Estimation of hydraulic parameters under unsaturated flow conditions in heap leaching

The mathematical modeling of the unsaturated flow problem requires the simultaneous resolution of two problems: the Richards equation and the estimation of the hydraulic parameters involved in hydraulic conductivity and in the retention curve. Various techniques have been applied to both problems in a wide range of situations. In this article, a novel implementation of the processing techniques involved in copper heap leaching is presented. Specifically, the impact of the used numerical method and the selection of the parametric family are evaluated. From a methodological point of view, ∗Corresponding author Email addresses: [email protected] (Emilio Cariaga), [email protected] (Rubén Mart́ınez), [email protected] (Mauricio Sepúlveda) URL: http://www.uct.cl/ (Emilio Cariaga), http://www.ime.usp.br (Rubén Mart́ınez), http://www.ing-mat.udec.cl/ (Mauricio Sepúlveda) Preprint submitted to Elsevier June 11, 2012 *Manuscript Click here to view linked References