Development of systems analysis and process control approaches for optimal soil and groundwater remediation

加拿大有成千上万的工业相关设施向地下排放或泄漏大量的石油碳氢化合物。被这类污染物污染的场地可能造成严重的环境和健康风险，还可能降低土地价值和农业生产力。因此，对这些污染场地的有效修复和管理越来越受到环境顾问、行业、社区和政府的关注。本研究旨在通过发展先进的系统分析和过程控制方法来解决石油污染场地的最佳修复所产生的各种复杂性。它包括一些相互关联的任务：(a)通过综合实验和数学建模方法推进三维数值模型的研发，以模拟具有代表性的石油污染土壤和地下水修复过程；(b)发展先进的系统优化方法，以考虑场地修复系统的非线性、不确定性和多目标特征；(c)通过将修复模拟和优化模型与各种信息和人工智能技术相结合，开发创新的过程控制方法，以实现最佳的场地修复；(d)将开发的方法应用于不列颠哥伦比亚省北部的场地修复案例。建议的方法允许系统地考虑与场地修复有关的因素和复杂性，系统分析和过程控制方法的发展将代表对场地修复工程方法的独特贡献。通过提供有效的工具来支持污染场地的修复，这项研究将能够为该国带来重大的环境、经济和社会效益，并可能由于成功实施新开发的方法而带来附带的就业/商业。此外，拟议的研究将有助于吸引和培养一批有才华的学生，他们将有能力应对加拿大未来的环境挑战。

There are thousands of industry-related facilities in Canada emitting or leaking significant amounts of petroleum hydrocarbons into the subsurface. The sites contaminated by such pollutants could pose serious environmental and health risks, and could also reduce land value and agricultural productivity. Consequently, the effective remediation and management of these contaminated sites have received increasing attentions from many environmental consultants, industries, communities, and governments. This research is designed to address various complexities arising from the optimal remediation of petroleum-contaminated sites through the development of advanced systems analysis and process control approaches. It includes a number of interrelated tasks: (a) to advance the R&D of 3-D numerical models for simulating representative petroleum-contaminated soil and groundwater remediation processes through an integrated experimental and mathematical modeling approach; (b) to develop advanced system optimization methodologies for taking into account nonlinearities, uncertainties, and multi-objective characteristics of site remediation system; (c) to develop innovative process control approaches for optimal site remediation by combining the remediation simulation and optimization models with various information and artificial intelligence technologies, and (d) to apply the developed methods to site remediation case in northern BC. The proposed methodologies allow for systematic consideration of factors and complexities that are related to site remediation, and the development of systems analysis and process control approaches would represent a unique contribution to methodologies for site remediation engineering. By providing effective tools for supporting contaminated-site remediation, this study will be able to bring significant environmental, economic and social benefits to the country, and may lead to spin-off jobs/businesses as a consequence of successful implementation of the newly developed methodologies. In addition, the proposed research will help to attract and train a number of talented students, who will be capable of addressing Canada's future environmental challenges.