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MONITOIRNG OF A CONTROLLED DNAPL SPILL USING A PROTOTYPE DIELECTRIC LOGGING TOOL
Citation:
BROWN, P., A. MAZZELLA, AND D. WRIGHT. MONITOIRNG OF A CONTROLLED DNAPL SPILL USING A PROTOTYPE DIELECTRIC LOGGING TOOL. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-06/092 (NTIS PB2007-101961), 2006.
Impact/Purpose:
Research is being conducted to improve and evaluate the resolution of the CR, EM, seismic, and GPR methods over complex geological formations (such as fractured geologies) and to evaluate the capability of these geophysical methods to delineate subsurface organic contaminants.
Description:
The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) utilized their prototype dielectric logging tool to monitor a controlled Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (DNAPL) spill into a large tank located at the University of California Richmond Field Station (RFS) containing multiple sand and clayey sand layers. To assist in the interpretation of the logging results, Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) numerical simulations were performed using a model that approximated the physical experiment. Modeling results agree well with the physical results and demonstrate qualitatively how the tool responded to the DNAPL spilled in the tank. Logging results show that the tool successfully monitored DNAPL movement throughout the duration of the experiment and was sensitive to changes in relative DNAPL saturation. Anomalous zones in the data correspond to areas where DNAPL was observed in images recorded by a color borehole video camera. Results presented in this discussion suggest that a quantitative interpretation of the dielectric tool data is possible given necessary system calibration data.