Lop Report MIDSEM

BIRLA INSTITUTE OF
TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE

A MID SEMESTER REPORT ON PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF
LAB ORIENTED PROJECT.
MAYANK 2015A2PS0840P
SHUBHENDU 20152PS0665P
SALT WATER INTRUSION IN COASTAL AQUIFERS
SALTWATER INTRUSION IN COASTAL AQUIFERS
1. ABSTRACT
Environmentally sensitive areas along coastlines may be adversely affected by saltwater intrusion (SI), a condition which
can be worsened by extensive groundwater extraction.
Therefore understanding the mixing dynamics of salt water within freshwater aquifer systems is an important research
problem.
Modeling saltwater flow in freshwater systems requires numerical codes that can solve density-coupled flow and transport
equations. The performance of these codes is often validated by solving a set of benchmark problems. Some of these
problems are Henry Problem, The Elder problem and salt dome problem (HYDROCOIN problem level1 case 5). Many
researchers have done laboratory-scale investigation of saltwater intrusion dynamics such as Simmons et al, Bear and
Dagan, Zhang et al etc.
Keywords-
Salt water, intrusion, confined aquifers, henry problem, sand chamber experiment, elder problem, variable density flow
2. INTRODUCTION
Groundwater is one of the major sources of drinking water all over the world. Some areas near the coast have potential
saltwater intrusion problems which may be initiated due to excessive pumping. Thus, the management of groundwater
pumping in these aquifers differs from groundwater supply areas which are not near coastal zones. Catastrophic events
such as tsunamis and hurricanes, improper water management practices in coastal aquifers are the main cause of saltwater
intrusion and thus degradation of freshwater aquifers. Once the degradation of aquifers occurs, it often results in a loss of
fresh water resources and requires the need to seek alternative water supplies that are costly.
Variable density fluid flow and transport in porous ground media occur in many cases of groundwater hydrology (i.e.,
seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers, natural or artificial saltwater up-coning in aquifers, The main focus of the present
work is saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers and describe the transport patterns of intruding and receding salt wedges
under different hydraulic gradient conditions.
3. BENCHMARK PROBLEMS
THE HENRY PROBLEM (SALTWATER INTRUSION)
Henry proposed an analytical solution of the saltwater intrusion for steady state
Conditions allowing the mixing of fluids with different densities. Variable density analysis leads to a quantitative
description of the balance between fresh water and saltwater in a coastal aquifer. Based on his assumption of a
constant dispersive mechanism in the aquifer, he used Darcy’s law, the continuity equation, and a steady state transport
equation. Even though there have been some critical remarks in the literature on the unrealistic boundary condition on the
seaside boundary and the use of the constant diffusivity, the Henry problem has become one of the most popular
benchmark tests in variable density flow applications.
THE ELDER PROBLEM
Elder provided experimental and numerical studies of transient convection in a porous medium. He used a Hele-Shaw cell
to generate thermal convection-dominated flow by constantly heating a part of the base of a porous medium. The Elder
problem can be considered analogous to the density-driven problem from the hypothesis of Cooper
“Differing from it only in that changes in density are produced by changes in concentration rather than by changes in
temperature”. Similar to the Henry problem, the Elder problem has also been another benchmark test problem for variable
density flow applications.
THE SALT DOME PROBLEM
A salt dome has been known to be a good geological formation for storage of radioactive wastes in several countries. The
proponents especially for heat producing waste refer to the facts that the flow of salt closes fractures in short times
because of high plasticity and salt has high thermal conductivity. On the other hand, some doubts about the storage in the
salt dome are that the impurity of the salt, salt dome diapirism, high solubility of salt, and the corrosive effect of salt may
increase risks when keeping the radioactive wastes in these environments. Nonetheless, it is still considered as one of the
good candidates for radioactive waste burial sites.
4. LABORATORY MODEL
Experiment is conducted in a rectangular flow tank having a porous medium and two constant head chambers. The IS
sand (passing through sieve of 2.36mm and retaining on 2mm) was used as a porous medium and the two chambers
contain freshwater and saltwater.
Dimensions of flow tank are length-72cm, breadth- 5.7cm, height- 32cm
Thickness of glass-1 cm
Dimensions of constant head chambers are length-9.75cm, width -2.5cm and height-32 cm
And mesh size is 1mm used in the constant head chambers
After conducting tracer test and after establishing steady freshwater flow, the saltwater intrusion process was initiated by
inserting the saltwater supply tube from the reservoir into the left chamber and system is allowed to reach the steady state
condition.
Data is recorded by taking time lapse video and a grid was used to make quantitative estimates of the wedge locations.
Dimensions of chamber
5. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
The saltwater intrusion experiments completed in the study included three phases involving distinct steady state
conditions.
In the first phase, a sharp steady state wedge (designated as SS-1) was established. This steady state condition was
considered as the initial condition of experimental design.
The freshwater head in the right chamber was instantaneously lowered to force a milder gradient which resulted in
reduced freshwater flow. This allowed the salt wedge to advance into the freshwater system. This transient saltwater
intrusion phase is referred in this manuscript as the
‘‘advancing-front condition.’’
Then the wedge will migrate until it reaches the second steady state which is referred to as the ‘‘steady state 2 condition
(SS-2).’’
Flux measurements were made under this second steady state condition. The head in the freshwater tank was then
instantaneously raised to push the wedge back toward the saltwater boundary. This transient, receding phase is referred
in the manuscript as the ‘‘receding front condition.’’ Then the system finally reaches the ‘‘steady state 3 condition (SS-3).’’
Under each steady state condition, measurements were made at several points to quantify the freshwater supply rate
from the external freshwater reservoir, saltwater supply from the external saltwater reservoir, freshwater overflow from the
right chamber, and the combined saltwater and freshwater overflow from the left chamber.
6. ANALYSIS-
Sand used to fill the chamber has the size of 1mm. Also there were 2 tanks supplying freshwater and seawater both
having capacity of 15 ltr.
Density of saltwater is 1.029 g/cubic meter and Fehling solution A and Fehling solution B are used as a dye in the salt
water.
Volume of Fehling solution used- 250ml of Fehling sol. A and 250ml of

Fehling sol. B
There was a head difference of 3cm in between freshwater and saltwater chamber.
Flowrate of freshwater in chamber- 1.194 x 10-5 m3/sec.
Flowrate of Saltwater in chamber- 1.216 x 10-5m3/sec.
7. OBSERVATIION AND RESULTS
The digital data and the flow measurements founded from the different phases and steady state conditions like –
(1) The locations of three steady state saltwater wedges

(2) Locations of three transient salt wedges under intruding conditions.
(3)Locations of three transient salt wedges under receding condition.
This data helped to assemble multiple data sets which can be used for benchmarking the performance of saltwater
intrusion models.
INITIAL WEDGE FORMATION
INTERMEDIATE WEDGE FORMATION
FINAL WEDGE
8. MODELING METHOD
The finite difference models like SEAWAT, SUTRA and modified version of the MODFLOW were used to simulate the
steady state and transient experiments completed in this study.
9. CONCLUSION
The experimental setup described in this study provides a novel approach for simulating the saltwater boundary condition
in a laboratory-scale saltwater intrusion model. The results demonstrate that the mixing of salt water and freshwater within
the saltwater reservoir was minimal, and hence the system was able to simulate the constant head saltwater boundary
condition. The experimental results also show that the transition zone between the saltwater and freshwater regions is
sharp under both steady state and transient transport conditions.
References-
1. Henry Saltwater Intrusion Problem, GEO-SLOPE International Ltd, Calgary, Alberta, Canada www.geo-slope.com
2. Laboratory-scale investigation of saltwater intrusion dynamics
Rohit R. Goswami1 and T. Prabhakar Clement
3. SALTWATER INTRUSION IN COASTAL AQUIFERS, Chan- Hee Park
4. SALTWATER INTRUSION IN COASTAL AQUIFERS, S.-H. HONG1, H.-D. KIM2, N. KUMAR, J.-H. KIM2, N. PARK

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BIRLA INSTITUTE OF

TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE

THE HENRY PROBLEM (SALTWATER INTRUSION)

THE SALT DOME PROBLEM

Dimensions of flow tank are length-72cm, breadth- 5.7cm, height- 32cm

And mesh size is 1mm used in the constant head chambers

Volume of Fehling solution used- 250ml of Fehling sol. A and 250ml of

Flowrate of freshwater in chamber- 1.194 x 10-5 m3/sec.

Flowrate of Saltwater in chamber- 1.216 x 10-5m3/sec.

7. OBSERVATIION AND RESULTS

(1) The locations of three steady state saltwater wedges

INTERMEDIATE WEDGE FORMATION

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