IDENTIFYING AND QUANTIFYING SOURCES OF ERROR IN THE ANALYSIS OF PARTITIONING INTERWELL TRACER TESTS

PAYNE, T. P., tpayne@math.clemson.edu, Department of Mathematical, Sciences, Clemson Univ., Clemson, SC 29634; and COX, C. L., Department of Mathematical Sciences, Clemson Univ., Clemson, SC 29634.

Remediation efforts for sites contaminated with nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) are being thwarted by the inability to locate and sufficiently characterize subsurface contamination. Partitioning interwell tracer tests (PITTs) may help to locate subsurface NAPLs and provide information regarding these contaminants that will assist researchers in determining the most effective remediation strategies. However, before researchers can accurately interpret the results of PITT tests, more work needs to be done to determine reasonable error bounds for test results.

The objective of our research is to aid researchers in PITT design and interpretation by using simulation and sensitivity analysis to identify and quantify sources of error in the analysis of PITTs. Among the topics addressed are the sensitivity of PITT results to rate-limited mass transfer, small errors in the partitioning and sorption coefficients, and bypass flow. The study also includes consideration of the special challenges associated with vadose zone PITTs.