Journal of Middle East Applied Science and Technology (JMEAST)
ISSN (Online): 2305-0225
Issue 8, January 2014, pp. 371-374
Using GeoStudio Model For Assessment of
Leachate Migration Through Soil in
Hushangabad-Azizabad Landfill of Tehran
Amin Hooshmandfar, Ahmad Khodadadi
Abstract— The storage of any waste material in a landfill poses
potential problems. One problem is the possible contamination of
soil, groundwater and surface water. In recent years, the use of
simulation software as a tool for the design, operation and monitoring
in the field of environmental engineering including solid waste
landfills is widely spread. Capability of these softwares in quick and
precise calculation expands their application. More recently,
integrated models have appeared that combine the several phenomena
the previous models have tackled individually. One of the integrated
models is GeoStudio that has several tools to model the water
seepage, contaminant transport, particle tracking in response to the
movement of water, diffusion, dispersion, adsorption, radioactive
decay and heat transfer through soil. In this study, in first stage,
SEEP/W, a part of GeoStudio, has been used to determine the path of
leachate movement. Results of previous stage and CTRAN/W, a part
of GeoStudio, has been used to assess contaminant transport by
Advection-Dispersion mechanisms at the bottom of a new solid waste
landfill in vicinity of Hushangabad-Azizabad, Tehran.
Keywords—Leachate, Water Sources, Modeling, GeoStudio
I. INTRODUCTION
T HE storage of any waste material in a landfill poses
potential problems. One problem is the possible
contamination of soil, groundwater and surface water that may
occur as leachate produced by water or liquid wastes moving
into, through and out of the landfill, migrates into adjacent
areas [1],[2]. In order to assess the pollution by landfill, either
experimental determination or estimation through
mathematical modelling can be followed [3],[4]. In recent
years, the use of simulation software as a tool for the design,
operation and monitoring in the field of environmental
engineering including solid waste landfills is widely spread.
Amin Hooshmandfar , Environmental Engineering Department, Faculty of
Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran
(corresponding author; e-mail: amin.hooshmandfar@modares.ac.ir).
Ahmad Khodadadi, Environmental Engineering Department, Faculty of
Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran (e-
mail: akdarban@modares.ac.ir).
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Capability of these softwares in quick and precise calculation
expands their application. In the case of landfill process
modeling, the significance of local factors such as the waste
composition, disposal method and protection systems against
potential impacts, the heterogeneity of the medium, as well as
the several physical and biochemical phenomena that need to
be considered (meteorology, liquid and gas movement,
biological and chemical degradation of the waste, aging of
materials), makes the development of models applicable to
different landfill facilities difficult [5].
Since the 1970s a number of empirical expressions of gas
generation have been developed to assess the economics of gas
harnessing systems. These sorts of models do not represent the
biological degradation processes, but only one of their
consequences, which is gas generation. Their calibration is
based on data observed in a specific landfill or similar
facilities, which does not give rise to actual prediction tools.
Nonetheless, these models are still used for approximate
estimations when more refined tools are not available [6].
Subsequently, models have also appeared to support the
study of the possible impacts of the leachate in the surrounding
land. HELP, among the programs developed with this aim,
became of widespread use in facilities all over the world, but
nowadays its use is questioned as a number of shortcomings
have been detected. On the other hand, several authors have
reported modeling approaches that focus on the biological
and/or chemical degradation of waste that generates gas and
leachate pollutants [7],[8].
More recently, integrated models have appeared that
combine the several phenomena the previous models have
tackled individually. These models consider both the leachate
pollution and gas, simulating jointly the hydrological and
degradation phenomena, and can include settlement and heat
transfer as well. When adapted to the simulation of real
facilities, these models will make possible the ‘‘a priori’’ study
of the different effects of design and operation measures such
as leachate recirculation. Furthermore, the results from such
 Journal of Middle East Applied Science and Technology (JMEAST)

ISSN (Online): 2305-0225

Issue 8, January 2014, pp. 371-374

simulations could constitute the input for other models, such as

those of leachate underground transport, making it possible to
estimate the impacts on the landfill environment and, in
combination with probabilistic models, form part of other
complex tools for environmental risk assessment [9],[10].
One of the integrated models is GeoStudio that has several
tools to model the water seepage, contaminant transport,
particle tracking in response to the movement of water,
diffusion, dispersion, adsorption, radioactive decay and heat
transfer through soil. In this study, SEEP/W, a part of
GeoStudio, has been used to determine the path of leachate
movement and CTRAN/W, a part of GeoStudio, has been used
to assess contaminant transport by Advection-Dispersion
mechanisms at the bottom of a new solid waste landfill in
vicinity of Hushangabad-Azizabad, Tehran.
Fig. 2 elevation map of the region of the Shur river and the landfill area [13]

II. REGION SPECIFICATIONS Due to the limitations of GeoStudio 2004 software and to
The landfill is 50 km far from the south of Tehran. The simplify the data as input, the characteristics of soil of the
borders of the landfill aera is shown on the base map of the region is considered like the bore BH-A3. The depth of this
region in Fig. 1. As topographic characteristics, the area has a bore is 30 m that is maximum among the others. Considering
incline from north west to south east. The maximum altitude is the elevation difference of 50 m between the lowest altitude of
1110 m in the west and the minimum altitude is 950 m in the the area and the river bed, soil characteristics for the depth
east of the region. On this basis, the region has a mean slope of more than 30 m is chosen like the last layer of BH-A3 for
less than %2 [11]. modeling. The Specifications of this bore is shown in Fig. 3
Shur river, the only surface water source in the region of the and table I.
solid waste landfill, has 2 km distance from the landfill that
can be contaminated by the leachate migration and lack of
management systems [12].
As shown in Fig. 2, considering the 2 km distance between
Shur river and the landfill and elevation difference about 50 m
between the lowest altitude of the area and the river bed, the
probability of contamination of the river by flowage is
negligible, but it is important to assess the contamination
migration through soil to the river bed. Fig. 3 log of bore BH-A3 [14],[15]

TABLE I SPECIFICATIONS OF BORE BH-A3 [15],[16]

Layer No. Thickness (cm) Porosity-n Ks (cm/h)

1 280 0.43 0.01404

2 300 0.45 0.06121
3 300 0.43 0.01188
4 900 0.43 0.03454
5 1200 0.43 0.01421

III. SEEP/W AND CTRAN/W MODELS

Fig. 1 location of Hushangabad-Azizabad solid waste landfill of Tehran [13]
Ions that exist in leachate migrate through soil by various
mechanisms and reach water sources and pollute the sources.
Advection is a transport mechanism of a substance or
conserved property by a fluid due to the fluid's bulk motion.
The fluid's motion is described mathematically as a vector

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 Journal of Middle East Applied Science and Technology (JMEAST)

ISSN (Online): 2305-0225

Issue 8, January 2014, pp. 371-374

field, and the transported material is described by a scalar field domain into small areas called elements. The second part is
showing its distribution over space. Advection requires specifying and assigning material properties. The third is
currents in the fluid, and so cannot happen in rigid solids. It specifying and applying boundry conditions.
does not include transport of substances by molecular GeoStudio 2004 uses SEEP/W and CTRAN/W calculations
diffusion. simultaneously for assessment of leachate movement. In this
The term seepage usually refers to situations where the study, analysis of SEEP/W is in steady state and 2-
primary driving forces is gravity controlled, such as dimentional. CTRAN/W analyzes the contaminant transport by
establishing seepage losses from a reservoir, where the driving advection-dispersion mechanisms. The time period is 3750
force is the total hydraulic head difference between the days equal to 10.3 years. It is assumed that the soil layers are
entrance and exit points. Another cause of water movement in saturated and hydraulic conductivity of the soil layers are
soils is the existence of excess pore-water pressure due to constant and equal to saturated hydraulic conductivity. The
external leading. This type of water flow is usually not referred concentration of the pollutant is considerd 1000 mg/L.
to as seepage, but the fundamental mathematical equations
describing the water movement are essentially identical. As a IV. RESULTS
result, a software formulation for the analysis of seepage In fig. 4, different layers of the soil are shown with distinct
problems can also be used to analyze the dissipation of excess colors and divided to square shaped elements. Boundry
pore-water pressures resulting from changes in stress conditions are contamination accumulation in the river bed
conditions. In this Study, the term seepage is used to describe (qm=0) and consideration of advection and dispersion for nodal
all movement of water through soil regardless of creation or concentrations at output (Qd>0). In fig. 5, the amount of
source of the driving force or whether the flow is through leachate permeation in the bottom of the landfill is shown. The
saturated or unsaturated soils. leachate migration is less than 1 m that shows there are
Diffusion is one of several transport phenomena that occur impermeable and low permeable soil layers in the region. In
in nature. A distinguishing feature of diffusion is that it results conclusion, leachate permeation in the soil is not a threat for
in mixing or mass transport, without requiring bulk motion. Shur river. This is shown in fig. 6.
According to Fick's laws, the diffusion flux is proportional to
the negative gradient of concentrations. It goes from regions of
higher concentration to regions of lower concentration.
For one-dimentional flow, the hydrodynamics dispersion
coefficient D is defined above as:
(1)
Where α is dispersivity (material property), v is D’arcian
velocity devided by volumetric water content, and D* is
coefficient of molecular diffusion. Dispersion in the direction
of the water flow is usually higher than dispersion
perpendicular to the flow direction. Two dispersivity values
are therefore required to define the spreading process.
Dispersivities in the flow directions are designated as the
longitudinal dispersivity αL and the transverse dispersivity αT.
The content of α is %10 of system scale. For example, if
modeling a contamination migration in a aqueous layer with 1
km width, the content of α will be 100 m.
Fig. 4 position of landfill, soil layers, and riverbed for modeling
According to (2), the software uses finite element method
for analyzing the contaminant migration. The finite element
equation can be written as:
(2)
Where: [K] the element characteristics matrix, {C} the
vector of nodal concentrations, {Q} the mass flux entering or
leaving the element [17]. There are three main parts to a finite
element analysis. The first is discretization: dividing the

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 Journal of Middle East Applied Science and Technology (JMEAST)

ISSN (Online): 2305-0225

Issue 8, January 2014, pp. 371-374

[7] Dozier, T. S., Zappi, P. A., McEnroe, B. M., Sjostrom, J. W., & Peyton,
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Fig. 6 leachate concentration in different depth of soil after 3750 days

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