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SATURATION MEASUREMENT OF IMMISCIBLE FLUIDS IN 2-D STATIC SYSTEMS: VALIDATION BY LIGHT TRANSMISSION VISUALIZATION (SAN FRANCISCO, CA)
Citation:
BOB, M. M., M. M. BROOKS, T. R. LEE, C. G. ENFIELD, AND A. L. WOOD. SATURATION MEASUREMENT OF IMMISCIBLE FLUIDS IN 2-D STATIC SYSTEMS: VALIDATION BY LIGHT TRANSMISSION VISUALIZATION (SAN FRANCISCO, CA). Presented at AGU Conference, San Francisco, CA, December 13 - 17, 2004.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
This study is a part of an ongoing research project that aims at assessing the environmental benefits of DNAPL removal. The laboratory part of the research project is to examine the functional relationship between DNAPL architecture, mass removal and contaminant mass flux in 2-D models under well-defined conditions. For this, the characterization of the DNAPL in the model system is carried out using light transmission visualization (LTV). In this technique, images of the entire 2-D chamber are captured using a charge-couple device (CCD) and analyzed pixel by pixel using image analyses software. Water, air and DNAPL saturation across the 2-D model are measured as variations in the transmitted light intensity of these pixels. The focus of this study is the experimental validation of LTV using 2-D flow chamber constructed of two glass plates separated by 1.4 cm. The flow chamber has an equal width and height of 15.24 cm. Naturally translucent silica sands that have sieve sizes of 20/30 and 40/50 are used as packing media. LTV is used to measure the water, air and DNAPL (modeled by PCE) saturation in a 2-D static system. Variable saturation of these fluids across the height of the model in a water-air system and water-DNAPL system is dictated by controlling the capillary pressure of the fluids. Saturation-Capillary Pressure curve results of LTV technique are compared with experimental results of the saturation-capillary pressure curve obtained by Tempe cell measurements in our laboratory. LTV results are also compared to theoretical predictions of saturations for these three fluids.