Pumping Tests (pumping + test)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


A Method for Evaluating Horizontal Well Pumping Tests

GROUND WATER, Issue 5 2004
David E. Langseth
Predicting the future performance of horizontal wells under varying pumping conditions requires estimates of basic aquifer parameters, notably transmissivity and storativity. For vertical wells, there are well-established methods for estimating these parameters, typically based on either the recovery from induced head changes in a well or from the head response in observation wells to pumping in a test well. Comparable aquifer parameter estimation methods for horizontal wells have not been presented in the ground water literature. Formation parameter estimation methods based on measurements of pressure in horizontal wells have been presented in the petroleum industry literature, but these methods have limited applicability for ground water evaluation and are based on pressure measurements in only the horizontal well borehole, rather than in observation wells. This paper presents a simple and versatile method by which pumping test procedures developed for vertical wells can be applied to horizontal well pumping tests. The method presented here uses the principle of superposition to represent the horizontal well as a series of partially penetrating vertical wells. This concept is used to estimate a distance from an observation well at which a vertical well that has the same total pumping rate as the horizontal well will produce the same drawdown as the horizontal well. This equivalent distance may then be associated with an observation well for use in pumping test algorithms and type curves developed for vertical wells. The method is shown to produce good results for confined aquifers and unconfined aquifers in the absence of delayed yield response. For unconfined aquifers, the presence of delayed yield response increases the method error. [source]


Semi-analytical solution for a slug test in partially penetrating wells including the effect of finite-thickness skin

HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 18 2008
Hund-Der Yeh
Abstract This paper presents a new semi-analytical solution for a slug test in a well partially penetrating a confined aquifer, accounting for the skin effect. This solution is developed based on the solution for a constant-flux pumping test and a formula given by Peres and co-workers in 1989. The solution agrees with that of Cooper and co-workers and the KGS model when the well is fully penetrating. The present solution can be applied to simulate the temporal and spatial head distributions in both the skin and formation zones. It can also be used to demonstrate the influences of skin type or skin thickness on the well water level and to estimate the hydraulic parameters of the skin and formation zones using a least-squares approach. The results of this study indicate that the determination of hydraulic conductivity using a conventional slug-test data analysis that neglects the presence of a skin zone will give an incorrect result if the aquifer has a skin zone. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


EVALUATION OF A STREAM AQUIFER ANALYSIS TEST USING ANALYTICAL SOLUTIONS AND FIELD DATA,

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 3 2004
Garey A. Fox
ABSTRACT: Considerable advancements have been made in the development of analytical solutions for predicting the effects of pumping wells on adjacent streams and rivers. However, these solutions have not been sufficiently evaluated against field data. The objective of this research is to evaluate the predictive performance of recently proposed analytical solutions for unsteady stream depletion using field data collected during a stream/aquifer analysis test at the Tamarack State Wildlife Area in eastern Colorado. Two primary stream/aquifer interactions exist at the Tamarack site: (1) between the South Platte River and the alluvial aquifer and (2) between a backwater stream and the alluvial aquifer. A pumping test is performed next to the backwater stream channel. Drawdown measured in observation wells is matched to predictions by recently proposed analytical solutions to derive estimates of aquifer and streambed parameters. These estimates are compared to documented aquifer properties and field measured streambed conductivity. The analytical solutions are capable of estimating reasonable values of both aquifer and streambed parameters with one solution capable of simultaneously estimating delayed aquifer yield and stream flow recharge. However, for long term water management, it is reasonable to use simplified analytical solutions not concerned with early-time delayed yield effects. For this site, changes in the water level in the stream during the test and a varying water level profile at the beginning of the pumping test influence the application of the analytical solutions. [source]


Soil vapor extraction system design: A case study comparing vacuum and pore-gas velocity cutoff criteria

REMEDIATION, Issue 1 2006
Kenneth L. Dixon
Soil vapor extraction (SVE) systems are typically designed based on the results of a vadose-zone pumping test (transient or steady-state) using a pressure criterion to establish the zone of influence (ZOI). A common problem associated with pressure-based SVE design is overestimating the ZOI of the extraction well. As a result, design strategies based upon critical pore- gas velocity (CPGV) have become more common. Field tests were conducted at the Savannah River Site (SRS) to determine the influence of a vapor extraction well based upon both a pressure and pore- gas velocity design criterion. The results from these tests show that an SVE system designed based upon a CPGV is more robust and will have shorter cleanup times due to increased flow throughout the treatment zone. Pressure-based SVE design may be appropriate in applications where soil gas containment is the primary objective; however, in cases where the capture and removal of contaminated soil gas is the primary objective, CPGV is a better design criterion. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]


Dimensionierung von Grundwasserabsenkungen , Probleme und Lösungen

BAUTECHNIK, Issue 7 2004
Fritz Weyrauch Dipl.-Ing.
Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Analyse von Anomalien der Funktion Qs, die den Wasserandrang zu einer Baugrube beschreibt. Ihre Ursache liegt in der unbedachten Verwendung der Sichardtschen Reichweitenformel. Es wird eine Lösung vorgeschlagen, die die Anomalien beseitigt. Außerdem werden Verfahren zur Berechnung der erforderlichen Brunnenzahl bei gegebener Absenktiefe bzw. der erzielten Absenkung bei gegebener Brunnenzahl und des k-Wertes bei einem Pumpversuch entwickelt. Dimensioning of ground water lowering , problems and solutions. This paper deals with analysis of anomalies of the function Qs, which describes the inrush of water into a building pit. The reason for these anomalies is the unconsidered use of the Sichardt formula for the radius of influence. A solution is suggested which allows to get rid of the anomalies. In addition, methods are developed for the evaluation of the requiered numer of wells at given lowering depth and of the achieved lowering at a given number of wells respectively and of the kf -value at a pumping test. [source]


Influences of Aquifer Properties on Flow Dimensions in Dolomites

GROUND WATER, Issue 5 2009
Timotej Verbov
The paper focuses on analyses and correlations of flow dimensions in different dolomite aquifers in Slovenia. Flow dimensions are obtained through the reinterpretation of 72 pumping tests with the generalized radial flow model, based on the fractional flow dimension. The average value of flow dimensions is 2.16 for all dolomites. A study of flow dimensions in individual aquifers categorized according to their lithological properties shows that higher dimensions occur in massive late-diagenetic Cordevolian and Anisian dolomites compared with bedded Main, Ba,a, and especially Lower Triassic dolomites, which contain a greater proportion of noncarbonate minerals. Partially penetrating wells have higher flow dimensions than fully penetrating wells. Flow dimensions are poorly correlated with hydraulic conductivities of fractures. When comparing the quantities of major dissolved minerals, obtained by hydrogeochemical inverse modeling, with the values of flow dimensions, the Cordevolian and Anisian dolomites are found to exhibit the highest values of both dissolved dolomite and flow dimensions, indicating that greater dissolution occurs at higher flow dimensions. For other aquifers, data points are more scattered and the correlation is mostly poor. When compared with three-dimensional fractal dimensions of fracture networks, there is no correlation with flow dimensions. However, almost all the values of flow dimensions are lower than the corresponding fractal dimensions in dolomites (average D= 2.77), possibly indicating the channeling of flow within the available space of the fracture networks, consequently reducing the flow dimensions. [source]


Introduction to Hydromechanical Well Tests in Fractured Rock Aquifers

GROUND WATER, Issue 1 2009
Todd Schweisinger
This article introduces hydromechanical well tests as a viable field method for characterizing fractured rock aquifers. These tests involve measuring and analyzing small displacements along with pressure transients. Recent developments in equipment and analyses have simplified hydromechanical well tests, and this article describes initial field results and interpretations during slug and constant-rate pumping tests conducted at a site underlain by fractured biotite gneiss in South Carolina. The field data are characterized by displacements of 0.3 ,m to more than 10 ,m during head changes up to 10 m. Displacements are a hysteretic function of hydraulic head in the wellbore, with displacements late in a well test always exceeding those at similar wellbore pressures early in the test. Displacement measurements show that hydraulic aperture changes during well tests, and both scaling analyses and field data suggest that T changed by a few percent per meter of drawdown during slug and pumping tests at our field site. Preliminary analyses suggest that displacement data can be used to improve estimates of storativity and to reduce nonuniqueness during hydraulic well tests involving single wells. [source]


A Method for Evaluating Horizontal Well Pumping Tests

GROUND WATER, Issue 5 2004
David E. Langseth
Predicting the future performance of horizontal wells under varying pumping conditions requires estimates of basic aquifer parameters, notably transmissivity and storativity. For vertical wells, there are well-established methods for estimating these parameters, typically based on either the recovery from induced head changes in a well or from the head response in observation wells to pumping in a test well. Comparable aquifer parameter estimation methods for horizontal wells have not been presented in the ground water literature. Formation parameter estimation methods based on measurements of pressure in horizontal wells have been presented in the petroleum industry literature, but these methods have limited applicability for ground water evaluation and are based on pressure measurements in only the horizontal well borehole, rather than in observation wells. This paper presents a simple and versatile method by which pumping test procedures developed for vertical wells can be applied to horizontal well pumping tests. The method presented here uses the principle of superposition to represent the horizontal well as a series of partially penetrating vertical wells. This concept is used to estimate a distance from an observation well at which a vertical well that has the same total pumping rate as the horizontal well will produce the same drawdown as the horizontal well. This equivalent distance may then be associated with an observation well for use in pumping test algorithms and type curves developed for vertical wells. The method is shown to produce good results for confined aquifers and unconfined aquifers in the absence of delayed yield response. For unconfined aquifers, the presence of delayed yield response increases the method error. [source]


Process Considerations for Trolling Borehole Flow Logs

GROUND WATER MONITORING & REMEDIATION, Issue 3 2006
Phil L. Oberlander
Horizontal hydraulic conductivity with depth is often understood only as a depth-integrated property based on pumping tests or estimated from geophysical logs and the lithology. A more explicit method exists for determining hydraulic conductivity over small vertical intervals by collecting borehole flow measurements while the well is being pumped. Borehole flow rates were collected from 15 deep monitoring wells on the Nevada Test Site and the Nevada Test and Training Range while continuously raising and lowering a high-precision impeller borehole flowmeter. Repeated logging passes at different logging speeds and pumping rates typically provided nine unique flow logs for each well. Over 60 km of borehole flow logs were collected at a 6.1-cm vertical resolution. Processing these data necessitated developing a methodology to delete anomalous values, smooth small-scale flow variations, combine multiple borehole flow logs, characterize measurement uncertainty, and determine the interval-specific lower limit to flow rate quantification. There are decision points in the data processing where judgment and ancillary analyses are needed to extract subtle hydrogeologic information. The analysis methodology indicates that processed measurements from a high-precision trolling impeller flowmeter in a screened well can confidently detect changes in borehole flow rate of ,0.7% of the combined trolling and borehole flow rate. An advantage of trolling the flowmeter is that the impeller is nearly always spinning as it is raised and lowered in the well and borehole flow rates can be measured at lower values than if measurements were taken while the flowmeter was held at a fixed depth. [source]


Parameter identification for leaky aquifers using global optimization methods

HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 7 2007
Hund-Der Yeh
Abstract In the past, graphical or computer methods were usually employed to determine the aquifer parameters of the observed data obtained from field pumping tests. Since we employed the computer methods to determine the aquifer parameters, an analytical aquifer model was required to estimate the predicted drawdown. Following this, the gradient-type approach was used to solve the nonlinear least-squares equations to obtain the aquifer parameters. This paper proposes a novel approach based on a drawdown model and a global optimization method of simulated annealing (SA) or a genetic algorithm (GA) to determine the best-fit aquifer parameters for leaky aquifer systems. The aquifer parameters obtained from SA and the GA almost agree with those obtained from the extended Kalman filter and gradient-type method. Moreover, all results indicate that the SA and GA are robust and yield consistent results when dealing with the parameter identification problems. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


OBSERVATION WELL NETWORK DESIGN FOR PUMPING TESTS IN UNCONFINED AQUIFERS,

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 1 2003
Xunhong Chen
ABSTRACT: This paper presents a method for determining locations of observation wells to be used in conducting pumping tests in unconfined aquifers. Sensitivity coefficients, the distribution of relative errors, and the correlation coefficients between four aquifer parameters (horizontal and vertical hydraulic conductivities Kr and Kz, storage coefficient S, and specific yield Sy) are used as the criteria for the design of observation well networks and the interpretation of pumping tests. The contours of the relative errors over a vertical profile are very useful in selecting the "best" location of an observation well. Results from theoretical analyses suggest that a wide range of locations is suitable for the determination of Kr and that good locations for the determination of Kz and S may be poorly suited for the determination of Sy. Consideration must be given to the position and lengths of the pumping well screen in the selection of observation well locations. For a given location, the quality of test data can be improved by using high pumping rates and frequent sampling of drawdowns. We found that a minimum of two and preferably three observation locations are needed along a given transect. Results of the four parameters from a single well analysis may contain higher uncertainties. However, composite analyses of multiple observation wells can reduce the correlation between the four aquifer parameters, particularly between Kr and Sy, thus, improving the quality of parameter estimation. Results from two pumping tests conducted at sites located in Nebraska were examined with regard to the proposed methodology. [source]