A Micromodel Study of Residual Hydrocarbon Mass Transfer Rates in Porous Media

A remediation of aquifers contaminated by hydrocarbon products is a national priority. The presence of NAPLs at residual saturation in the soil and the subsurface media represents a continuous long-term source of organic contamination to ground water. An understanding of the transport behavior of hydrocarbon contaminants in the soil is critical in improving mathematical models. The proposed investigation aims at analyzing dissolution kinetics of residual hydrocarbons in a porous medium employing micromodel studies. Micromodels are artificial glass models of porous media that can be used to simulate transport processes at the pore-scale level. Mass transfer rate coefficients of residual hydrocarbons will be determined by direct observation of residual hydrocarbons in a micromodel using video images captured by a camera and processed with an image analyzer. By analyzing the temporal variation in residual hydrocarbon volumes in a micromodel, mass transfer rate coefficients of hydrocarbons will be determined. In addition, the effects of governing variables such as micromodel patterns and varying flow rates will be evaluated for different hydrocarbons such as TCE, gasoline and fuel oil.