Design optimisation of environmental contamination projects using massively parallel solution methods

Remediation of environmentally impaired properties has been ongoing for several decades. However, even though many of the more challenging sites have been undergoing remediation for decades they remain resistant to achieving site closure requirements. Emerging contaminants, including the perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) perfluoralkyl sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluoralkyl carboxylate (PFOA), pose significant health risk. PFOS/PFOA are often co-mingled with, or proximate to, existing groundwater contamination plumes. These remediation challenges, already complex, are further complicated by the presence of PFOS/PFOA with significant cost implications. Groundwater remedy actions in some cases have redistributed the initial PFOS/PFOA plume configurations through groundwater extraction and re-injection which further complicates achieving site closure. Developing optimal remedial designs using the heuristic trial-and-error design approach with simplified conceptual site models is not appropriate for these circumstances. They will result in higher clean-up costs and longer remediation times than are otherwise necessary. The optimisation methods discussed herein the Physics-based Management Optimisation (PBMO™) tool enable formal, physically consistent, and robust development of optimal remedial designs for these types of environmental contamination problems. (author)