THE IMPORTANCE OF FLUID ENTRAPMENT, SATURATION HYSTERESIS AND RESIDUAL SATURATIONS ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF A LIGHTER-THAN-WATER NONAQUEOUS PHASE LIQUID IN A VARIABLY SATURATED SAND MEDIUM
Pj. Vangeel et Jf. Sykes, THE IMPORTANCE OF FLUID ENTRAPMENT, SATURATION HYSTERESIS AND RESIDUAL SATURATIONS ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF A LIGHTER-THAN-WATER NONAQUEOUS PHASE LIQUID IN A VARIABLY SATURATED SAND MEDIUM, Journal of contaminant hydrology, 25(3-4), 1997, pp. 249-270
Citations number
18
Categorie Soggetti
Water Resources","Environmental Sciences","Geosciences, Interdisciplinary
A two-dimensional, multiphase flow experiment was conducted in the lab
oratory and numerically modelled using a finite difference multiphase
flow code. Heptane, a lighter-than-water non-aqueous phase liquid (LNA
PL), was spilled on a variably saturated sand medium. After the spilt
was completed, the LNAPL was allowed to distribute itself above the ca
pillary fringe. The water pressure at the base of the experimental box
was subsequently raised and lowered on two separate occasions to simu
late fluctuating water table conditions. The water and LNAPL pressures
were measured using hydrophillic and hydrophobic porous cups connecte
d to pressure transducers and a data acquisition system. The laborator
y spill was modelled using a hysteretic and non-hysteretic multiphase
flow code. A comparison of the experimental data to the model results
illustrates the effects and importance of fluid entrapment and saturat
ion hysteresis. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.