Piecewise continuous control of groundwater remediation

Abstract

A piecewise continuous-time dynamic control method and apparatus for optimizing remediation of groundwater is disclosed. The piece-wise continuous control process is used to generate efficient designs for rededication systems based on differentiable groundwater models. The remediation strategies generated are characterized by piece-wise continuous functions of time which dictate the operation of remediation devices. The piece-wise continuous functions may change discontinuity at the end of each management period, or optionally, a finite number of times during each management period. The duration and number of management periods covering a groundwater cleanup may be selected by the user of the invention to maximize the contamination removal efficiency and reflect the mechanical limitations of the specific rededication devices chosen. The continuous-time property of piece-wise continuous control requires simpler (usually sparse) derivatives of a groundwater model than the derivatives required by static and discrete-time control of groundwater remediation.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.