| The research within this CTG-project focuses at flow and transport phenomena in the shallow subsurface. The research questions addressed are in general closely related to technological and environmental needs of modern society. The shallow subsurface becomes increasingly important, in particular in densely populated and highly industrialised areas. Its potential as third dimension for infrastructural works, e.g. tunnels, buildings, storage facilities, is almost unlimited. An increase of human activities in the shallow subsurface will inevitably lead to changes of this natural system. Whether these changes are acceptable from the environmental point of view can only be determined provided thorough insight in subsurface processes. In most subsurface processes, groundwater plays a crucial role e.g. as transporting medium for contaminants, as medium for storage of thermal energy, as resource for production of fresh drinking water, etc. The research within this project can be best described using the term: environmental geohydrology . The interplay between physical, chemical and biological processes occurring in groundwater is studied, with the emphasis on fundamental aspects. The current research portfolio consists of a variety of research topics. Amongst others, we mention: biodegradation of DNAPL s, electrically and chemically coupled flow (osmosis in clays), characterisation of subsurface heterogeneities, upscaling of micro heterogeneities (two-phase flow) and upscaling using Markov processes, brine transport, characterisation of well capture zones, mixing processes in natural and enhanced attenuation, and fundamentals of capillary pressure. Short progress reports of most of the ongoing research projects are included. The common denominator of all projects is that they are concerned with upscaling issues from pore to core or from core to field conditions. In all cases the approach compares theories with experiments either in the laboratory or computer simulation experiments e.g. net work models |
