Permeability of air and immiscible organic liquids in porous media
The conductivity of mineral oil, relative viscosity 77, Soltrol-220 oil, relative viscosity 4.7, and air were observed in three porous media, including a sand, loamy sand, and a silt loam. The observations were made over a range of water contents for each porous medium. As under field conditions, small volumes of air were present, as well as water, during most of the oil conductivity measurements. The results were compared to two methods for calculating relative conductivities of immiscible fluids in water-wet porous media. A new equation was formulated for use with these methods to account for swelling and for the gas ''slippage'' effect in very small pores. The observed conductivities, spanning six orders of magnitude, agree reasonably well with calculated values. Only three soil parameters are required to calculate the conductivities: (1) the saturated conductivity of water, (2) the saturated conductivity of the immiscible fluid of interest, and (3) a pore size index value that is obtained from an estimate of the porous material's water release curve. Remediation of organic liquid spills is briefly discussed. It is suggested that in light of spatial variation of soil conductivity under field conditions, the method presented for calculating values of multiphase conductivities may well be of practical value. 11 refs., 5 figs.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 6398898
- Report Number(s):
- PNL-SA-16465; CONF-881222-3; ON: DE89005162
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: ASAE international symposium on modeling agricultural, forest, and rangeland hydrology, Chicago, IL, USA, 12 Dec 1988; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
CHEMICAL SPILLS
REMEDIAL ACTION
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
GROUND WATER
CONTAMINATION
SOILS
POROSITY
AIR
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
LOAM
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
SAND
SILT
TRANSPORT
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
FLUIDS
GASES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
WATER
510200* - Environment
Terrestrial- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)