Sharif Digital Repository

The variation of seawater level resulting from tidal fluctuations is usually neglected in regional groundwater flow studies. Although the tidal oscillation is damped near the shoreline, there is a quasi-steady-state rise in the mean water-table position, which may have an influence on regional groundwater flow. In this paper the effects of tidal fluctuations on groundwater hydraulics are investigated using a variably saturated numerical model that includes the effects of a realistic mild beach slope, seepage face and the unsaturated zone. In particular the impact of these factors on the velocity field in the aquifer is assessed. Simulations show that the tidal fluctuation has substantial... 

We revisit and shed light on the millennium-old hydrogeology textbook The Extraction of Hidden Waters by the Persian mathematician and engineer Karaji. Despite the nature of the understanding and conceptualization of the world by the people of that time, ground-breaking ideas and descriptions of hydrological and hydrogeological perceptions such as components of hydrological cycle, groundwater quality and even driving factors for groundwater flow were presented in the book. Although some of these ideas may have been presented elsewhere, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a whole book was focused on different aspects of hydrology and hydrogeology. More importantly, we... 

Verification of numerical models for density dependent flow in porous media (DDFPM) by the means of appropriate benchmark problems is a very important step in developing and using these models. Recently, Infinite Horizontal Box (IHB) problem was suggested as a possible benchmark problem for verification of DDFPM codes. IHB is based on Horton-Rogers-Lapwood (HRL) problem. Suitability of this problem for the benchmarking purpose has been investigated in this paper. It is shown that the wavelength of instabilities fails to be a proper criterion to be considered for this problem. However, the threshold of instability formation has been found to be appropriate for benchmarking purpose. © 2006... 

In this research, a confined aquifer with low groundwater flow was considered to meet the cooling and heating requirements of residential complexes. The complexes were located in the cities of Ahvaz, Ardabil, Bandar Abbas, Esfahan, Kerman, Rasht, Tehran, and Zahedan. The complex in Ardabil mostly required heating, the ones in Ahvaz and Bandar Abbas mostly required cooling, and the complexes in other cities required both heating and cooling. Four different alternatives of Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) were analyzed in this study. These alternatives consisted of using ATES: 1) alone for cooling, 2) coupled with a conventional refrigeration system or a chiller for cooling, 3) by... 

In this research, a confined aquifer with low groundwater flow was considered to meet the cooling and heating requirements of residential complexes. The complexes were located in the cities of Ahvaz, Ardabil, Bandar Abbas, Esfahan, Kerman, Rasht, Tehran, and Zahedan. The complex in Ardabil mostly required heating, the ones in Ahvaz and Bandar Abbas mostly required cooling, and the complexes in other cities required both heating and cooling. Four different alternatives of Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) were analyzed in this study. These alternatives consisted of using ATES: 1) alone for cooling, 2) coupled with a conventional refrigeration system or a chiller for cooling, 3) by... 

Lake Urmia, which was once the second-largest saline lake in the world, has been shrinking dramatically. Moreover, Lake Urmia has become supersaturated with total salinity averaging more than 350 g/l. Salt precipitation and dissolved materials brought by inflowing rivers have formed a layer of sediment with low hydraulic conductivity on the lakebed. Considering the flat bathymetry of Lake Urmia, we conducted a series of numerical simulation scenarios to study the groundwater flow pattern in the vicinity of the hypersaline Lake Urmia using COMSOL Multiphysics®. In the first step, we performed the simulations in steady-state conditions. Secondly, we simulated the lake level fall in 10 years at... 

In this investigation, the permeability of interdendritic liquid flow through the equiaxial mushy zone has been modelled for Pb-Sn alloys based on experimental measurements. In the present work by solving Navier-Stokes equation, the flow pattern around the equiaxed dendrite has been obtained and then permeability has been determined by applying Darcy's law. Numerical determined values of permeabilities have been analysed by the use of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) statistical software. Then an experimental method has been used to measure the permeability for flow through equiaxial mushy zone of Pb-Sn alloys. Results show that increasing the solid fraction and... 

In this paper the development of a quasi-three-dimensional numerical model that can be used for quantifying groundwater inputs and associated contaminant discharged from coastal aquifers into the coastal zone at a regional scale is presented. The present model is called MODSharp. In order to handle problems at a regional scale, the sharp interface approach which is used for conceptualising seawater intrusion, is applied to this model. This model can be used for the simulation of groundwater flow and contaminant transport in layered coastal aquifers at a regional scale. The method of characteristics is used to solve the advection-dispersion equation, which governs contaminant transport in... 

Accurate implementation of river interactions with subsurface water is critical in large-scale hydrologic models with a constant horizontal grid resolution when models apply kinematic wave approximation for both hillslope and river channel flow. The size of rivers can vary greatly in the model domain, and the implemented grid resolution is too coarse to accurately account for river interactions. Consequently, the flow velocity is underestimated when the width of the rivers is much narrower than the selected grid size. This leads to inaccuracy and uncertainties in calculations of water quantities. In addition, the rate of exfiltration and infiltration between the river and the subsurface may... 

There are many fundamental problems with the injection of nano-zero-valent iron (NZVI) particles to create permeable reactive barrier (PRB) treatment zone. Among them the loss of medium porosity or pore blocking over time can be considered which leads to reduction of permeability and bypass of the flow and contaminant plume up-gradient of the PRB. Present study provides a solution for such problems by confining the target zone for injection to the gate in a funnel-and-gate configuration. A laboratory-scale experimental setup is used in this work. In the designed PRB gate, no additional material from porous media exists. NZVI (d 50 = 52 ± 5 nm) particles are synthesized in water mixed with... 

Aquifers are underground porous formations containing water. Confined aquifers are surrounded by impermeable layers on top and bottom, called cap rocks and bed rocks. A confined aquifer with a very low groundwater flow velocity was considered to meet the annual cooling and heating energy requirements of a residential building complex in Tehran, Iran. Three different alternatives of Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) were employed to meet the heating/cooling demands of the buildings. These alternatives were using ATES for: Cooling alone, heating alone by coupling with at-plate solar collectors, and cooling and heating by coupling with a heat pump. For the economic evaluation of the... 

The flow of non-Newtonian fluids through two-dimensional porous media is analyzed at the pore scale using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method. A fully explicit projection method is used to simulate incompressible flow. This study focuses on a shear-thinning power-law model (n < 1), though the method is sufficiently general to include other stress-shear rate relationships. The capabilities of the proposed method are demonstrated by analyzing a Poiseuille problem at low Reynolds numbers. Two test cases are also solved to evaluate validity of Darcy's law for power-law fluids and to investigate the effect of anisotropy at the pore scale. Results show that the proposed algorithm can...