Organic liquid infiltration into unsaturated porous media

Conference · Sun Apr 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990

OSTI ID:6709913

Simmons, C S; McBride, J F; Lenhard, R J; Cary, J W

Infiltration experiments with immiscible organic liquids (Soltrol (Philips Petroleum Co., Bartlesville, OK.), mineral oil, and transmission oil) were performed in boxes packed uniformly with sand or glass beads to test a multiphase flow model. Porous media was slightly wet to mimic a vadose zone. Resulting three-dimensional oil plumes and water contents were measured from core samples and photographs of vertical cross sections. Soltrol and transmission oil, with a zero and positive spreading coefficient, respectively, gave regularly shaped plumes similar to those predicted by the model. However, mineral oil with a negative spreading coefficient exhibited fingering behavior that was not accurately simulated by the continuum model. The implication is that constitutive theory may not predict well the flow of a nonspreading oil in a vadose zone. 8 figs.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/ER
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6709913
• Report Number(s): PNL-SA-17612; CONF-900476--1; ON: DE90015288
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020900 -- Petroleum-- Environmental Aspects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540220* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
CONTAMINATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
FLOW MODELS
FLUID FLOW
FLUIDS
GROUND WATER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LIQUID FLOW
LIQUIDS
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MINERAL OILS
MULTIPHASE FLOW
OILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PHASE STUDIES
PLUMES
POROUS MATERIALS
WATER