Parameter Uniqueness And Uncertainty Associated For Multirate Transport Models Applied To Core-Scale Test Data

Breakthrough data collected in a set of laboratory tracer experiments are used to constrain the multirate mass transport model STAMMT-L. The uniqueness and variance of the estimated parameters are explored using both Gauss-Marquardt-Levenberg (PEST) and Markov-Chain Monte Carlo (DREAM) algorithms. The efficacy and uniqueness of different multirate distribution types (e.g., lognormal, beta, gamma) for a given dataset are compared. The information content of the different portions of the breakthrough curve (i.e., rising limb, peak, tail) is also explored with this forward model and these inverse modeling tools. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.