Predicting the fate of BTEX pollution and evaluating the remediation efficiency in an industrial site

This study focused on estimating the aquifer hydraulic parameters of Bandar Abbas Refinery in Iran through a pumping test and investigating the fate of detected oil pollution using numerical flow and contaminants transport simulation models, namely MODFLOW-2000 and MT3DMS. The hydraulic conductivity, transmissivity, and specific yield were estimated to be 2.45 m/day, 24.5 m2/ day, and 0.174, respectively. The steady-state model indicated the most sensitivity to the hydraulic head boundary and was run with a Normalized Root Mean Square of 4.97%, while the transient model was characterized by high sensitivity to hydraulic conductivity and longitudinal dispersivity established with NRMS of 2.7 to 4.26%. The transport model was used to simulate the effects of five different remediation scenarios over a period for 30 and 50 years considering both continuous and non-continuous leakage, with and without sorption processes. In the worst-case scenario with continuous and no sorption, the mean pollution level is predicted to reach 247.5 after 30 years and 310 after 50 years. However, in the best-case scenario, which involves cutting off the pollution source, implementing sorption processes, and eliminating the LNAPL without continuous and no sorption, the anticipated pollution levels are 97.5 after 30 years and 132.5 after 50 years. In the realistic scenario, where pollution is removed up to 50% with active and non-continuous state, the mean pollution value will be changed to 112.5 and 162.5 over the given period, respectively. These findings indicate the positive effect of remediation strategies in preventing the spread of pollution downstream. Determination of the BTEX source release into groundwater from a real refinery site.Simulating groundwater flow and contaminants transport using MODFLOW-2000 and MT3DMS.Evaluating remediation scenarios efficiency by numerical modeling.Prediction of BTEX transport in the aquifer under the condition of various remediation scenarios.