Numerical Study of Fractional Ensemble Average Transport Equations

Abstract:

In this presentation, a newly developed theory is applied to the case of stationary and non-stationary stochastic advective flow field, and a numerical solution method is presented for the resulting fractional Fokker-Planck equation (fFPE), which describes the evolution of the probability density function (PDF) of contaminant concentration. The derived fFPE is evaluated for three different form: 1) purely advective form, 2) second-order moment form and 3) second-order cumulant form. The Monte Carlo analysis of the fractional governing equation is then performed in a stochastic flow field, generated by a fractional Brownian motion for the stationary and non-stationary stochastic advection, in order to provide a benchmark for the results obtained from the fFPEs. When compared to the Monte Carlo simulation based PDFs and their ensemble average, the second-order cumulant form gives a good fit in terms of the shape and mode of the PDF of the contaminant concentration. Therefore, it is quite promising that the non-Fickian transport behavior can be modeled by the derived fractional ensemble average transport equations either by means of the long memory in the underlying stochastic flow, or by means of the time-space non-stationarity of the underlying stochastic flow, or by means of the time and space fractional derivatives of the transport equations.

<Acknowledgement>

This subject is supported by Korea Ministry of Environment as “The Eco Innovation Project : Non-point source pollution control research group”