A model for stripping multicomponent vapor from unsaturated soil with free and trapped residual nonaqueous phase liquid

We present a model for the multicomponent vapor transport due to air venting in an unsaturated zone in the presence of free and trapped phases of residual nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL). On the microscale the soil particles are assumed to form spherical aggregates with micropores filled with-immobile water, trapped phases of NAPL and air. The interaggregate space is occupied with mobile air, and a thin film of free NAPL adheres on the aggregate surface. While the free NAPL can readily be in equilibrium with macropore vapor, the mass transfer from immobile phases inaggregates is rate-limited by aqueous diffusion. This model enables us to predict the vapor concentrations of various chemical species and the free NAPL saturation over the macroscale, based on the detailed understanding of the aqueous concentrations of the species and the trapped NAPL saturation within the aggregates. The model is compared favorably with some experimental data of sparging multicomponent vapor out of an intact core taken from a contaminated site. The distinctive features of multicomponent transport, clearly exhibited by the data, are further examined in the simulations of a hypothetical case of three-aromatic vapor transport under a radial flow field. It is found that while the vapor concentration of the most volatile component drops monotonically with time, those of the less volatile may rise as their mole fractions in the NAPL increase. The vapor concentration of a heavy component may have a local maximum at the evaporation front of the free NAPL. In the case of radial flow the free NAPL has two receding evaporation fronts. Condensation of the heavy component downstream of the far front causes a temporary increase of its total concentration there. With trapped NAPL and soil aggregation the macroscale transport is retarded, and the effluent concentrations end up in noticeable tailing.published_or_final_versio

Modeling Transport of Non Aqueous Wastes in Unsaturated Soils.

In evaluating risks associated with chemical spills on the ground surface or leaks from underground storage tanks, it is required to know the extent and degree of contamination in the subsurface. In many cases pure organics are spilled and due to their low miscibility with water they remain pure or concentrated for some distance or time from the source. This dissertation is aimed at developing a model of the multiphase (air, water, organic) migration processes. The particular focus is on modeling organic infiltration in the unsaturated zone where the transport is largely vertical. Sand-column experiments using a variety of immiscible and miscible organics indicated that the organic infiltration front after a \u27spill\u27 was sharp and that little residual water was displaced by an infiltrating immiscible organic. Based upon these assumptions, the multiphase transport problem was essentially modeled as a single phase infiltration under the influence of gravity and capillary forces. The resulting model describing organic phase infiltration rate contained two parameters, an effective medium permeability and an effective capillary suction at the wetting front. For the case of a fully infiltrated organic, an effective capillary suction at the drainage front was also required. The boundary element method (BEM) is used to solve the governing quasi-steady differential equations. Good agreement between the experimental data and the model was observed taking the effective medium permeability equal to the saturated flow permeability and using measured values of the capillary suction parameters. Many groundwater contamination incidents begin with the release of an essentially immiscible fluid into the subsurface environment. Once in the subsurface, an immiscible fluid participates in a complex pattern of transport processes. For immiscible fluids that are commonly found in contaminated groundwater environments the interphase mass transfer between the nonaqueous liquid phase and the aqueous phase is an important process. A model capable of exploring the effect of interphase mass transfer on in-situ extraction is also presented

Numerical modeling of petroleum contamination in the subsurface soil layer

Experimental models -- Analytical and numerical models -- Mathematical description of non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) movement in porous media -- Saturation-pressure relations -- Permeability-saturation relations -- Mass transfer processes -- Gas compressibility -- Numerical analysis -- Method of support-operators -- Grid in two dimensions -- Difference operators -- Boundary conditions -- Method of solution -- Model validation and verification -- Analytical solutions -- One dimensional unsaturated flow experiment -- Two-dimensional LNAPL spill -- Laboratory experiments -- Capillary pressure-water content relationships -- Saturated hydraulic conductivity test -- Experimental setup and procedure -- Sensitivity analysis -- Hydraulic conductivity -- Porosity -- Van genuchten parameters -- NAPL hydraulic head in infiltration area

Unsteady Multiphase Flow Modeling of In-situ Air Sparging System in a Variably Saturated Subsurface Environment

In order to preserve groundwater resources from contamination by volatile organic compounds and to clean up sites contaminated with the compounds, we should understand fate and transport of contaminants in the subsurface systems and physicochemical processes involving remediation technologies. To enhance our understanding, numerical studies were performed on the following topics: (i) multiphase flow and contaminant transport in subsurface environments; (ii) biological transformations of contaminants; (iii) in-situ air sparging (IAS); and, thermal-enhanced venting (TEV). Among VOCs, trichloroethylene (TCE) is one of the most-frequently-detected chemicals in the contaminated groundwater. TCE and its daughter products (cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (cDCE) and vinyl chloride (VC)) are chosen as target contaminants. Density-driven advection of gas phase is generated by the increase in gas density due to vaporization of high-molecular weight contaminants such as TCE in the unsaturated zone. The effect of the density-driven advection on fate and transport of TCE was investigated under several environmental conditions involving infiltration and permeability. Biological transformations of contaminants can generate byproducts, which may become new toxic contaminants in subsurface systems. Sequential biotransformations of TCE, cDCE, and VC are considered herein. Under different reaction rates for two bioreaction kinetics, temporal and spatial concentration profiles of the contaminants were examined to evaluate the effect of biotransformations on multispecies transport. IAS injects clean air into the subsurface below the groundwater table to remediate contaminated groundwater. The movement of gas and the groundwater as a multiphase flow in the saturated zone and the removal of TCE by IAS application were analyzed. Each fluid flow under IAS was examined in terms of saturation levels and fluid velocity profiles in a three-dimensional domain. Several scenarios for IAS systems were simulated to evaluate remedial performance of the systems. TEV was simulated to investigate its efficiency on the removal of a nonaqueous phase liquid in the unsaturated zone under different operational conditions. For numerical studies herein, the governing equations for multiphase flow, multispecies transport, and heat energy in porous media were developed and solved using Galerkin finite element method. A three-dimensional numerical model, called TechFlowMP model, has been developed.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Dr. Mustafa M. Aral; Committee Member: Dr. Ching-Hua Huang; Committee Member: Dr. Sotira Yiacoumi; Committee Member: Dr. Spyros Pavlostathis; Committee Member: Dr. Turgay Uze

Assessment of LNAPL in subsurface under fluctuating groundwater table using 2D sand tank experiments

The focus of this study was to investigate the fate and transport of toluene, a light nonaqueous-phase liquids (LNAPLs) in the subsurface region under dynamic groundwater table conditions. A series of experiments were conducted using two-dimensional (2D) sand tank setup having dimensions 125×90×10  cm 125×90×10  cm (L×H×W L×H×W ) and integrated with an auxiliary column of inner diameter 14 cm and height 120 cm. Initially, a steady-state flow and LNAPL transport experiment was conducted under stable groundwater table condition. Thereafter, three groundwater table fluctuation experiments were conducted on a rising and falling groundwater table in 2, 4, and 8 h to maintain rapid, general, and slow fluctuation conditions, respectively. The pure phase of toluene was injected at a rate of 1  mL/min 1  mL/min for a total duration of 5 min. Soil-water and soil-vapor samples were periodically collected and analyzed for toluene concentrations. Later, the representation of the 2D sand tank setup was numerically simulated to obtain the response of flow and the LNAPL transport under varying groundwater table conditions. Analysis of the results shows that a large LNAPL pool area (250  cm 2 250  cm2 ) develops under rapidly fluctuating groundwater conditions, which significantly enhances the dissolution rate and contributes to a high concentration of dissolved LNAPLs at the receiving receptors. Estimated values of Sherwood and Peclet numbers show that the dissolution rates were highly affected by groundwater table dynamics, which may cause loss of pure-phase pollutant mass around the pollutant source. The concentration isolines of toluene show that the transport of dissolved LNAPL plumes was also comparatively fast in the case of rapidly fluctuating groundwater. A high biodegradation rate was observed in plume regions having concentration ranges of 140–160 ppm, while it decreases in plume regions having very high (>160  ppm >160  ppm ) and low concentrations (<140  ppm <140  ppm ) of dissolved LNAPL. In the sand tank, microbial growth was found to increase as the plume moved away from the LNAPL pool toward a low gradient, which intensifies the detrimental impact of toluene on the survival of indigenous microorganisms near the LNAPL pool. The results of this study may help in implementing effective remediation techniques to decontaminate LNAPL polluted sites under fluctuating groundwater table conditions, especially in (semi)-arid coastal aquifers