The effects of barometric pumping on contaminant transport

Auer, L. H.; Rosenberg, N.D.; Birdsell, Kay Hanson; Whitney, Eric

doi:10.1016/s0169-7722(96)00010-1

Cited by 123 publications

(126 citation statements)

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“…The present model employed two-equation turbulence described in terms of turbulent dissipation and eddy diffusivity, and ideal gas law was used in association with natural convection mechanism for the entire computational domain as shown in Fig 1. The flow conditions for the Saltstone vault facility are assumed to be fully turbulent since Reynolds numbers for typical operating conditions are in the range of 2x10 4 . A standard two-equation turbulence model, referred to as k−ε model [2], was used since benchmarking results against the literature data [5] showed that the model predicts turbulent flow evolution in a large fluid domain with reasonable accuracy.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1. Pressures at both holes are assumed to be maintained as 250 Pa gauge pressure given by the literature data [4]. As the initial conditions for the present transient simulations, the vapor space is assumed to be stagnant at ambient temperature 41 o C.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The modeling conditions for the nominal baseline case are summarized in Table 1. As shown in the table, boundary conditions for two ventilation holes of the vault system were set as 250 Pa gauge pressure since the amplitude of the sinusoidal pressure oscillations due to diurnal temperature variations is set at 2.5 mbar about the mean pressure of 1,103 mbar [4].…”

Section: Modeling Approach and Solution Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gas Mixing Analysis in a Large-Scaled Saltstone Facility

Lee

2008

Volume 10: Heat Transfer, Fluid Flows, and Thermal Systems, Parts A, B, and C

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Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods have been used to estimate the flow patterns mainly driven by temperature gradients inside vapor space in a large-scaled Saltstone vault facility at Savannah River site (SRS). The purpose of this work is to examine the gas motions inside the vapor space under the current vault configurations by taking a three-dimensional transient momentum-energy coupled approach for the vapor space domain of the vault. The modeling calculations were based on prototypic vault geometry and expected normal operating conditions as defined by Waste Solidification Engineering. The modeling analysis was focused on the air flow patterns near the ventilated corner zones of the vapor space inside the Saltstone vault.The turbulence behavior and natural convection mechanism used in the present model were benchmarked against the literature information and theoretical results. The verified model was applied to the Saltstone vault geometry for the transient assessment of the air flow patterns inside the vapor space of the vault region using the potential operating conditions.The baseline model considered two cases for the estimations of the flow patterns within the vapor space. One is the reference nominal case. The other is for the negative temperature gradient between the roof inner and top grout surface temperatures intended for the potential bounding condition. The flow patterns of the vapor space calculated by the CFD model demonstrate that the ambient air comes into the vapor space of the vault through the lower-end ventilation hole, and it gets heated up by the Benard-cell type circulation before leaving the vault via the higher-end ventilation hole. The calculated results are consistent with the literature information. Detailed results and the cases considered in the calculations will be discussed here.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Modeling Approach and Solution Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gas Mixing Analysis in a Large-Scaled Saltstone Facility

Lee

2008

Volume 10: Heat Transfer, Fluid Flows, and Thermal Systems, Parts A, B, and C

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“…One mechanism which can generate pressure gradients between the air within vadose zone pores and the above ambient atmosphere is related to barometric pressure changes at the order of 1 kPa; these pressure changes are caused by diurnal thermal and gravitational fluctuations, and larger fluctuations corresponding to regional scale weather patterns, which cause pressure changes of tens of kPa (Auer et al, 1996;Scanlon et al, 2001;Rossabi, 2006). The penetration depth of barometric pressure fluctuations increases with the permeability of the medium.…”

Section: Barometric Pumpingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Massmann & Farrier (1992) computed gas transport in the unsaturated zone resulting from atmospheric pressure fluctuations and found that atmospheric "fresh" air can migrate several meters into the subsurface during a typical barometric pressure cycle. Auer et al (1996) included the effects of barometric pumping in an airflow and transport model and found that as little as 13% of a simulated original contaminant mass remained after 50 years, compared with 49% of the original mass remaining for the case of diffusion only.…”

Section: Barometric Pumpingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Importance of Advective Fluxes to Gas Transport Across the Earth-Atmosphere Interface: The Role of Thermal Convection

Nachshon¹,

Weisbrod²,

Dragila³

et al. 2011

Planet Earth 2011 - Global Warming Challenges and Opportunities for Policy and Practice

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Vapor Transport in the Unsaturated Zone

Tillman

Smith

2004

Water Encyclopedia

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In this section, we focus our attention primarily on the fate and transport of volatile organic vapors in the unsaturated zone. Organic vapors can arise from soil and groundwater contaminated with fuel hydrocarbons, organic solvents, pesticides, or other organic pollutants. Transport of these vapors occurs primarily by some combination of gas‐phase Fickian diffusion (driven by organic vapor concentration gradients) and advection (driven by air pressure gradients). Other processes such as sorption to soil surfaces and air–water interfaces and biodegradation by soil microorganisms can further influence the fate and transport of organic vapors. We review these processes along with organic vapor sampling methodologies and chamber devices used to quantify organic vapor fluxes from the subsurface to the atmosphere.

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The effects of barometric pumping on contaminant transport

Cited by 123 publications

References 3 publications

Gas Mixing Analysis in a Large-Scaled Saltstone Facility

Gas Mixing Analysis in a Large-Scaled Saltstone Facility

The Importance of Advective Fluxes to Gas Transport Across the Earth-Atmosphere Interface: The Role of Thermal Convection

Vapor Transport in the Unsaturated Zone

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