One way to specify a source of contamination in a contaminant transport model is to simply specify an initial mass of contaminant or a rate of addition of mass for one or more transport pathways. In many cases, however, it may be necessary to explicitly model a source such that the effect of the barriers (such as drums or boxes) and/or waste matrix A two-dimensional array. (e.g., cement) in which the species The chemical (or non-chemical, such as bacterial or viral) constituents that are stored and transported through an environmental system in a contaminant transport model. In GoldSim, the Species element defines all of the contaminant species being simulated (and their properties). are initially contained can be more accurately represented.
This is particularly important when simulating the behavior of proposed or existing waste disposal facilities which have, as part of their design, engineered packages or containers in which the waste is placed prior to disposal.
GoldSim provides a Source element A specialized element for introducing mass into a contaminant transport model, and is particularly useful when simulating mass emanating from gradually failing engineered barriers. that allows you to accomplish this:
The properties dialog for a Source looks like this:
Inputs to a Source element include the rate at which the packages containing the waste fail, the amount of initial mass of each species (the inventory), the location of the inventory (with respect to the barriers), the degradation rate of any matrix material in which the inventory is initially contained, and the pathways to which the mass from the Source will be released.
Note: Source elements are only available in the RT Module.
The outputs from the Source include the amount of mass of each species remaining in the Source, the cumulative amount of mass of each species which has been released, and the number of failed packages.
The assumptions and mathematical details upon which the
Source element is based are described in