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Analysis of Ground‐Water Flow and Injection Fluid Transport in the Floridan Aquifer Near Pensacola, Florida
Author(s) -
Ward David S.,
Mercer James W.,
August Lisa L.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
groundwater
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1745-6584
pISSN - 0017-467X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6584.1992.tb02009.x
Subject(s) - aquifer , hydraulic conductivity , geology , injection well , injector , hydraulic head , flow (mathematics) , water injection (oil production) , groundwater , hydrology (agriculture) , geomorphology , geotechnical engineering , petroleum engineering , soil science , mechanics , mechanical engineering , engineering , soil water , physics
Liquid waste has been injected into a permeable part of the lower limestone of the Floridan aquifer since 1963, raising hydraulic head in the injection zone throughout a region of northwestern Florida. The injection zone consists of a moderately permeable limestone, hydraulically isolated from overlying aquifers by a thick layer of clay. The formation fluid is saline, but becomes fresher up dip, northward where the limestone crops out. Numerical simulations were performed at regional and local scales to assess the regional pressure increase, to analyze the movement of the 10,000 mg/1 total dissolved solids (TDS) isopleth (formation fluid) in the lower limestone of the Floridan aquifer, and to analyze the migration of the injection fluid, both historically and predictively, in the injection formation. This work is based largely on previous work by Merritt (1984), but uses the SWIFT code. Modifications to Merritt's work include increasing the hydraulic conductivity near the injection wells and using more recent injection rates; extensions include particle tracking and solute transport modeling. The simulations indicate that regional pressure increases should be much less than previously predicted. Using the new results, by the year 2033, the average movement of the 10,000 mg/1 TDS isopleth due to injection is expected to be approximately 2200 ft (671 m). Additionally, by the year 2033, the indiluted injection fluid (95% of injection concentration) should migrate to an approximate diameter of 2.1 mi (3.4 km) from the injection wells.