| A permeable reactive barrier (PRB) is an in situ technology for the remediation of contaminated groundwater, whose design is primarily based on the hydrogeology of the site. Heterogeneities in aquifers arising from natural hydrogeological formations create complexity and challenges in site investigation. An adequate site exploration method must be employed which minimizes uncertainty in designing a capture zone for the PRB.; By using an objective approach, a proficient reliability index model is designed to quantify hydrogeological uncertainties in site exploration. Modflow-2000 is implemented to calculate groundwater heads and their sensitivity. Utilizing First-Order Second Moment (FOSM) approach, parameter input uncertainty is combined with sensitivity to generate variance in hydraulic heads. This is used for calculating beta (beta) to evaluate model prediction and obtaining a capture zone, in which design factors for the PRB are tested. The methods developed in this study are pertinent when applied to the Kansas City Plant case. |
