Created in COMSOL Multiphysics 5.

Solute Transport in Prescribed Groundwater Flow

This model is licensed under the COMSOL Software License Agreement 5.5.
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Introduction
This model tracks a solute in a prescribed groundwater flow over 1000 days accounting
for longitudinal and transversal dispersivity.

This set up is often used as a benchmark case to verify different implementations for
modeling species transport. It compares the results with an analytical solution (Ref. 1).

Model Definition
The model geometry is a square with a side length of 4 km. Because the groundwater flow
is prescribed, the model solves for species transport only with a predefined flow field of
magnitude 0,5 2 m/d.

An initial concentration following a Gaussian distribution is applied. The analytical

solution can be defined as a function in COMSOL. See Ref. 1 for the analytical expression.
Because this expression is quite long and just used to compare the simulation results
against it, a preset file is loaded that contains the analytical solution already (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Analytical solution for the concentration after 1000 days.

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Results and Discussion
Figure 2 shows the result after 1000 days. The predefined flow field is visualized by an
arrow surface plot. The analytical solution is also plotted (white contour lines) and it can
be seen that the simulation matches the analytical solution.

Figure 2: Resulting concentration distribution after 1000 days (black contours) compared
with the analytical solution (white contours). Red arrows visualize the prescribed flow
direction.

Reference
1. J.L. Wilson and P.J. Miller, “Two-dimensional plume in uniform ground-water flow,”
Journal of the Hydraulics Division, ASCE, 1978.

Application Library path: Porous_Media_Flow_Module/Solute_Transport/

solute_transport

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Modeling Instructions

ROOT
1 From the File menu, choose Open.
2 Browse to the model’s Application Libraries folder and double-click the file
solute_transport_preset.mph.

ADD COMPONENT
In the Home toolbar, click Add Component and choose 2D.

GEOMETRY 1

Square 1 (sq1)
1 In the Geometry toolbar, click Square.
2 In the Settings window for Square, locate the Size section.
3 In the Side length text field, type L.
4 Locate the Position section. From the Base list, choose Center.
5 Click Build All Objects.

ADD PHYSICS
1 In the Home toolbar, click Add Physics to open the Add Physics window.
2 Go to the Add Physics window.
3 In the tree, select Chemical Species Transport>
Transport of Diluted Species in Porous Media (tds).
4 Click Add to Component 1 in the window toolbar.
5 In the Home toolbar, click Add Physics to close the Add Physics window.

TRANSPORT OF DILUTED SPECIES IN POROUS MEDIA (TDS)

1 In the Settings window for Transport of Diluted Species in Porous Media, locate the
Transport Mechanisms section.
2 Find the Porous media transport subsection. Select the Dispersion check box.

Porous Media Transport Properties 1

1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>
Transport of Diluted Species in Porous Media (tds) click
Porous Media Transport Properties 1.

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2 In the Settings window for Porous Media Transport Properties, locate the
Matrix Properties section.
3 From the p list, choose User defined. In the associated text field, type ne.
4 Locate the Convection section. Specify the u vector as

u x
v y

5 Locate the Dispersion section. From the Dispersion tensor list, choose Dispersivity.
6 In the L text field, type aL.
7 In the T text field, type aT.

Inflow 1
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Inflow.
2 Select Boundaries 1 and 3 only.

Outflow 1
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Outflow.
2 Select Boundaries 2 and 4 only.

The source term is defined as initial value. First, define the 2D Gauss distribution as a
function.

DEFINITIONS

Analytic 2 (an2)
1 In the Home toolbar, click Functions and choose Global>Analytic.
2 In the Settings window for Analytic, type gaussian in the Function name text field.
3 Locate the Definition section. In the Expression text field, type 1/(2*pi*esrc^2)*
exp(-(x^2+y^2)/(2*esrc^2)).

4 In the Arguments text field, type x, y.

5 Locate the Units section. In the Arguments text field, type m.
6 In the Function text field, type 1.
7 Locate the Plot Parameters section. In the table, enter the following settings:

Argument Lower limit Upper limit

x -2000 2000
y -2000 2000

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8 Click Plot.

TRANSPORT OF DILUTED SPECIES IN POROUS MEDIA (TDS)

Initial Values 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>
Transport of Diluted Species in Porous Media (tds) click Initial Values 1.
2 In the Settings window for Initial Values, locate the Initial Values section.
3 In the c text field, type M*gaussian(x-x0,y-y0).

Define a variable for the analytical solution which makes it easier to compare the results in
postprocessing.

DEFINITIONS

Variables 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1) right-click Definitions and
choose Variables.
2 In the Settings window for Variables, locate the Variables section.

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3 In the table, enter the following settings:

Name Expression Unit Description

c_analytic an1(x,y,t) mol/m³ Analytic solution

To resolve the spatial distribution, a fine mesh is required. Use a mapped mesh.

MESH 1

Mapped 1
In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1) right-click Mesh 1 and choose
Mapped.

Size
1 In the Settings window for Size, click to expand the Element Size Parameters section.
2 In the Maximum element size text field, type 20.
3 Click Build All.

Add a time-dependent study to run the simulation over 1000 days. Restrict the maximum
time step, for an accurate solution.

ADD STUDY
1 In the Home toolbar, click Add Study to open the Add Study window.
2 Go to the Add Study window.
3 Find the Studies subsection. In the Select Study tree, select General Studies>
Time Dependent.
4 Click Add Study in the window toolbar.
5 In the Home toolbar, click Add Study to close the Add Study window.

STUDY 1

Step 1: Time Dependent

1 In the Settings window for Time Dependent, locate the Study Settings section.
2 From the Time unit list, choose d.
3 In the Times text field, type range(0,100,1000).

Solution 1 (sol1)
1 In the Study toolbar, click Show Default Solver.
2 In the Model Builder window, expand the Solution 1 (sol1) node, then click Time-
Dependent Solver 1.

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3 In the Settings window for Time-Dependent Solver, click to expand the Time Stepping
section.
4 From the Maximum step constraint list, choose Constant.
5 In the Maximum step text field, type 20.
6 Click Compute.

RESULTS

Concentration (tds)
To create Figure 2 proceed as follows.

2D Plot Group 3
1 In the Home toolbar, click Add Plot Group and choose 2D Plot Group.
2 In the Settings window for 2D Plot Group, type Concentration compared in the Label
text field.

Arrow Surface 1
1 Right-click Concentration compared and choose Arrow Surface.
2 In the Settings window for Arrow Surface, click Replace Expression in the upper-right
corner of the Expression section. From the menu, choose Model>Component 1>
Transport of Diluted Species in Porous Media>tds.u,tds.v - Velocity field.

Contour 1
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Concentration compared and choose Contour.
2 In the Settings window for Contour, locate the Expression section.
3 In the Unit field, type mmol/m^3.
4 Locate the Levels section. From the Entry method list, choose Levels.
5 In the Levels text field, type 0.001 0.01 0.1 0.5 1 2 4 6 8.
6 Locate the Coloring and Style section. From the Contour type list, choose Tube.
7 From the Coloring list, choose Uniform.
8 From the Color list, choose Black.

Contour 2
1 Right-click Concentration compared and choose Contour.
2 In the Settings window for Contour, click Replace Expression in the upper-right corner of
the Expression section. From the menu, choose Model>Component 1>Definitions>
Variables>c_analytic - Analytic solution - mol/m³.

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3 Locate the Expression section. In the Unit field, type mmol/m^3.
4 Locate the Levels section. From the Entry method list, choose Levels.
5 In the Levels text field, type 0.001 0.01 0.1 0.5 1 2 4 6 8.
6 Locate the Coloring and Style section. From the Coloring list, choose Uniform.
7 From the Color list, choose White.
8 Clear the Color legend check box.
9 In the Concentration compared toolbar, click Plot.

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