Guidelines for Preliminary Design of Funnel-and-Gate Reactive Barriers

Abstract

Permeable Reactive Barriers represent an innovative remediation technique of contaminated aquifers. Three geometric configurations are encountered in the literature: a continuous wall, a funnel-and-gate system, and a caisson configuration. The present paper is focused on the design of the second and third geometric configurations and presents an analytical solution of the flow in a Permeable Reactive Barrier based on the Schwarz-Christoffel transformation. This analytical solution is coupled to residence time calculations to define a methodology of design taking into account the most important parameters on the design of a PRB: cutoff width, slenderness of the reactive cell, and hydraulic conductivity. Finally, the study provides a guidance diagram for the design of funnel-and-gate or caisson configurations.