh consisted of 1020 elements and
726 nodes.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Constant head (Dirichlet) boundary conditions
were imposed on the left and right sides.
The remaining sides were given no-flow
condition by default.
A concentration of 0 mg/l and 35000mg/l were
specified on the freshwater and saltwater side
respectively.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

FIG-4-SALTWATER WEDGE AFTER 5 HOURS

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

FIG-5-SIMULATED RESULT AFTER 5 HOURS

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Satisfactory conformations between
the experimental and simulated
results was not obtained.
It is mostly due to the discrepancies
involved in the experiment while
maintaining the constant saltwater
flow.
As the saltwater could not be
recycled, maintaining a constant
saltwater head is an arduous task.

CONCLUSION & FUTURE

WORK
The simulation for laboratory setup showed
that steady state was obtained in about 3
days.
To achieve a quicker steady state the lateral
dimension will be reduced.
Such a tank would require very less saltwater
an allow for better control on the experiment.
Subsequently the effect of barriers, pumping
and recharge in the tank will be studied.
A simulation was done for the planned
modified tank also.

DEVELOPMENT OF STEADY
STATE

DEVELOPMENT OF STEADY STATE

REFERENCES
Bear, Jacob, and AH-D. Cheng. Modeling groundwater flow and
contaminant transport. Vol. 23. Springer Science & Business
Media, 2010.
Botero-Acosta, A., and L. D. Donado. "Laboratory Scale Simulation
of Hydraulic Barriers to Seawater Intrusion in Confined Coastal
Aquifers Considering the Effects of Stratification." Procedia
Environmental Sciences 25 (2015): 36-43.
Chang, Sun Woo, and T. Prabhakar Clement. "Experimental and
numerical investigation of saltwater intrusion dynamics in flux
controlled groundwater systems." Water Resources Research 48.9
(2012).
Goswami, Rohit R., and T. Prabhakar Clement. "Laboratoryscale
investigation of saltwater intrusion dynamics." Water Resources
Research 43.4 (2007).

REFERENCES
HONGI, SH, et al. "EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS ON GROUNDWATER
FLOW IN COASTAL AQUIFERS." Groundwater and saline intrusion 15
(2005): 21.
Karasaki, Kenzi, Kazumasa Ito, and Keisuke Maekawa. "Simulation of Salt
Water Intrusion." Proceedings, TOUGH Symposium. 2006.
Karasaki, Kenzi. "Numerical Study of Saltwater Freshwater Interface and
Dispersion." Water Resources Research (2013).
Lin, Hsin-Chi J., et al. FEMWATER: A Three-Dimensional Finite Element
Computer Model for Simulating Density-Dependent Flow and Transport in
Variably Saturated Media. No. WES/TR/CHL-97-12. ARMY ENGINEER
WATERWAYS EXPERIMENT STATION VICKSBURG MS COASTAL HYDRAULICS
LA B, 1997.
Luyun, Roger, Kazuro Momii, and Kei Nakagawa. "Laboratory-scale
saltwater behavior due to subsurface cutoff wall." Journal of hydrology
377.3 (2009): 227-236.
Luyun, Roger, Kazuro Momii, and Kei Nakagawa. "Effects of recharge wells
and flow barriers on seawater intrusion." Groundwater 49.2 (2011): 239249.

REFERENCES
Nakagawa, Kei, Kazuro Momii, and Ronny Berndtsson. "Saltwater intrusion
in coastal aquifer: Comparison between the CIP and MOC simulation
technique." Environmental Modeling & Assessment 10.4 (2005): 323-329.
Oz, Imri, et al. "Flow dynamics and salt transport in a coastal aquifer
driven by a stratified saltwater body: Lab experiment and numerical
modeling." Journal of Hydrology 511 (2014): 665-674.
Sriapai, Tanapol, et al. "Physical model simulations of seawater intrusion in
unconfined aquifer." Songklanakarin Journal of Science and Technology
34.6 (2012): 679-687.
WIENCAW, EDWARD, and EUGENIUSZ KODA. "Groundwater flow modeling
for old landfill with vertical barrier." Annals of Warsaw Agricultural
UniversitySGGW, Land Reclamation 35a (2004): 229-336.
Werner, Adrian D., Danica Jakovovic, and Craig T. Simmons. "Experimental
observations of saltwater up-coning." Journal of Hydrology 373.1 (2009):
230-241.

THANK YOU