Contaminant Movement Control from Al-Mishraq Extraction Area-Numerical Approach

Abstract

Mishraq field hits soil and groundwater, eventually reaching the Tigris River. The process of hot water injection for sulfur extraction led to a change in the hydrological conditions of the area. The spread process of this water through the soil carries liquid dissolved sulfur towards the river that causes pollution of soil and river. The extent and concentration of dissolved sulfur were studied before and after proposed treatments. Also, the efficiency of these treatments would be estimated considering transport and diffusion theory in saturated/unsaturated states using the GEO-SLOPE software evaluating the extent of dissolved sulfur transfer through site soils in two cases. The first case represents the soil region without proposed treatments, and the second case represents the soil region with proposed treatments. The results show that a length of vertical barriers ranging between 180-200 m was efficient to prevent pollutants from moving. Also, the concentration and extent of contaminant spread in soil depended on the distance between vertical barriers and contamination source. Also, it found that at distances less than 300 m concentration of contaminant was high with a small range of soil, while at distances more than 300 m concentration of the contaminant was lower with a wider spread of soil.