Comparison of Soil Extraction Isotherms of Soil Samples Saturated With Nonpolar Liquids

In multiphase systems capillary pressures play a significant role on fluid movement and retention. The facility to predict the effect of different thermal remediation strategies requires the knowledge of the effect of temperature on capillary pressure-saturation relationships in the soils. The objective of recent study was (a) to develop a technique for routinely measuring the pressure-saturation curves of soil samples saturated with a nonpolar liquid at different regulated temperatures (b) to build a database using the measured pressure-saturation curves and the physical, chemical properties of the model soils (c) to establish the dependence of nonaqueous phase liquid retention on the soil properties and the temperature. The retention curves (extraction isotherms) with nonaqueous phase liquid were determined using a modified pressure plate extractor. The wetting phase was a non-aromatic hydrocarbon distillation product. Pressure plates were designed and constructed in the laboratory of our department. The temperature was held constant at 20, 40 and 60 ^∘C. Statistical analysis was performed involving selected soil parameters and the measured nonaqueous phase liquid retention data. The results show that knowing some easily measurable soil parameters (bulk density, particle size distribution, humus and lime content) we can estimate the nonaqueous phase liquid retention of the soils. The measured “extraction isotherms” provide essential information about the temperature-dependency of pressure-saturation curves.     

Three-fluid retention in porous media involving water, PCE and air

A classical way to obtain three-fluid retention curves in porous media from measured two-fluid retention curves is based on the Leverett concept, which states that the total volumetric liquid content in a water-wet porous medium, containing water, a nonaqueous-phase liquid (NAPL) and air, is a function of the capillary pressure across the interface between the continuous NAPL and air. This functional relationship results from the assumed condition that in a three-fluid porous medium, the intermediate wetting fluid spreads over the water-air interface. Application of Leverett's concept may not be valid, however, for nonspreading NAPLs like perchloroethylene (PCE). This paper discusses measurements of both PCE-air and water-PCE-air retention curves using a long vertical column in conjunction with a dual-energy gamma radiation system. The data indicate that the Leverett concept was applicable only until a critical PCE saturation had been reached.     

Effect of soil layering on NAPL removal behavior in soil-heated vapor extraction

Soil heating has been proposed as a method to enhance the vapor extraction of NAPLs from contaminated soils. Three-dimensional fluid flow and heat transfer simulations have been performed for soil-heated vapor extraction to determine the transient system performance for a hypothetical configuration. Soil layering has been considered in evaluation of the initial non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) distribution and in evaporation and transport to the vapor extraction location. Results from this layered model are compared with results for a homogeneous system with an initially uniform NAPL, indicating the influence of layering, the initial NAPL distribution, the type of NAPL, and the possibility of enhanced vapor diffusion. Not only is the NAPL removal time reduced significantly with the addition of heat, but the uncertainty in the removal time owing to a number of difficult to characterize in situ factors, such as layering and the initial NAPL distribution, is much less than for standard soil vapor extraction without heating, owing to the rise in temperature and increase in NAPL vapor pressure with time.     

Non-aqueous-phase-liquid breakthrough during evaporative drying of clay barriers

In this study, an attempt has been made to model a real field scenario, whereby an initially almost saturated clay liner in a waste site is gradually drying, due to evaporation at its lower boundary. A detailed conceptual model that deals with the penetration and breakthrough of non-aqueous-phase-liquid (NAPL) in clay liners is introduced. Water content of clay samples was monitored during ambient evaporation through apertures at the base of sample holders. Clay drying rate served as the primary parameter for the NAPL breakthrough study. The interconnection between drying rates, structural damage formation (cracks and suction) and NAPL penetration is especially addressed. The processes taking place in the clay samples during drying appear to be associated with the capillary effects between the different fluid phases in the vicinity of either the NAPL-clay or the clay-air boundaries. A conceptual model of NAPL penetration and breakthrough of the clay layer has been considered, based on both indirect and direct observations of structural damages produced on either clay boundaries. A mutual interaction between these two boundaries is suggested and discussed. NAPL breakthrough is suggested to take place through cracks initiated on the upper soil surface.     

Application of Light Reflection Visualization for Measuring Organic-Liquid Saturation for Two-Phase Systems in Two-Dimensional Flow Cells

Abstract A simple, noninvasive imaging technique was used to obtain in situ measurements of organic-liquid saturation in a two-phase system under dynamic conditions. Efficacy of the light reflection visualization (LRV) imaging method was tested through comparison of measured and known volumes of organic liquid for experiments conducted with a two-dimensional flow cell. Two sets of experiments were conducted, with source-zone configurations representing two archetypical residual-and-pool architectures. LRV measurements were collected during the injection of organic liquid and during a dissolution phase induced by water flushing. There was a strong correlation between measured and known organic-liquid volumes, with the LRV-measured values generally somewhat lower than the known volumes. Errors were greater for the system wherein organic liquid was present in multiple zones comprised of porous media of different permeabilities, and for conditions of multiphase flow. This method proved effective at determinin...     

Performance assessment of NAPL remediation in heterogeneous alluvium

Over the last few years, more than 40 partitioning interwell tracer tests (PITTs) have been conducted at many different sites to measure nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) saturations in the subsurface. While the main goal of these PITTs was to estimate the NAPL volume in the subsurface, some were specifically conducted to assess the performance of remedial actions involving NAPL removal. In this paper, we present a quantitative approach to assess the performance of remedial actions to recover NAPL that can be used to assess any NAPL removal technology. It combines the use of PITTs (to estimate the NAPL volume in the swept pore volume between injection and extraction wells of a test area) with the use of several cores to determine the vertical NAPL distribution in the subsurface. We illustrate the effectiveness of such an approach by assessing the performance of a surfactant/foam flood conducted at Hill Air Force Base, UT, to remove a TCE-rich NAPL from alluvium with permeability contrasts as high as one order of magnitude. In addition, we compare the NAPL volumes determined by the PITTs with volumes estimated through geostatistical interpolation of aquifer sediment core data collected with a vertical frequency of 5-10 cm and a lateral borehole spacing of 0.15 m. We demonstrate the use of several innovations including the explicit estimation of not only the errors associated with NAPL volumes and saturations derived from PITTs but also the heterogeneity of the aquifer sediments based upon permeability estimates. Most importantly, we demonstrate the reliability of the     

Effect of soil moisture dynamics on dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) spill zone architecture in heterogeneous porous media

The amount, location, and form of NAPL in contaminated vadose zones are controlled by the spatial distribution of water saturation and soil permeability, the NAPL spill scenario, water infiltration events, and vapor transport. To evaluate the effects of these processes, we used the three-phase flow simulator STOMP, which includes a new permeability-liquid saturation-capillary pressure (k-S-P) constitutive model. This new constitutive model considers three NAPL forms: free, residual, and trapped. A 2-D vertical cross-section with five stratigraphic layers was assumed, and simulations were performed for seven cases. The conceptual model of the soil heterogeneity was based upon the stratigraphy at the Hanford carbon tetrachloride (CT) spill site. Some cases considered co-disposal of NAPL with large volumes of wastewater, as also occurred at the Hanford CT site. In these cases, the form and location of NAPL were most strongly influenced by high water discharge rates and NAPL evaporation to the atmosphere. In order to investigate the impact of heterogeneity, the hydraulic conductivity within the lower permeability layer was modeled as a realization of a random field having three different classes. For six extreme cases of 100 realizations, the CT mass that reached the water table varied by a factor of two, and was primarily controlled by the degree of lateral connectivity of the low conductivity class within the lowest permeability layer. The grid size at the top boundary had a dramatic impact on NAPL diffusive flux just after the spill event when the NAPL was present near the ground surface. NAPL evaporation with a fine grid spacing at the top boundary decreased CT mass that reached the water table by 74%, compared to the case with a coarse grid spacing, while barometric pumping had a marginal effect for the case of a continuous NAPL spill scenario considered in this work. For low water infiltration rate scenarios, the distribution of water content prior to a NAPL spill event decreased CT mass that reached the water table by 98% and had a significant impact on the formation of trapped NAPL. For all cases simulated, use of the new constitutive model that allows the formation of residual NAPL increased the amount of NAPL retained in the vadose zone. Density-driven advective gas flow from the ground surface controlled vapor migration in strongly anisotropic layers, causing NAPL mass flux to the lower layer to be reduced. These simulations indicate that consideration of the formation of residual and trapped NAPLs and dynamic boundary conditions (e.g., areas, rates, and periods of different NAPL and water discharge and fluctuations of atmospheric pressure) in the context of full three-phase flow are needed, especially for NAPL spill events at the ground surface. In addition, NAPL evaporation, density-driven gas advection, and NAPL vertical movement enhanced by water flow must be considered in order to predict NAPL distribution and migration in the vadose zone.     

光透法定量两相流中流体饱和度的模型及其应用

基于光透法定量流体饱和度的原理及其在两相流中的应用,设计了两组密封砂箱实验来研究气体或重非水相流体(DNAPL)在饱和孔隙介质中的迁移,观察了气体或DNAPL在孔隙介质中的迁移规律,应用并验证了2个水/气两相流中的光强-饱和度(LIS)模型,特别是建立并应用了适用于NAPL/水两相流系统的2个新LIS模型.结果表明,气体以不规则的"指状"通道向上迁移直到在砂箱顶部聚集,最终形成连续的气体分布;TCE由于自身重力的影响向下迁移直至砂箱底部,最终在砂箱中形成不规则的污染羽并在砂箱底部形成污染池.利用实验结果应用并验证4个光透法模型得到:2个水/气系统中LIS模型(WG-A和WG-B)整体适用于本实验数据;2个NAPL/水系统的LIS模型(NW-A和NW-B)得到与实测资料较吻合的结果,其中基于单个孔隙水驱替假设的模型NW-A与实验结果更加接近,对量化多孔介质中的NAPL/水系统各相饱和度具有一定的参考意义.     

Surfactant dissolution and mobilization of LNAPL contaminants in aquifers

Improper disposal, accidental spills and leaks of non-aqueousphase liquids (NAPL) such as gasoline, fuel oil and creosote result in long-term persistent sources of groundwater pollution.Column and 2-D tanks experiments were conducted to evaluate the use of surfactant-enhanced recovery of light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPL) in groundwater aquifers. These experiments focused on the use of surfactants to promote dissolution and mobilization in addition to evaluating the increase of aqueous phase permeability as residual NAPL is recovered. Further experiments are presented that show the innovative use of surfactants during primary pumping to recover free product canpotentially increase the amount of free product recovered, canpotentially reduce the amount of residual NAPL remaining afterprimary pumping and performs better than the use of surfactantsto mobilize trapped residual NAPL.     

NAPL态石油类污染物在黄土中迁移的稳态数学模型

根据NAPL态石油类污染物迁移的特点，建立了NAPL态石油类污染物在土壤中迁移的稳态数学模型，提出了综合污染系数的概念；根据延安黄土高原地区土壤和石油类污染物的特性测定了NAPL态石油类污染物对黄土的综合污染系数S＝6－8。最后在实验室条件下对模型进行了验证，结果表明模型计算值与实验值能够较好吻合。