A new technique of seawater intrusion control: development of geochemical cutoff wall

Abstract

The construction of a subsurface dam and/or physical cutoff barriers is one of the most known techniques used to prevent seawater intrusion during excessive exploitation of freshwater from a coastal aquifer. This method is widely used in many sites around the world (Japan, Brazil, India, Burkina Faso…). In this study, we present an innovative technique for constructing subsurface barriers based on geochemical reactions. A calcite cutoff wall is developed by mixing two aqueous solutions Na₂CO₃ and CaCl₂ under pCO₂ equal to 3.16·10^-4 bar. The deposition of calcite in the mixing zone induces a high clogging, which greatly reduces the porosity and then the permeability of the aquifer into the injection zone. We use GEODENS code to study the effect of a developed geochemical cutoff wall on saltwater intrusion and to assess their protective effect on preventing seawater intrusion. The GEODENS code can solve these equations by a finite element procedure; it can handle density-dependent flow, transport, and geochemical reactions in porous media. The effect of depth and location of the geochemical cutoff wall is tested and results showed a significant reduction of seawater intrusion penetration length. According to the budget used in many barrier construction projects, we have shown that the developed geochemical cutoff wall presented in this work could produce a lower seawater intrusion penetration length than the traditionally used barriers at a very lower cost.

Keywords: Calcite precipitation; Clogging; Coastal aquifer management; Geochemical cutoff wall; Porosity change; Seawater intrusion control.