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Numerical modelling of nitrate transport in fractured porous media under non-isothermal conditions

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Abstract

Subsurface contamination is a frequent occurrence in fractured porous systems, posing a potential threat for the groundwater contamination. Tracking the movement of these contaminants is an inherent aspect of effective remediation strategy. The non-isothermal conditions prevailing in the subsurface environment further add to the complexity of the existing scenario. The current study focuses on simulating the concentration profiles of nitrogen species in a fracture-matrix system under non-isothermal conditions. The kinetics and biochemical thermodynamics of nitrogen transformation reactions were explicitly modelled in this study by adopting a finite differential numerical scheme. The numerical results clearly depicted the spatial-temporal profiles of the concentration of all the species in response to the observed peak values. Considering the sensitivity of the model parameters, an increase in flow velocity triggered the migration of all nitrogen species in the fracture, while an increase in matrix porosity reduced the concentration by enhancing the chemical reactions. An increase in fracture aperture also could trigger the denitrification process in the fracture to reduce the nitrate-nitrogen contamination in the fracture. The temperature variation between 25 °C and 45 °C in the fracture and the matrix essentially reduced the availability of nitrate-nitrogen and nitrogen gas in the fracture under non-isothermal conditions. Hence, an increase in the temperature coefficient can reduce the spike of nitrate-nitrogen and nitrogen gas in fracture by minimizing such transformation rates.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Basic & Applied Science, National Institute of Technology-Arunachal Pradesh, Yupia, Arunachal Pradesh, 791112, India

    Jino Lawrence & Alagarsamy Vanav Kumar

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology-Arunachal Pradesh, Yupia, Arunachal Pradesh, 791112, India

    Berlin Mohanadhas

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology, Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, 642003, India

    Natarajan Narayanan

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam, Tamil Nadu, 638401, India

    Vasudevan Mangottiri

  5. Petroleum Engineering Program, Department of Ocean Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600036, India

    Suresh Kumar Govindarajan

Authors
  1. Jino Lawrence
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  2. Berlin Mohanadhas
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  3. Natarajan Narayanan
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  4. Alagarsamy Vanav Kumar
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  5. Vasudevan Mangottiri
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  6. Suresh Kumar Govindarajan
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Contributions

JL and AVK contributed in performing the numerical simulation and writing, BM contributed in formulation of the problem statement and in writing, NN contributed in the collection of literature and in writing, MV and SKG in reviewing the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Berlin Mohanadhas.

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Appendix

Appendix

Fig. 14
figure 14

Concentration of various nitrogen species profile in matrix for temperature coefficient (a) Q10 = 1.0, (b) Q10 = 1.1 and (c) Q10 = 1.2 with case 1 (Initial Condition in the fracture and the matrix = 45 °C and boundary condition in the fracture inlet = 25 °C) and case 2 (Initial Condition in the fracture and the matrix = 25 °C and boundary condition in the fracture inlet = 45 °C) after 50 days

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Fig. 15
figure 15

Concentration of various nitrogen species profile in the matrix for thermal conductivity of the rock-matrix (a) λm = 2, (b) λm = 6 and (c) λm = 10 W/m/K with case 1 (Initial Condition in the fracture and the matrix = 45 °C and boundary condition in the fracture inlet = 25 °C) and case 2 (Initial Condition in the fracture and the matrix = 25 °C and boundary condition in the fracture inlet = 45 °C) after 50 days

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Fig. 16
figure 16

Concentration of various nitrogen species profile in the matrix for matrix specific heat capacity (a) Cm = 400, (b) Cm = 800 and (c) Cm = 1200 J/kg/K with case 1 (Initial Condition in the fracture and the matrix = 45 °C and boundary condition in the fracture inlet = 25 °C) and case 2 (Initial Condition in the fracture and the matrix = 25 °C and boundary condition in the fracture inlet = 45 °C) after 50 days

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Lawrence, J., Mohanadhas, B., Narayanan, N. et al. Numerical modelling of nitrate transport in fractured porous media under non-isothermal conditions. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 85922–85944 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15691-8

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