ISSN:
1745-6584
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Energy, Environment Protection, Nuclear Power Engineering
,
Geosciences
Notes:
Lack of constitutive data has impeded efforts to model the subsurface transport of organic-liquid contaminants. To help fill this need, functional relationships between fluid saturations and capillary pressures were obtained using a unique fluid-retention cell. The functional relationships between water saturations and NAPL-water capillary pressures, and between total-liquid saturations and air-NAPL capillary presures in two- and three-fluid phase systems were measured directly during monotonic drainage of a fine quartz sand and a nonswelling loam soil. Additionally, measurements were made between water saturations and air-water capillary pressures for an air-water fluid system in both porous media. The NAPLs investigated were Soltrol 170®, toluene, and trichloroethylene (TCE). Following the measurements, the two- and three-fluid retention relations were compared to test the validity of extending two-phase saturation-pressure (S-P) relations to three-fluid systems. Good agreement was observed between the two- and three-fluid data for Soltrol 170®, toluene, and TCE in both porous media. An S-P scaling format for two- and three-phase systems was also evaluated. Results indicate that a single multiphase retention function is suitable for describing two- and three-phase S-P relations in similar porous media; however, it is unclear whether the scaling factors can be predicted a priori from ratios of interfacial tensions.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6584.1995.tb00312.x
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