The numerical procedures employed are a fully implicit expanded mixed finite element method for flow and either a characteristics-mixed method or a Godunov method for transport and reactions of dissolved chemical species in groundwater. Results from applying this simulator to a bioremediation field problem with several injection and production wells each having multiple screens are presented. It is a natural process that can be accelerated to protect a potable water supply. Biodegradation technologies are being employed at several U.S. Department of Energy Laboratories in an effort to remove or contain volatile organic compounds.
Biological decontamination is physically and chemically complex.
It involves flow and transport in both unsaturated soils and the aquifer, and the interaction of hydrocarbons, microbes, oxygen, nitrogen, and various other chemical compounds. Numerical simulation of these processes is a critical step in understanding and designing biorestoration applications. Indeed, without applying numerical simulation, wide-scale in situ biodegradation of contaminants is impractical. Parallel computing offers an opportunity for building detailed models of the chemical and physical processes and in providing the capability of solving larger, more realistic and practical problems faster and more economically. We also assume that the retardation factor for acetate is 1.8.