Impact of high-permeability preferential flow zones on pumping-induced airflow in unconfined aquifer
Jipeng Shan
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
Search for more papers by this authorZhenlei Yang
Key Laboratory of Coastal Environment and Resources of Zhejiang Province, School of Engineering, Westlake University, Hangzhou, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Xingxing Kuang
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
Correspondence
Xingxing Kuang, State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorJiu Jimmy Jiao
Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Search for more papers by this authorJipeng Shan
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
Search for more papers by this authorZhenlei Yang
Key Laboratory of Coastal Environment and Resources of Zhejiang Province, School of Engineering, Westlake University, Hangzhou, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Xingxing Kuang
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
Correspondence
Xingxing Kuang, State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorJiu Jimmy Jiao
Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
When the unsaturated zone of the unconfined aquifer is covered by a low-permeability upper layer, significant airflow will be generated in the unsaturated zone during water pumping. However, high permeability preferential flow zones (PFZs) such as fractures and macropores are frequently present in the unsaturated zone, forming the preferential fluid flow paths, which may change the original airflow pattern in the unsaturated zone during the pumping test and consequently affect the precision of obtained aquifer hydraulic parameters. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of PFZs in low-permeability upper layer on pumping-induced airflow in the unsaturated zone by numerical simulations of transient three-dimensional air-water two-phase flow and to quantify errors in the aquifer hydraulic parameters obtained during pumping test. The results demonstrate that a large amount of air flows quickly from the atmosphere into the unsaturated zone through the PFZs, and that the PFZs can draw some air from the nearby low-permeability soils as well. The significant influx of air through PFZs also reduces the negative air pressure in the unsaturated zone and decreases the drawdown in the saturated zone at intermediate times, which are nevertheless still greater than the results obtained in the homogeneous aquifer. Estimations of the aquifer hydraulic parameters reveal that errors of these parameters obtained are smaller when the PFZs with favourable combinations of permeability, width and quantities facilitate more air to flow into the unsaturated zone.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.
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