Diesel Migration and Distribution in Capillary Fringe Using Different Spill Volumes via Image Analysis

Abstract

Laboratory-scale column experiments were conducted to assess the impact of different LNAPL volumes on LANPL migration behavior in capillary zone in porous media. Three different volumes of diesel (50 mL, 100 mL, and 150 mL) were released in different experiments using a 1D rectangular column filled with natural sand. The water table was set at 29 cm from the bottom of the column. The image analysis results provided quantitative time-dependent data on the LNAPL distribution through the duration for the experiments. Results demonstrated that the higher diesel volume (150 mL) exhibited the faster LNAPL migration through all experiments. This observation was due to the high volume of diesel as compared to other cases which provides high pressure to migrate deeper in a short time. In all experiments, the diesel migration was fast during the first few minutes of observation and then, the velocity was decreased gradually. This is due to pressure exerted by diesel in order to allow the diesel to percolate through the sand voids. Overall, this study proved that the image analysis can be a good and reliable tool to monitor the LNAPL migration in porous media.